Think you’re a great putter? You are!
Putting is the smallest and simplest of all the strokes taken in golf. But I'm afraid most golfers don't practice this part of the game enough.
Here are some tips to help make you a better putter:
Studies have shown there's a correlation between wrist motion and poor putting. Simply put, the more you use your wrists, the worse you'll putt. Try this: Cock your wrists slightly downward and tuck the putter grip into the lifeline of your hand. This helps create firmness between your forearms and the putter. It also helps produce the connection in a perfect pendulum putting stroke. To help create this feel, take a pencil and slip it up the lifeline of your hand and extend it past your wrist. When you cock your wrist downward, get the pencil parallel to your forearms, the motion of your hand and the pencil becomes restricted. This is exactly what you want to feel.
Hitting the "sweet spot" on your putter consistently will improve your putting. A good way to practice this is to put two rubber bands on the left and right side of the putter's sweet spot. If you feel a click, then you have hit the sweet spot. If you feel a "thud," then you missed it.
Final putting tip: If you think you’re a great putter, you are. And if you think you're a bad putter, you are. Putting is such a mental part of the game, and you must think you’re the best putter IN THE WORLD!
Phipps is director of golf at Black Lake Golf Club in Onaway, Mich. For additional information, visit blacklakegolf.com. For golf, call 989-733-GOLF; for lodging, call 866-UAW-GOLF.
