IMPROVING AT THE
SHARP END
Although you want the
putterhead to release at
impact, you need to keep
the hands and forearms
working together so the
lead wrist doesn’t break
down at impact. A brilliant
hack is to place a pencil
or tee under your watch
strap. It will stop your
wrist from collapsing.
Eddie Pepperell uses
something similar. The
pressure should stay
the same throughout the
stroke. If it increases,
you’ll soon know about it!keep your
putting
‘covered’
Pros always talk about
body/arm connection
in the swing, which
is why so many of
them practise with
a headcover, towel
or glove under their
armpits. You need
it with putting too,
so practise with a
headcover trapped
between your upper trail
arm and side. Don’t let it
fall (inset).
putts o on the practice green; they just putt to
the next hole.When warming up before a round,
your main focus should be on building
confidence. I always used to start with fairly
short putts, even ones which were 18 inches or a
foot. I just wanted to see the ball going in the hole.
After that, I’d move further away and simply get
a pace for the green. Sometimes I wouldn’t even
aim at the hole. I’d then finish o with a few four
footers. But the key is confidence, confidence,
confidence; you need to use practice to put
yourself in the best possible frame of mind for the
round to come.If I was an amateur player, I’d be leaving the
flag in for every putt outside six feet. Why
would you not? The tests show it’s an advantage
and if you drill a putt too hard, it’s going to fall
in. Hopefully!Whenever you’ve got a long putt, you need
to remember that the longer you swing the
putter, the easier it is to mishit it. What I
always did was to hold it further up the shaft and
make my putting action a little bit more arms than
wrists. That makes it a lot easier to achieve a solid
contact so the ball rolls smoothly.One thing I always struggled with, like most
people, was staying steady over a putt
when it was really windy.
I used to widen my stance and tried to brace
myself by getting lower to the ground. These
changes were eective, but I also learned to accept
that you will miss putts simply because of the wind
blowing your ball or stroke path o-course.If I was playing now, I would be using all
the technology available and trying to know
every single nook and cranny about what my
stroke is doing. If you want to improve, the more
you understand your stroke, the better. I never
knew what was better and what wasn’t e
cient,
whereas now that information is readily available.
So use it.3
4
Try to feel like
the biceps are
resting lightly
against the pecs.I LEARNED
NOTHING FROM
A HOLED PUTT,
BUT EVERYTHING
FROM A MISSED
PUTT. YOU’VE GOT
TO LEARN FROM
YOUR MISTAKES
RATHER THAN
YOUR SUCCESSES
golf australia | AUGUST 2019 61