05/16/2015

Some of the biggest problems in our putting stance are also some of the easiest to fix.  In this next segment of On the Lesson Tee, PGA Professional Todd Kolb is back to give us two simple but effective tips to making a more consistent putting motion, even before making the stroke.

I’m PGA Teaching Professional Todd Kolb with USGolfTV and another segment of On the Lesson Tee.  Today we’re talking about the proper setup for putting.  The first key—and the most important thing to making a good stroke when it comes to putting—is to get properly set up.  Now what I look for—the first two things that I look for—are level shoulders, and second getting the putter shaft in line with the forearms.  Let me go through this in a little bit of detail.

Level shoulders.  We all know that the putting motion is a pendulum motion; and it’s the angle of the shoulders that set that motion, so you want your shoulders to be nice and level.  If your trail shoulder—your right shoulder for right-handed golfers—is lower than the lead shoulder, what will happen is the putter will always swing low to high, and you will not make very good contact.  So the first thing I want you to do is make sure that your shoulders are level.

The second thing is you want the putter to be in line with your forearms.  You see, because the putter swings either straight back and straight through, or on a slight arc, and the relationship that sets that arc—or that straight back, straight through—is the relationship between your putter shaft and your forearms.

So make sure that when you’re holding the putter that it’s in your palms, and it’s in line with your forearms.  If you want to make more putts—if you want to have a good putting motion—you need to be properly set up.  Get your shoulders level, get the putter shaft in line with your forearms, and you will immediately find that your stroke improves and you will see the ball go into the hole much more often.