Don’t let the slow speed fool you. Putting is like the slowest part of golf but it is surely not the easiest. Many would tell you otherwise but there really isn’t any part of gold that is ‘easy’. But, if you know the basics of it, you can get the hang of it quite quickly. This is because putting is something you can do in a relatively small space. Many players have a small putting set in their office that they can practice between meetings, telephone calls and even during lunch hours. You can never practice your swings then.
Every single factor counts
The Grip – Ensure that you have a firm grip on the club when putting. Put your hands with your palms facing each other on the club. What you want to achieve here is to eliminate any excess wrist movement because putting requires you to be very still and to be in control. Practice makes perfect and you want to have a perfect grip.
Aiming – Ensure that your clubface is looking at the target and the putter head is placed right behind the ball which you are about to hit.
The direction of sight – Your eyes should be directly over the ball which will have an imaginary line towards the target hole.
Posture – Then make sure that your shoulders, hips, knees and feet are all aligned to the target hole. Between you and the hole should be a target line. Your elbows should be bent slightly while your hands would be directly under your shoulders. Remember that your posture plays a crucial role here.
Setting – The ball should be about 1.5 to 2 inches inside your left heel and you will be leaning towards the left part of your body (for right-handed golfers). In fact, you would feel that about 70 to 80% of your body weight is now hovering over your left heel. Ensuring that your forearms are parallel to each other throughout the entire time, and as you hit the ball, your left shoulder will be maintaining its length while your right should be moving up your shoulder. Throughout all this, your head should be still and your eyes should be leading the ball towards the target hole.
Brands – All golf brands come with their own set of putters. The best way to determine which is the best is actually to test it in the store. No other equipment is easiest to test the way a putter does. After all, you can practically try in the store itself. Dunlop’s NZ9 putter has received some very positive reviews while the Mizuno MP A302 and the Nike Method Core MC02w putter too have both been quite popular in recent years.
