Today, Josh Zander, a PGA Teaching Pro at Stanford University Golf Course and Mysmartgolf.com co-founder, tells you how to put a solid strike on your putts. The tee is yours, Josh!
Putting is 42% of your score. That’s a lot! In short, putting is the most important part of the game. The cool thing is that anyone can be a great putter. It does not take the strength of a 300-yard drive to be a great putter. Just ask Corey Pavin!
There are so many important fundamentals to putting. Between the set-up, aim, alignment, path, and clubface, we can spend a lot of our time working on our strokes. What you don’t hear a lot about is striking the ball solidly. Striking the ball solidly is the most important fundamental because a solid strike is directly related to distance control. Also, a solid strike produces a better roll, which allows the ball to roll smoothly even on poor greens.
Most people 3-putt because their distance control is off. Having great “touch” is another way of saying that you have great distance control. Distance control starts with solid contact, and you cannot achieve consistent, solid contact if your head is moving during the stroke.
Distance control or speed is a key factor in any putt that breaks. The harder you hit it, the less the putt breaks. Conversely, the softer you hit it, the more the putt breaks. In other words, speed determines line. If your contact is poor, the same length stroke on two different putts will yield different distances and directions. In short, if you can’t hit the ball solidly, not only is your line off, but your distance control is off. If your line is off, all that work you did on practicing your aim, path and clubface is for naught! A solid strike is the most important fundamental.
During the British Open telecast, Tom Watson was commenting on how difficult it was to putt in the wind. He remembered his dad telling him that when all else fails, concentrate on making pure, solid contact with the ball and the rest of his fundamentals will start falling into place. Mr. Watson is absolutely right.
For more, let’s go to the video:
