Solving the Visual Aspect of Putting

The majority of golf equipment manufacturers would insist that the only putters that sell well feature intricate sight lines. This is the current marketing sizzle. However, from an instructor’s point of view, this can be a deterrent on the road to better putting for many people. Why?

In putting, everyone perceives the designated target differently. For example, if you have trouble seeing straight lines and are attempting to use a linear strategy (line on ball, lines on putter, every putt is straight mentality), more problems than solutions may be created. If you have linear tendencies and use a line on the ball, that is often a sufficient aid.

Sight lines on putter do not always point in the same direction as a perpendicular line from the face. Take a 2X4 and set it on the ground. Take your putter and square the face to the end of the board. Look at your alignment aid. Is it pointed in the right direction? You would be shocked at how many are not, and it really does not matter if it truly is aligned correctly. How it looks to you is all that matters.

The loft of the putter has some influence on this visual as well. With the face on the 2 X 4, move the shaft toward the target and away, keeping the face in the same position relative to the board. Does the line appear to change directions? Some designs are better than others, but more often than not this adds to the visual confusion.

Finally, many of us cannot accurately align the lines on a putter with a target when looking at them from the side. Our perception is that we are accurately aimed, but this is often an illusion. The most common mistake is that we aim the line at the ball, rather than the target. If the line points at the ball, we convince ourselves that we have aimed correctly because the ball has become the target, rather than aiming the putter in the direction we wish the ball to travel. When we use putters with lines that frame the ball, the problem often becomes worse instead of better. Now we really do a good job of pointing the putter at the ball. We have found that eliminating the lines on a putter takes away the distraction and helps the player focus on the intended line rather than on the ball.

Every time you add a layer of information to your putting strategy, you create a condition that must be controlled. This gets complicated, but it suffices to say that more layers cause more confusion and make the condition harder to stabilize. The confusion caused is so great that you are never quite sure what stroke you are going to use when you stand over a putt. Elimination of an incorrect visual reference helps strip away some of these layers.

Swing Hard - Hit it Straight

In a couple of weeks the President’s Cup, the final big golf event of the year, will be played in Australia. As I have watched the media discuss the Captain’s picks concerning who should play and who shouldn’t, I can’t help but think that this was one team competition where the final spots should have gone to the Captains themselves.

Fred Couples and Greg Norman are two of the best players of my generation. Both of whom still play some pretty good golf. Fred basically birdied ½ of the 54 holes he played to win a recent Champions Tour event. Greg hasn’t played as much lately, but I would take him even coming off a layoff, any day. Greg was a resident of Bay Hill when I was an assistant there in the early 80’s and we played quite a bit of golf together. It is possible he is the greatest driver of the golf ball in history and I am not the only one who thinks that way. Every drive I ever saw him hit just took off, stayed in the air for a very long time, and landed on the same line it left the club. This is with unforgiving persimmon woods and high spin balata covered golf balls. Regardless of my personal opinion, both had the incredible ability to hit the ball both very long and very straight. No matter what event you are playing, long and straight works.

In a comparison of both swings you might not see much similarity. Fred has a long, loose, easy motion to his swing while Greg’s is more mechanical and exact. But even with the difference in appearance there is a common aspect of their swings utilized by most great drivers of the golf ball. They both swing their arms on an upright plane. They combined this action with a lateral, rather than rotational use of the body, which results in the club staying on line for a longer period of time.

For those of you like me that find it harder to turn shoulders and hips like we could when we were younger, the concept of upright and lateral, might appeal to you. The sequence of motion for this technique might be described like this. Inside and up is how I would describe the backswing. Take the club back on a path inside the target line. The more inside the better, and when the hands get about waist high just lift them straight up in the air. Jack Nicklaus, another upright swinger, called this reaching for the sky. To start down swing your arms as fast as you can toward the ball, while your hips slide and your weight shifts to your left foot. Slide don’t turn, In and up, then down and left. Try it, you might find this swing to be the answer to you ball striking issues.

Fixing a Slice.

I supposed if someone asked me the most common problem I deal with as an instructor, it would have to be the Slice. For right handed players this would be the ball that curves to the right and for most the ball curves too much. After years of different methods, about 10 years ago I realized the best way to fix the problem is to help the player to understand the problem. So how does a golfer hit a slice?

The first thing you need to know is that the ball starts where the face of the club is pointed at impact. If it is pointed right it starts right or left it starts left. So the first question to ask becomes, “Does the ball start right or left of your intended line? “

The curve is caused by spin. Spin is created when the direction the club is moving doesn’t match the direction the clubface is pointed. For example, if the path direction matches the direction the face is pointed, the ball goes straight on that path. If the path does not match the direction the face is pointed the ball spins and curves. The ball curves in the same direction the face is pointed relative to the path. If the face is pointed right of the path for a right handed golfer the ball curves right, and if it curves enough we call it a slice.

The solution comes from understanding the relationship of the face to the path. For right handed golfer the face is always pointed right of whatever path the club is on. Armed with this knowledge we can ask the question that fixes the problem. Why is the face pointed right of the direction the club is swinging?

The problem is in how a golf club is built. Because the shaft attaches in the heel or inside edge of the club, the club rotates around that point as it moves. In order for the face of the club to stay perpendicular to the direction the club is moving, the toe of the club has to rotate faster than the heel of the club. Slicers do not allow the toe of the club to move faster than the heel! The toe lags behind the heel as the club comes forward. I don’t think there is a best way solution other than to hold a club in front of you and get the feel of moving the toe of the club around the heel of the club. I think you will see this motion is created easily by rotating your forearms, hands and wrists. You will also feel and see it is easier to rotate the toe of the club faster coming forward if the toe rotates faster going back. If you can develop the feel of controling the toe of the club, longer and straighter shots are in your future.

Bad Golf? Blame the Clubs.

I gave my first professional golf advice 30 years ago this past summer. I was an assistant at Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club and Lodge and in charge of club repair. One of our members was considering a change in her golf clubs. She was suffering from arthritis in her hands and hoped the switch to graphite would be beneficial. “It is one thing to play poorly,” she said, “but I don’t want to play bad and hurt too.” I suggested to be better informed I should watch her hit a few balls with her clubs. Her problem was obvious as she basically collapsed at the top of her backswing, the club head dipped, her elbows bent, and she lost her grip on the club. This loss of balance and control made it difficult for her to recover. When I mentioned these observations to her she said emphatically, “Bruce I have heard all that before! I try to stop but I can’t. You sound just like my husband.” I understood clearly that she did not offer that as a compliment and if I didn’t think of something fast my first opportunity to help someone professionally might be my last.

I offered that maybe the swing issues weren’t her fault and that the clubs were too heavy for her to support at the top of the swing and not only would the change to graphite help the pain in her hands but the lighter weight could help her improve her swing as well. I went to the repair shop to see what I could find to help prove my point. The only thing that was lighter were shafts with grips but no club heads. I took the headless golf club back out to the range and told her to swing the shaft for me. She laughed, but did as I asked. The change in her golf swing was incredible. She was balanced perfectly, no hint of collapse of any kind. I instantly knew we had to build her a set of clubs as light as I possibly could. She gave me the ok and I will end this by telling you based on her success, I rebuilt many sets of golf clubs that winter.

Since that time I have never looked at a golf swing without asking myself, “Is the problem the swing or the clubs they are trying to swing?” You would be surprised to know how often the perceived golf swing problem is simply a reaction to the clubs the player uses. So how can find out if it is your swing or the clubs? The red flag for me is if the player has a favorite club. 99 times out of 100 this club will be of a different specification and weight than the other clubs. It is unlikely you would make a good swing with just one club, unless you change your swing to adapt to the poorly fit club.

Bad Golf? Blame the Clubs.

I gave my first professional golf advice 30 years ago this past summer. I was an assistant at Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club and Lodge and in charge of club repair. One of our members was considering a change in her golf clubs. She was suffering from arthritis in her hands and hoped the switch to graphite would be beneficial. “It is one thing to play poorly,” she said, “but I don’t want to play bad and hurt too.” I suggested to be better informed I should watch her hit a few balls with her clubs. Her problem was obvious as she basically collapsed at the top of her backswing, the club head dipped, her elbows bent, and she lost her grip on the club. This loss of balance and control made it difficult for her to recover. When I mentioned these observations to her she said emphatically, “Bruce I have heard all that before! I try to stop but I can’t. You sound just like my husband.” I understood clearly that she did not offer that as a compliment and if I didn’t think of something fast my first opportunity to help someone professionally might be my last.

I suggested that maybe the swing issues weren’t her fault. Her clubs were too heavy for her to support at the top of the swing and not only would the change to graphite help the pain in her hands but the lighter weight could help her improve her swing as well. I went to the repair shop to see what I could find to help prove my point. The only thing that was lighter were shafts with grips but no club heads. I took the headless golf club back out to the range and told her to swing the shaft for me. She laughed, but did as I asked. The change in her golf swing was incredible. She was balanced perfectly, no hint of collapse of any kind. I instantly knew we had to build her a set of clubs as light as I possibly could. She gave me the ok and I will end this by telling you based on her success, I rebuilt many sets of golf clubs that winter.

Since that time I have never looked at a golf swing without asking myself, “Is the problem the swing or the clubs they are trying to swing?” You would be surprised to know how often the perceived golf swing problem is simply a reaction to the clubs the player uses. So how can find out if it is your swing or the clubs? The red flag for me is if the player has a favorite club. 99 times out of 100 this club will be of a different specification and weight than the other clubs. It is unlikely you would make a good swing with just one club, unless you change your swing to adapt to the poorly fit club.