Dear Neville,
I will research my database and send you all I have on posture. Here are my comments:
I agree with you that one posture ought to work for short as well as long putts, and that is what I use. Let's define a long putt as something that requires a backstroke that angles back more than 45 degrees. This is about where the left ribcage (right-handers) comes into serious conflict with the pelvis and midriff tissue. That is, at this point, you get a feeling in the body that turning back further is hard and will require allowing the putter to swing back inside. The people who advocate standing taller on long putts are just trying to avoid this conflict at address by using a stroke path that gates back and around (open) in the backstroke. I don't like shifting to a gating inside-square-inside path just to avoid a little discomfort in the backstroke. I don't think it is necessary, and the different stroke path encourages timing and direction errors. What I do instead is seek a sense of balance in my head position to begin with, for all putts, and don't worry at all about the conflict or discomfort. I concentrate more on keeping the pivot at the base of my neck steady and the stroke going back nice and even tempoed. With a smooth slow tempo to begin with for all putts, the conflict near the left pelvis comes on rather mildly. I suspect that people who feel serious discomfort without a gating stroke are using too fast a tempo and are jamming the ribcage down too hard and quick.
There are two different sort of bends to get the head properly lowered -- from the waist area and then also from the top of the neck / spine area. You can stand fairly tall with the technique I teach, bending mostly at the top of the neck, so long as the undersides of the arms are clear of the chest in the stroke. What I find (at least with my "normal" physique) is that canting the shoulders forward so that the shoulder sockets are directly above the balls of the feet gives me good balance for pivot management and steadiness and also clears my arms out from the chest sufficiently. If you bend too much from the waist, it tends to tighten your lower back around the spine and makes a big stroke a little more uncomfortable.
Another helper idea is that you can give up a little in the head bend so long as you keep your eyes aimed straight out of your face at the ball at address, not angled down the cheeks like reading a book. This allows a straight sighting along the ground to the target and relieves a little body tension and works well with a stroke plane that is not vertical but is slightly tilted. This way, the torso movement is more of a twisting than a side bend as with the pure vertical stroke plane, although the stroke plane still keeps the putterhead on a straight line back and thru. So, the discomfort of a big stroke is lessened in the midriff area, since the ribcage is twisting above the pelvis instead of headed right at it. A tilted stroke plane is a wee bit more difficult to get right than a vertical stroke plane time after time, though, but not that much harder.
I also find that a longer stroke causes problems in my hand positions. That is, my hands ought to stay in a plane of movement that is the same distance from my thighs the whole time. In bigger strokes, the hands tend to either go farther from the plane more towards the putt line or in closer to the thighs, going back or starting down. The "feeling" of keeping the hands in the starting plane during the stroke is almost as if the on the downstroke into impact have a slight curve closer to the body, but this is an illusion. In fact, they are moving straight. But if you don't have this illusion that the path of the hands makes a mild smiley face shape right on either side of impact, you will probably have a path for a pull or a push. I focus pretty good on recognizing the exact middle and bottom of the stroke movement at setup, so I can return the putterhead here distinctly before impact, such that at this bottom the putter shaft is straight to the ground at the middle (not leaning forward or back) and the putterface is VERY square on target. This concentration on the bottom-before-impact gives me this "feeling" about the path of the hands.
I suppose that what causes the problem to begin with is involving the arms' muscles in making the stroke big enough. These muscles almost always get the hand path out of whack. The cure is to make even a big stroke ONLY by moving the shoulder sockets (rocking in plane) and keep the triangle of arms and hands stable but unchanging. As soon as the armpits start to open, you have started adding movement with the arms, and you hand path will be in doubt. I wouldn't say you need to "clench" the armpits shut in the stroke -- just relax and move only the shoulders. This helps out on big strokes by keeping the tempo nice and smooth and keeping the hands on plane without having to manage the hands path. It's all very natural and smooth.
Finally, the shoulders-only stroke is VERY powerful, and can blast any ball off any green on earth. If you don't believe this, tee a ball up very high on a tee and "drive" the ball down the fairway with your putter using a good 7-iron swing. The power comes from the shoulder turn with the arms staying connected and not moving independently of the shoulder turn. In putting, this is true as well. Part of the confusion about long putts and big strokes is the unclear notion that a long putt requires a big energetic whack on the ball. Not so. Stay in tempo, regardless of the length of the putt, and deliver the naturally accelerating putterhead smoothly thru the bottom of the stroke, with a nice finish. You will be able to convince yourself pretty quickly that smooth is plenty!
I DREAM of coming to Australia to teach all the time. I even study the map and culture and listen to Aussie radio stations via the Internet (the Basement in Sydney and Triple J being two favs). But I have to wait until the money boys invite me!
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Cheers!
Geoff Mangum
Putting Theorist and Instructor
The PuttingZone.com
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