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Stop Deceleration Putting Drills
A great idea for putting through the ball is the idea of the invisible ball. You stroke through the ball like there is no ball; like the ball is invisible. Deceleration or attempting to slow down your putter head is a big enemy of a smooth putting stroke. Deceleration usually results in pushing the ball of to the right for a right-handed putter and to the left for a left-handed putter. Too Big a Back-Stroke The cause of deceleration is commonly taking too big a back-stroke on a short putt. Taking a big back-stroke and accelerating through the putt would result is a lot of speed and putting through the hole. Half Back-Stoke Drill A good drill for limiting the back-stroke is to put a ball behind the ball you're going to putt. Clearly this must be done on the practice green. Here's how to do it. First, determine the length of your back-stoke by taking a normal put and mark how far back you go. Now, put a ball 1/2 the distance between the ball you'll putt and the distance you had on that first back-stroke. Then, take the putt without hitting the second ball. You will probably be short on your first few attempts if you've been decelerating. Old habits will be at work. As you learn to accelerate through the ball, the putts should start falling. Stabbing or Hitting the Ball The putter head needs to move squarely through the ball. It should strike the ball, not hit it or stab it. What's the difference? Striking the ball is catching the ball in the middle of a natural smooth stroke. This is the stroke you should take whether or not you strike the ball. However, when you hit or stab at the ball, you are attempting to hit the ball by guiding the putter head. Two things will happen, neither of them good. First, as we talked about above, you will decelerating the putter head attempting to guide it. Second, the putter head will not be square to the ball and the ball will go off-line. Rhythm Putting - Tick-Tock A smooth putting stroke is all about rhythm. Think of the tick-tock of a clock. Most golfers I see on the public courses use more of a tick-tock-tock stroke. Their back stroke is fast and then they try to slow it down and decelerate through the putt. I began using tick-tock a five years ago and still use it as my putting trigger. The critical point is for the back-stroke to be as slow as if not slower than the forward-stroke. It would be better to use a tick-tick tock if you had to to keep accelerating through the ball. If you have a willing friend, they can call out the tick-tock for you.. While he's there have him shoot a video of your putting stroke with your cell phone camera so you can see your stroke. Summary Use these putting drills to improve your putting. Accelerating through the ball with a smooth natural swing is the key point. These putting tips will be of little use if they are not practiced. The drills can be practiced as home, so give them a try. Your next scorecard will thank you. Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com Joel McGinty is an avid golfer who plays whenever he can. He enjoys writing about Putting Tips and golf in general. He's shooting for 100 rounds this year. See Putting Drills – Putt The Invisible Ball for another great drill. |
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