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A Great PreShot Routine for Putting.
Tom Wilson
Watch many of the worlds best putters and you will notice they all have in common a definable, repeatable pre-putting routine. This routine has been practiced thousands or perhaps even a hundred thousand times by these golfers. They will practice it every day to ingrain the process and the mechanics and to make it second nature. The preshot putting routine takes the focus off mechanics and enables their body to become target focused. The best putters know that if they are putting poorly one day then they simply need to return to their basic pre putting routine and practice until they discover the putting fault from their previous round of golf. That is, they will practice their routine to discover the fault that was the cause of there poor putting. Most of the time it is very simple to reveal - just by practicing their preshot routine, they discover something small in their putting process, an event out of sequence that they forgot to execute.
Different Strokes Putting Keys for Different Folks
This putting tip works only if you are using a conventional putter. ( 34-35 inches or so ).
The preshot putting routine is different ( or slightly different ) for every golfer. Why ? - because each person has a slightly different and unique physiology. This difference means that each persons shoulders, arms, hips, knees, hands, and neck all make up a different set of size and mass. No two wrists are exactly the same size. The process that will square one persons shoulders will open anothers, and close yet another persons shoulders.
Try this routine to see if it helps you putt better. You may find that some or all of the components of this routine may be incorporated into your routine to assist you in putting better. First Get into an Athletic Golf Setup to Putt the GolfBall into the Hole. How? You have heard this many times. Do not bend forward from the waist!
You get into an athletic golf position by bending forward from the hips. Grip the putter in your left hand to start while standing behind the ball. Pass the putter back and forth between the left and right hands two times finally stopping with the putter in your right hand. Then, take your left arm and push it straight out from your body and let it drop comforably to your side. This has the effect of "tightening the rope" ie the muscles in the lead arm. Watch the pro's - most all of the good putters do this including Vijay and Tiger. Next, keep your left hand in front of your body and push the putter with the right hand into the left hand. Do not move the left hand to the right hand, move the right to the left. When you grip the putter handle grip first with the top of the palm pad nearest the pointer or index finger, then the rest of the fingers. This is an important setup key as there is a direct relationship between this grip position and the rocking of the shoulders up and down on the spine.
What you have done is activate the large golf muscles in your shoulders, neck, lats, arms, triceps, and biceps. This as we know is important because in golf we want to use the bigger muscles for consistency and repeatability. In addition, you have enabled the right side of your body ( for right handed players ) to control the putt. This is important because it enables the shoulders to stay square and your head to stay back behind the ball resulting in the proper release of the putterhead down the target line. If you do not stay back on the ball you will most likely lunge a bit forward and push the putt to the right of your target.
Lastly, while staying in your current posture, walk to the golfball, address it and putt it to the hole. If you follow this preshot putting routine you will put the golfball in the hole more often. Less three putts and more one putts. That is the way to score. Practice this technique to build confidence in your putting stroke.
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