As Bobby said in the video the importance of proper putting cannot be ignored if you want to shoot low scores. I’ll admit putting isn’t the most fun thing to talk about, but let’s face it consistently dropping 6 footers will take a serious bite out of your score (plus it will drive your golf buddies nuts).
Golf is a mental game and putting relies even more heavily on your mental state and confidence level. That’s why overcoming the illusion Bobby talked about is so important if you want to become a consistent putter.
Focusing on keeping the putter face perpendicular to the target line through your whole stroke will drive you nuts, force you to do some funny things, and cause you to lose confidence on the green.
To eliminate many of those problems all you need to do is understand that the putter face will open and close naturally through your putter stroke.
Some guys intuitively understand this or simply go with what work, and through chance and luck they figure it out. Others guys (like me) need to understand this phenomenon conceptually before our brains will let us trust the putter stroke.
This video and the inclined plane tool should prove to you that taking the putter straight back on the inclined plane results in the putter face opening up. The same rules of geometry that caused it to open up will cause it to be square when it hits the ball. So as long as you take the putter straight back you don’t need to worry about getting or keeping the putter face square at impact.
All it really comes down to is accepting that this is fact of golf. It will allow you to focus on much more important things while putting, such as your speed, follow-through, break, and the speed of the greens that day.
You probably don’t have an inclined plane at home so use a score card like Bobby showed in the video if you need to prove it to yourself. The score card will also help you ensure that you are bringing the putter straight back.
For more putting tips and tricks from Bobby Schaeffer check out his Hot Touch DVD Package. This stuff will shave some serous strokes off your score.
For Better Golf,
Doc O’Leary
Head Golf Nut, OHP
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Good information. I am amazed how so many I play golf with do not realize that the good putting stroke is just what you described. The face naturally opens and then goes back to square and then closed. Just like a golf swing. I have had people tell me when I miss a putt that I opened the blade up in the way back. My answe is that it is supposed to. I missed it because I tried to manipulate the closing of the face instead of swinging the putter and allowing it to close naturally. The guy that says also opens the face of his putter on the backswing. He, like me in this video, doesn’t realize it.