Putting can be one of the hardest areas of the game but with the easiest swing. The putting stroke is something that anyone can pull off and I have seen high handicappers who can putt better than some low handicappers. I have seen PGA Tour players putt horrible and ball strike their ways to wins…Adam Scott. I have seen poor ball strikers putt their way to wins like…Jordan Speith. What makes a good putter or a bad putter? Well, I have a system that I use with my players to help them improve their putting. I start off by seeing how well they can aim their putter. I do this with a high-powered laser. Then I use a mirror to check their eye alignment and position in relation to the golf ball. Little do people know that the eye line has a huge impact on the path that the putter will travel during the stroke. If the eyes are too far over the ball, then the stroke will be more out to in. If the eyes are too far inside, then the stroke will be more in to out. Also, in the eyes are directly over the ball, not only will the stroke be more straight back and straight through, but you will also be looking straight down the line to the target when you turn your head. Once we determine how you line up and show you ways to do so better, then we move onto the actual stroke. I then have the player set up to a putt on the practice green and go through their entire putting routine. I observe what they do that is correct and what they need to improve. I then draw a line on their golf ball with a template that you can buy on Amazon.com. I then have them aim that line at the spot where they think the putt will break or where they think they need to aim to make the putt. Then they stroke the ball and we see how well they “rolled” the ball. If the line rolls perfectly end over end, then we know that they have a good stroke. If the line rolls crooked, then we know that something is wrong and needs to be addressed. We repeat this several times until we make sure they either have a good stroke or a poor stroke. I can tell you that most people can roll that line good, but they struggle hard with aim and the read. If you are able to roll the line then that means you are striking the putts correctly and that should result in good distance control If you are not rolling the line good then you are mis-hitting your putts and will struggle with speed control or pace. So, if the line rolls bad we work until we can roll it. If the line rolls good, we work on green reading and alignment. If we can do these three things than we can be a really good putter. We have to be able to line up consistently on the course, we have to be able to correctly read the green (having a line helps you to see when you are right and wrong if you roll it good), and we have to be able roll it and strike it solid. Distance control and speed are important as well and go hand in hand with rolling the line and practicing the course you are getting ready to play to get a feel for the speed of the greens. I recommend putting 20 uphill 5 footers where you make the ball hit the back of the cup and 20 downhill 5 footers where you make the ball drip in the cup to learn the speed. Improving your putting is very much a process and if you would like help on your process of becoming a better putter than please come see me and I would love to help!
Justin Sigmon, PGA
Head Golf Professional
Stone Creek Golf Club