Golf Australia – August 2019

“The best I’ve seen Jason put t was at the

2015 BMW Championship and the 2016

Players. They were t wo completely

different putting surfaces, but

he needed just 107 putts

both times as he won

both events.”

COACH’S VIEW

HOW I

FIND THE

OPTIMUM

SET-UP

Using a mirror

sets my eyes in the

perfect position.

“The fi rst thing I do every week on the

practice putting green at a Tour event

is calibrate my putting set-up. I use a

mirror on the ground and a device Col

and I call ‘the guru’. This makes sure my

left eye is over the top of the ball and

slightly inside the target line.

“This is the optimum position for me

to see the putt without any parallax – the

e ect where the position or direction of

an object appears to di er when viewed

from di erent positions. In simple

terms, if your head and eyes aren’t in the

correct position over the ball, you won’t

be able to accurately see a straight line

to the hole.

“You must address the ball in a way

that enables you to make a consistent,

controlled and repeatable stroke with

only minimal compensations.”

PERFECT YOUR PUTTING

POSTURE & SET-UP

Your head and hand position are

vital for consistency.

T

he quality of your putting is

to a large degree determined

by the quality of your basics.

You’ll notice I haven’t talked too

much about the stroke. That’s

because if your posture, alignment

and eyeline are good, the stroke itself

is pretty simple – it’s just about good

rhythm and keeping your head steady

so you can strike putts consistently.

Here’s what I focus on at address to

achieve that.

KEEP IT SIMPLE OVER THE BALL

“One of the things that makes me such

a consistently good putter is that my

set-up is very simple. I stand to the ball in a

standard position with my feet, knees, hips

and shoulders parallel to my target line.”

KEEP THE SHAFT VERTICAL

“I like to have my hands in a neutral

position so they aren’t pushed too far

forward ahead of the ball or positioned way

behind it. This puts the shaft in a vertical

position at address. Because of this, I use

less loft than most players. Where most

players will have 3° or 3.5° loft on their

putter, I have only 2° to 2.5°. It’s important

that the set-up and loft of your putter

match your address position and stroke.”

GET A PURE ROLL

“The last thing you want is the ball to skid

too much o the putter face. This is crucial

on quick greens. It’s di‰ cult to accurately

judge distance if your ball starts o with a

hop. For a truer roll, I play the ball slightly

forward of centre in my stance. This helps

me hit up on the ball a little.”

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 putter face. At

the same time, I don’t want to hold it so

tightly that it creates tension in the rest

of my arms and body.”

TEXT & IMAGES:

© BAUER CONSUMER MEDIA LIMITED

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