Fundamentals of Putting

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• Main Menu
• Overview
• The Mechanics of Putting
• Diagnostics and Observation
• Putter Fitting
• The Grip
• Ball Position
• Setup and Alignment
• Lock and Rock
• Swing Plane
• Rhythm
• Eye Movement
• Pre-Shot Routine
• Pre-Shot Routine Template
• Green Reading
• Wind Effects on the Green
• Practice Drills
• Rhythm Drills
• Distance Control Drills
• Eye Movement Drills
• Speed Control Drills
• Pressure Putting Drills
• Before You Play
• Linking the FOP with the Mechanics
• ASSESSMENT

The Mechanics of Putting

Because this series treats putting in a holistic way, including the psychology of the action as well as its physiology, understanding the body’s mechanics during putting will help the instructor – and the student – understand the limitations that all golfers face when putting. Once the instructor/student team understands these issues, they will more easily build consistency, the all-important goal.

The best way to understand this issue is by using the concept of degrees of freedom from mechanics. In this context, six degrees of freedom describe the body’s movements during the putting stroke.

They are:

1. Moving the putter head Left and Right (in the direction required to make stroke).

2. Moving the putter head Forward and Backward (away from or toward the body).

3. Moving the putter head Up and Down (off the ground).

4. Opening and Closing the face by rotating the wrists.

5. Swing Radius about a static axis, i.e. rotating the putter, wrists, arms and shoulders – as a single unit -- about the spine axis centered between the shoulders.

6. Wrist Break, creating a second lever.

Each degree of freedom has errors associated with it. For example, if we break our wrists during the putting stroke -- the sixth degree of freedom from the list -- we have errors associated with making this movement which lead to an inconsistent delivery of the head to the ball.

Assume we try to make 10 identical putts using a very “ wristy ” stroke. Keeping the arms and wrists synchronized to deliver the same putterhead speed and face angle to the ball is difficult without a great deal of practice. So we need to minimize the wrist break during the stroke, which in turn will minimize the source of errors and thus maximize the consistency in making the stroke.

We can eliminate this degree of freedom by using a long putter which in turn will eliminate the associated the sources of error, or try to minimize the degree of freedom by not breaking the wrists when using a conventional stroke.

In looking at the degrees of freedom listed above, it is reasonable to assume we can minimize all but No. 1, the Left and Right motion required to strike the ball. No. 2 , Forward and Back (away from the body) motion is difficult to eliminate, but we can control it by focusing on the head path and the swing plane. The rest of the degrees of freedom we can minimize with setup, swing plane, not swaying and swinging about a static axis, and preventing the wrists from breaking.

Completely eliminating degrees of freedom, however, cannot be the end result of this element of teaching the putting stroke. Maintaining the natural, instinctive aspect of putting requires that the body retain some freedom of movement. The point of this discussion is to recognize that the degrees of freedom during putting must be understood and brought under control so as to avoid undercutting the natural repetitive nature of a good putting stroke.