P
uttersarebuiltwithtwoor
three degrees of loft to
help get the ball up andout
of the little depressionit
creates through its weight.Itdoesthoughmeanthateventhepurest
putthasaninitialperiodofskidbeforethe
ballstartsrolling.Gettheballrolling
earlierandithasmorechanceofstaying
online.Herearetwodrillsthatwillhelp:KEY TO HOLING
PUTTS: A PURE ROLL
BY GARETHJOHNSTON
KEEPYOUR
WRISTSQUIET
“Topreventunwantedwrist
vement,I’lloftenpractisewitha
placedbetweenmyrightwristand
ttergrip.Thatinstantlyallowsmeto
there’sanymovementinmyhands
ringthestroke.If I getit wrong,
y handswilleitherpressharder
againsttheball,orit willfallto
thefloor.”TIP
RESSIVE
mateursleaveputtsshortbecause
idofhittingtheballtoohard.But
odputtersyouseeonTourare,
eaking,aggressiveonthegreens.
etopractisealottodevelopthis
Onaregularweekoawayfrom
lspendtwohoursadayworking
ng,comparedtomaybeonlyan
n my longer clubs.I
2
USE A MIRROR TO FIND THE
OPTIMUM SET-UP
the fi rst thing I do every week on the
e putting green. I make sure my left eye is
p of the ball and slightly inside the target line.
ptimum position for me to see the putt without
x – the effect where the position or direction
appears to differ when viewed from different
simple terms, if your head and eyes aren’t in
t position over the ball, you won’t be able to
aight line to the hole accurately. You must
the ball in a way that enables you to make
istent, controlled and repeatable stroke
with only minimal compensations.”CONSTANT LEAD WRIST ANGLE
At address we create a certain angle
between our lead arm and the putter’s
shaft. The red tee in the grip illustratesit.
If that gap changes during the stroke we
will add or reduce loft on the face, creating
excessive bounce or skid.GET THE LOGO TO DISAPPEAR
At address, set the ball so its logo looks
straight back up at you... ideally square
to the putter’s blade. Before you start
back, picture the stroke you would need
to execute to make the ball rotate and the
logo disappear.PEGGUIDE
Usetheteepegtopractisemaintainingthat
leadarm/putterrelationshipthroughthe
ball.Hita seriesofputts,checkingthehead
ofthepegmovesneithertowardsoraway
fromyourleadforearmduringthestroke.BRUSHSTROKE
Clearly,thatwouldtaketheformofan
upwardbrushthroughthebackoftheball.
Nowputthatstrokeintoaction– seeif you
cangetthelogototurnover,outofsight.
Thisintentionpromotestheidealattack
angleforquickroll.FOCUS ON YOUR
GRIP PRESSURE
“I hold the putter with enough
strength to prevent it moving once I’ve
taken my grip. Even minimal movement
can cause the putter to twist in your hands
at address or during the stroke. If this
happens, it’ll affect your aim and
either add to or decrease the loft
on the putterface.”
K
golf australia | AUGUST 2019 55