The Putting Stroke

The putting stroke is made by the shoulders controlling the movement of the arms and hands.  The shoulders, arms and hands move back and through in unison, so that the angle in the right wrist remains constant throughout the stroke.  This movement ensures that the putter stays on the correct path, which is just inside the target line as the length of the putt increases and goes straight through towards the hole on the follow-though.

On-Course Exercise

To practice a square clubface position, imagine the palm of the right hand is like the face of your putter. Find a tennis racquet and hold it in your right hand as if it were a putter.  Place your left hand on your shoulder to remind yourself  to rock the shoulders and make practice strokes. Concentrate on keeping the face of the racquet and your palm square to the hole throughout the stroke.  Notice how the angle in the right wrist almost increases in attempt to keep the clubface square.  Hit putts with your right hand only to help create clubface awareness.  When you place both hands on the putter, you will have a better sense of the path and clubface position.

Reading Greens

Reading greens is a combination of judging the slope and pace of a putt.  It is a skill that you develop over a period of time, but you can accelerate the learning process by being consistent in your preparation and routine. Develop a consistent pre-putt routine that is easy to repeat and stick with it no matter what length putt you have.

During your pre-putt routine, visualize your line and distance.  Read the break from behind the ball so that you’ll know where to aim your putter. Double-check the line from the other side of the cup (but don’t take too long doing this and besides you should be doing this while others are putting).  You can even walk the length of your putt and count off your steps as a way to gauge the distance of the putt, (again, don’t take too long doing this), this will help you control the distance.

On-Course Exercise

Test your green-reading skills by finding a sloping putt and placing a tee at the apex where you believe tha ball will begin to break towards the hole. Hit several putts towards the tee, monitor your results and adjust your alignment at necessary.

Off-Course Exercise

Next time you watch a professional golf tournament on television, listen carefully to the announcers when the players on the greens and you will pick up a few green reading tips.

Distance Control

Once you have learned the baisics of the stroke and reading greens, your next step is to adjust the length of your stroke to match putts of different sidtances.  Leaving long range putts short of the hole puts a lot of pressure on your putting.  If you can develop a good feel for distance, you will notice an immediate improvement in your scoring.

The length of your backstroke controls the distance of your putt.  Don’t try to hit the ball too hard; you’ll tighten up and throw off your rhythm. Use the same smooth rhythm you use on shorter putts, just lengthen your swing. To avoid getting wristy, a comomon tendency on longer putts, extend the forward motion of the stroke, finishing with the head of the putter low on your intended line. Be careful to keep your body still too.  Sometimes with longer putts, you’ll tend to lunge towards the ball as you hit or even add a little weight shift.  Try to keep your lower body and head still even with long putts.

On-Course Exercise

Because the odds of making a long putt are slim, the priority is to get the ball within a few feet of the hole so you’ll have a make-able second putt.  To do this, simply visualize a large circle around the cup about three feet in diametner. Start your putt on the line your detrenmined an aim for the bigger target; if the ball rolls inside the circle you should be able to make the short second putt easily.

Off-Course Exercise

Practice your putting stroke indoors.  Try to imagine a two-foot putt and make a few practice strokes. Now imagine a 4-foot putt and make a few practice strokes.  Then imagine a 6-foot, 8-foot, 10-foot putt etc. and make sure that the length of the putting stroke increases as the length of putt increases.

Putting Drills

Let’s face it, putting practice can be boring. But you have to spend the time on the putting green to be a good golfer.  As you know, putting is 40% of your score.  So the best way to spend time practicing is to do drills and games.  Make putting practice fun.  You have to love to practice.  Grab a friend and play some games, you will stay out there longer and you will get in some good practice.  Here are a few drills for you to use…

Sleeve of Balls Drill — lay a sleeve box on the green with the long direction aimed at a target – putt to the back of the box stopping your putter at impact to check that the clubface is square.

Around the World Drill — place a ring of balls around a hole on sloped green starting at 3 feet, then putt each ball into the hole in succession without missing any (start over if one is missed).

The Rainbow Drill – pick a 10-15 foot putt and the find the apex of the break.  Place a line of three tees about 3-4 inches lower than the apex in a line parallel to the baseline (direct line from ball to hole) – hit putts so that the ball stays on the high side of these tees and is changing direction from uphill to downhill right thru this region.

Baseboard Stroke — setup with the toe of the putter about ½ inch away from a baseboard of a wall or from a 2×4 on the green and make strokes so that the toe of the putter does not hit the wall.

Logo Drill–Line up the logo or line on the ball to your target, back away and check the line to make sure it is aimed accurately — square the putterface to the line on the ball — do not look at the target and hit the putt straight — assess how well this works for you.

Take an online lesson with Karen

Improving your swing starts with a proper diagnosis of what you’re doing wrong and knowing how to correct it and practice. Take an online lesson with Karen Powered by SwingPal.com. 

Received $10 off your first online video lesson. Use coupon code karen10 when you checkout to receive your discount.

How it works-

Submit your video of your swing. Karen will personally review your videos and provide a voice-over video analysis of your swing along with swing tips specifically designed for you to help you improve your game. Get feedback and ask Karen questions via email.

Visit KPJgolf.swingpal.com for more information.

KPJ’s Teaching Philosophy-

I focus on teaching my students the fundamentals of the swing.  I try not to get too technical or position oriented.  I think a golf swing is about getting the clubface square at impact with rhythm and tempo.

I try to adjust my instruction to the ability, interests and motivations of the player I am teaching.  Together we will spend time developing an appropriate approach for them to play the game and help them set and achieve short and long terms goals.

Take an online lesson with Karen Powered by SwingPal.com.  Received $10 off your first online video lesson. Use coupon code karen10 when you checkout to receive your discount.

About Karen

LPGA Teaching Professional Karen Palacios-Jansen was voted 2008 LPGA National and Southeast Section Teacher of the Year. Voted by Golf Digest Magazine as one of America’s “Top 50 Women Instructors” for 11 straight years, Karen has her own golf events company-Swing Blade Enterprises in Mooresville, North Carolina. Karen, a certified personal trainer, developed a golf-specific fitness system called Cardiogolf available on DVD and has worked as managing editor for Golf Fitness Magazine since 2007.

A former David Leadbetter trained instructor and Jim McLean Golf School master instructor, Karen has been teaching golf for 17 years and has appeared on The Golf Channel and a is regular contributor writer to golf publications such as Golf Fitness, Golf for Women and Golf Tips.

Karen has a Master’s Degree in Journalism from Columbia College in Chicago, Illinois and has an undergraduate degree from Stetson University in Deland, Florida. Karen was a member of the women’s golf team at Stetson University, qualifying for five LPGA events as an amateur.  Karen played on Future’s Golf Tour from 1990-1993 and was named as one of the “Top 40 Business Leaders in the Golf Industry under the Age of 40″ by Golfweek Magazine in 1999. Karen speaks fluent Spanish and conducts golf clinics in Latin America.

Frequently requested as a public speaker and lecturer at local and national golf shows and conferences, Karen has helped thousands of golfers improve their golf games. For more information-visit http://www.kpjgolf.com