Attention! All golfers who miss putts, of all lengths, on a regular basis…
There is a common misconception that a golfer’s putting stroke should match up with the type of putter that is being used. For example, a face balanced putter would work best with a straight back and forth stroke while a non-face balanced putter would be more of an arc stroke. Well…that is not quite correct.
All putting strokes should have an arc to it, regardless of the type of putter. If you choose to override the natural arc of the putter, you can, but you are just manipulating the stroke with your hands and this leads the player into some inconsistencies and some short / long term problems.
Look at it this way, the reason a grandfather’s clock pendulum goes straight back and straight thru is because the pivot point is directly above the “Bob” or the weighted end of the pendulum. Both ends of the pendulum are in a vertical plane. The difference in a putter and a putting stroke is that the grip of a putter is not directly above the sweet spot of the putter. According to the Rules of Golf (Appendix II, Section D), the shaft can be no less than 10 degrees from vertical. This puts the grip end of the putter closer to the player than the club head. So this creates a natural arc to the stroke regardless of the type of putter you are using – face balanced or non-face balanced.
Drill – Draw a 5 foot straight line on the practice putting green with a chalk line. Address the ball with your putter. Swing the putter back and thru without a ball. The sweet spot of the putter should stay pointing to the chalk line from start to finish not covering the line. This is the arc at which your putter needs to swing. If your stroke does not reflect this motion from putt to putt, you are inconsistent with your stroke and will be inconsistent with your results.
Mechanics produce feel, feel reproduces mechanics.
