Putting Grips

How do y'all grip the putter

My puttings become erratic again, pulling way too many shorties. During the offseason I want to try a whole host of new grips and postures and do some experimenting to find something better than I have now

All welcome, even the weird and wacky

What a can of worms, pnearn.

Myself, I stand very upright and rigid. Then I lock my knees, bend over from the waist (to get my arms clear of my body), put the putter in a death grip (conventional grip), and rock the shoulders, using my wrists to compensate for my backswing, which is always the same length. For putts under 6 feet, I grip down the club.

hi all
i use a 50" broon handle putter and i stand side saddle and look at hole, my left hand over at my right sholder holding top of club and my right arm hand hangs down and my right hand grips the club and just pulls back and pushes forward just like when your walking bit palm of hand facees the hole. sounds weird buy boy does it work, my golf buddys say its cheating putting like that, but its in the rules to do it and its deadly from 6 feet.
bill

Could you post a couple of pictures?

hi edshaw
yes i post a clip later, i'll have to video it so wont be till tonight or tomorrow.
bill

Why do you think a grip has anything to do with your pulls on a short putt? Unless you have the wrists breaking...then yes, a grip might help. If so, start the drills x-handed to kill the wrists. Then go back to your comfortable grip, keeping a light pressure...no death grip at all, no tension...ANYWHERE.

Then with your normal grip get 2 2x4's and do 50 rail drills at your 8 and 16 foot lengths. I guarentee after 4 strokes you will know exactly what you are doing wrong. Then spend the rest of the 46 fixing/engraining it.

A comfortable trusting grip is essential to putting. Switching around, guessing and messing that up in your head will take away from the real problem...your path which is going to be based on setup, shoulder tilt and arm hang angles... Fix this FIRST, then slowly work in a slightly different grip is you want.

__________________
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

A couple of things I have been working on which seem to help me.

1) Switched to the claw grip. It seem to take the twisting of the right hand out of the stroke

2) I try to feel as if I am tapping the ball without too much of a follow through. The longer the put the harder the tap. It seems to keep me accelerating to the ball without fear of twisting the club head

3) Put a circle around the ball and line the circle to the hole then keep the putter head perpinduicular to the circle. At first when i stood over the ball it felt as if I was aimed very left of the hole.

I hear what youre saying Greg but my grip just doesnt feel right, doesnt inspire me with confidence. I can feel myself get wristy in the putting stroke and I want to play around with some grips in the offseason to see if there are any I really like the feel of, especially those which get my wrists out if it

MSKLAR- could you possibly give me a description of how you use a claw grip? This was one of the first I have on my list to play around with .. seems to be becoming ever more popular both on tour and at my course

hi edshaw
a quick pics of how i set up to a putt will try and do a quick clip when i can get on the greens

sure, what I do is grip the club normally with the left hand. The right hand - fingers point down to the ground sort of at an angle pointing at about 5:00 oclock. The club rests between the thumb and index finger. From there it is pretty much a shoulder turn in pendulum motion. The strength of the tap is controlled with part of the hand between the thumb and index finger. It has taken me a while to get used to, but feel more control of the stroke at this point and no twisting motion.

Hey, Bill:
I have been told that the putting method you are
using makes it so easy that it should be illegal.
That's a pretty strong endorsement.
I've never tried it, but it is my understanding
that sighting the line is much easier from
the head upright position than it is from the
"face down" position of the traditional stance.
It all makes sense to me, Bill. I've just invested
so much time in sighting the line in the
traditional way to change now. I'm on the
back nine, age-wise, and have come to the
point where if the greens have been mowed
and the cups are new, I can usually manage to
get the ball into them within reasonable expectations.

hi edshaw
the only think that made me change to this weird way of putting was when i got my new putter and i read dave plezs putting bible. dave said he knew a guy that putted this way and had the best putting action he had ever seen and is the best putting action he has seen to this day. and dave plez knows more about putting than anyone i have heard off. a true prndulim swing, you fix one end of the putter with your left hand and it dont move, and your righ arm just swings back and forward. up and down the line off the putt, a true pil (putter in line) putt.no wrist movment just the right arm controling the swing of the club.
when i first tried it i never imagin i really use it but the results were so good at lagging the ball, it its also so easy with the front of your body facing the target,you see all thats in front of you, the breaks, the points where you want the ball to roll over and you have to look at hole as its harder to try and look at the ball. i did feel embarrsed when i first tried it with my mates and took some ribbing too, but this soon passed as i went form a poor putter to a very good putter in only 2 weeks at most.
i know that the long handled putter had helped sam torrance and also langer who both had the yips and both had thought of giving up the game, both have been two of the best puttes since.
if you find you were like me and just a avg putter on a good dad the try a broomhandled putter, i dont mean to used my weird swing but try it like langer or torrance. you dont go from 186 in putting order to first 3 years running as langer did, if the long putter dont work how he go to no1 in one year. also remember you get 2 putts on every hole. if like me your a good putter you WILL hole some of them. i know as i 1 putt at least once a round. you realy start to think you can sink most putts and i use to be a guy who would try and get it close with anything more than 8 feet, now its about speed and going 6 inches past the hole and i two putt from 6 inches lots more.
want to be a better putter = get plezs book. putting bible and get a broomhandled putter.
if anyone trys it please let me know how you get on.
try this at home:- stand looking at a makeshift hole and put your left hand across your chest and left hand on top of right shoulder, drop right hand by your side, now turn the palm of your right hand towards the hole, now sing arm back and forward, does your wrist turn and does it face the hole all the time and if it was a club face it would face the hole all the time too,.
best of luck
bill

That's quite an endorsement, Bill.
One of my golfing pals is a three time California
amateur champion, former tour caddy, formerly
a minus three, and he putts like that.
I have also heard of a modification, the
butt anchors in the left shoulder pocket,
but that's a minor point.
I won't bore you with the details of what I had
to do to achieve true pendulum action with the
'traditional' setup, but I can see that the single
point anchor produces true pendulum also.