Putting Problems

My putting stroke at the moment is terrible. I'm closing the blade as I hit the ball. Of course most putts are going left. When I finish my putting stroke, the putter head is facing miles left . I can't stop doing this and I do it using every putting grip I know of.

Anybody know why I'm doing this and how I can stop ?

Thanks

PS I have a left handed putter and when I use this my putting stroke is great and the putter face is always square after impact.

if u have a rug in your house. take 2 irons and put them so the distance between them is the width of your putter head. So you can only move the club straight back and forward. this will keep you from turning your club over when putting. it will feel weird at first but practice will help.

Thanks, I'll try that !

That is the rail drill which is a great one, but will not do you any good unless you take your hands and arms out of the putting stroke. Shoulders only. No hips -- no arms -- no hands -- no head. The reason your left hand stroke is better is becase you hands are not used to being use in that direction so they stay still.

Try this idea right handed, and play a left handed grip (the "left hand low") style. This takes your hands out completly. Now all you have to work on is the arms not moving the club through the stroke. If you tilt and rotate your shoulders, that will put your club on the perfect straight path the rail drill will enforce without working on the "less manipulation" method the rail drill to teach you to do if you still are trying the old grip.

Then once you get this idea of shoulders only stroke, you can try to regrip it right handed if that feels better. My bet, is that once you start to get good at the l-h-l method, you won't change back.

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I'm a golfaholic, no question about that. Counseling wouldn't help me. They'd have to put me in prison, and then I'd talk the warden into building a hole or two and teach him how to play. ~Lee Trevino

THat sounds interesting, I will try that.

hi
try a belly putter or a broomhandle putter, you have more of a pendulum motion and end up with putter head more square through the hit zone and i find its the easy way to putt ask anyone that has given it at try for a week or two. most keep it. Greg what do you think of broomhandle putter, would love to hear your thoughts.
hope it helps
bill

Check your grip.

Try setting up without a putter, put your hands together with your finger tips pointing straight down to the ball (as if you were praying). Now swing back and forwards. You should get a feeling of your shoulders rocking.

Then take your putter and place in the hands assuming the same setup. For a right handed player your back of you left hand should face the hole and the palm of your right do the same.

Now swing with the same rocking motion.

This is a very useful drill that can be done anywhere as you don;t need a putter to get the feel for the correct motion and hand position.

Cheers

Dan

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JCBDB

My vote goes to Mr. Willis, and his post. Too much hands, wrists, and fore arms in your stroke. Get the upper arms, including your shoulders more involved in your putting stroke. Your discription of your left handed stroke is the tell tail sign of your right handed putting woes.

Also, I know two guys who putt left handed, but play the rest of their golf game right handed. It was their cure to the same problem you have discribed. Why they don't play the rest of their game left handed is beyond my thinking cap. It has been just in the last few years that I have begun to wonder why right handed people don't golf left handed. Why play from your weak side, while learning to make it dominant, when you already have a dominant side? Yes, I am guilty of my own wonderment. GJS

That's a great idea GJS!

I get to buy a whole new set of clubs and fix my slice at the same time!

This is just a thought that helped me:

Take your regular grip.
Get both thumbs on top of the shaft.
Make sure there is
a firm but not death
hold with the right thumb and
index finger.
Now, achieve that same pressure
with the last two fingers of the
left hand.
In other words, balance the grip
pressure top and bottom. Let the
rest of the fingers seek their own
level.
What this achieves is a locked in
grip that will discourage the clubhead
from looping or fanning.
Don't forget, the best putters use a
back and shoulder stroke, not an arm and
hand stroke.

This is great advice, Greg. I started putting with my shoulders this year (especially on fast greens) and my putting has greatly improved.

Tigress

A possible reason why you are closing the face when you hit the putt is that you are looking up to see where your putt went to early. Lots of people rotate their chest when they look up to see where the putt went and when they do this the clubface closes as their core is pointing left. Try to stay down longer after the putt and keep your chest pointing in the same place after impact as it was when you set up.