Dear Geoff:

I just finished reviewing some of your lengthy missives on the forum of
puttingzone.com. I've been reading about putting theory lately with
special attention to the straight or in-plane stroke. I agree with
much of what you've written. I believe that straight or in-plane is
the "right" way. That said, I can't seem to reconcile one observation
with what you've written. Perhaps you can help.

Excepts from what you've written ...

"Now imagine a laser shining straight out of the bottom of the shaft
and the putter's sole at the surface. In the first "arcing" case, the
laser paints a section of the perimeter of a circle on the ground,
perfectly tracing the curve of the base of the cone, and the sweetspot
of the putter stays at the level of the base right on the surface. In
the second case of an "arcing" stroke with independent arms-hands
action, the laser paints a less curved ellipse that goes away from the
base circle as the putterhead rises going back and then rises going
past impact. BUT in the second case of a tilted-plane "straight"
stroke, the laser paints a perfectly straight line that matches at all
times the line of the putt along the ground, although the putterhead is
rising going back and rising going past impact more than the second
case just described."

I agree with this completely. Said laser will remain on-line
throughout the straight stroke. But ... no matter how hard I try ... a
straight stroke (remaining on plane) results in a very slight but still
perceptible amount of ... what appears to me to be ... face opening and
closing. Now, maybe it is an optical illusion as I watch the club
going back but ... it seems very clear to me that a small amount of
open and close occurs naturally all the while the shaft and face
(generally speaking) remain on plane.

You go on to write ...

"Once you see this, I still doubt you will be convinced, as this is the
usual response of golfers who have come to believe in the need for
arcing. At this point, you will start searching for some manipulation
of the hands that artificially keeps the sweetspot of the putterhead
over the line and that keeps the face square."

I thought the "straight" stroke kept the sweet spot (and thus, the
face) on-line and square? This is what I can't seem to do. I feel
that in order to keep the face truly square (or at least what I THINK
is square) I must manipulate the club slightly counterclockwise on
takeaway and clockwise on follow through. Importantly, I can easily
stroke straight back without arcing. Not hard at all. What I find
impossible is to keep face "square" throughout the stroke without
manipulating the face.

Let me approach my issue from another angle (no pun intended). I
assume that all "straight" method putters (hopefully all putters, for
that matter) start with the putter face perfectly perpendicular to the
aim line at address. Simple. Thus, it is also true that the toe of
the putter and the heal of the putter are precisely equidistant to any
point on the straight target line. No argument there, I assume. Now
.. do the toe and the heal REMAIN equidistant to all points on that
target line throughout the stroke? In other words, to the toe and the
heal travel precisely the same distance during the stroke?

Thanks for any help you can provide. I want to develop a straight
stroke but, despite best efforts, I see a small amount of face
open/close. Again, I'm NOT arcing. I'm going straight back and
straight through. Still, the face seems to open/close ever so slightly.

Thanks for your help!

Sincerely,

Tyler Ayer

Dear Tyler,

In a vertical shoulder stroke plane, where the lead shoulder socket moves vertically down at the balls of the foot and then curls back along both feet with the rear shoulder socket rising in the same vertical plane, the face of the putter will stay perfectly square at all times so long as two things are true: 1) the "triangle" shape is maintained as the stroke progresses back or forward, and 2) the forearms and hands do not twist. So: vertical stroke plane plus triangle plus nbo change in hands = square face at all points in the path, and path stays vertically above the putt line. The toe and the heel both remain equidistant at all times.

In a tilted shoulder stroke plane, however, the path of the putter head does not remain vertically above the putt line, but "appears" to curl inside in what "looks like" an arc shape. Even so, the putter face does remain square to the stroke path if two things are true: 1) the "triangle" shape is maintained as the stroke progresses back or forward, and 2) the forearms and hands do not twist. With respect to the line of the putt, the face of the putter "appears" to open going back and close going forward.

When I say "appears," I mean that in fact the putter face in the tilted stroke plane really does stay square to the putt line, too, not just square to the path of the stroke. How's that?

In the vertical stroke plane, the putter stays above the putt line at all times but rises evenly on either side of the bottom of the stroke. This trajectory of the putter sweet spot in three dimensions traces out a crescent shape rising vertically out of the putt line, centered on the bottom or middle of the stroke. (Think of a tiny fence line with the tops of the planks shaved into a smile-like crescent shape.) So when we think about the putter head in this stroke staying square to the path and also square to the line of the putt, we are only talking about two of the three dimensions (the line and the heel-toe axis of the face). The third dimension is ignored -- the axis up from the sole of the putter to the top edge of the face. This axis does not really stay square in the sense that it remains unchanged; it does change as the putter rises going back (tilts down towards the ground) and rises going forward of the middle / bottom (tilts up towards the sky).

In a tilted stroke plane, nothing at all differs from all that is true about the vertical stroke except that the crescent shape does not rise vertically out of the putt line, but rises at the same tilted angle as the stroke plane. That is, the crescent is exactly the same in both stroke, and matches the stroke plane in both strokes -- its just tilted in a tilted stroke plane. Seen from this perspective, the tilted stroke plane moves the putter square to the line just like a vertical stroke plane.

The difference is in the "projection" straight down to the ground of the putter sweetspot trajectory in both cases. In the vertical plane, a vertical projection of the sweet spot trajectory just retraces the putt line. So we're absolutely clear that in this case, the putter face stays square to the line. But in the case of a tilted stroke plane, a projection straight down to the ground of the sweet spot trajectory makes a curve or arc on the ground. If you took the tilted crescent and dropped vertical lines down at every point along the shape, you would see an arc on the ground.

So what? Who cares? Yes it's true the putter head "looks" like it arcs inside going back, but this is just a sense of the projection onto the ground. If you paid attention only to the crescent shape as the trajectory of the sweet spot, you would see a tilted stroke is really just the same as a vertical stroke on a tilt. Mistaking the projected arc on the ground as HOW the putter head ought to be moved is the source of much confusion. The putter head ought to be moved along the top of the crescent shape, and HOW to do that is to move the shoulder sockets in one plane of motion (either vertical or tilted) such that the plane of motion intersects the surface in a line that is the same as or parallels the putt line.

This tilt does make a difference, because the ball is launched and rolls in gravity. The vertical stroke substantially reduces the importance of ball position in front of the bottom of the stroke. When the ball is impacted with the putter face moving in a vertical plane like the gondola on a Ferris Wheel, the ball may get launched "up" some, but it is "up" in the same vertical plane and direction as the putt line, so the only harm might be from too steep a launch (bouncing). In the tilted plane, however, the ball needs to be struck right at the bottom of the stroke. If it is forward, the putter face will be tilting more to the inside and will launch the ball to the inside of the line a bit. But for both the vertical and tilted stroke planes, playing the ball exactly in the middle (and making impact with zero face loft or tilt) produces identically straight rolls.

To see the vertical stroke plane a little more clearly, hold the putter at address with only the lead hand and then lift the arm in coordination with a shoulder turn to send the putter down the line. If you continue all the way until the shaft is horizontal, the putter face will point straight up away from the surface. Try this over a line on the floor (squaring the putter face and feet and body to the line) and lift so that the sweetspot of the putter stays out over the line as it rises to horizontal. The putter face will be exactly above the line faces straight up at the ceiling like a "Waiter's Tray." This happens only when there is no change in the wrist orientation from that at address and the triangle shape is kept.

Another way is to simply start with two hands opposed like in a grip and raise the left hand until horizontal and flat, then swing it back straight until the back of the hand points at the ground when horizontal. You should notice that this requires NO wrist action for it to work correctly -- the two forearm bones stay in the plane of the palm all the way. You can move both hands at the same time in this way from flat when horizontal at the back to flat when horizontal at the front, but it's a little more of a stretch. The kinking movement of the bottom of the rib cage down at the hip at either extreme of these moves is matched by a stretching of the muscles along the opposite side of the trunk as the triangle shape stays intact.

When you do this with a tilted stroke plane, the palms stay oriented in the plane of motion without twisting.

What actually twists the putter face open going back is a failure to keep the triangle intact. When the triangle stays intact, there is no alteration in the arm pits during the stroke. But what actually happens is that golfers don't pay that close attention, and as the stretching increases, the golfers quit trying the keep the triangle intact and relieve the tension by allowing the arms to flap across the chest or away from the side, changing the arm pits. When the arms move independently of the triangle base of the shoulder frame, the forearms will rotate the hands, palms, and putter face open going back and closed going forward.

So, your perception of opening may either be simply an optical illusion by focusing on the arc on the ground rather than the crescent in the air, or a real opening and closing of the face by virtue of an unnoticed breakdown of your triangle causing some forearm rotation.

But if you do the move correctly, the palms stay aimed in the plane of the stroke at all times, whether the stroke plane is vertical or tilted. And so the putter face stays square to the plane of the stroke and to the line of the putt in both strokes.

There are many ways to think about this to keep the putter face from changing out of the stroke plane. Basically, you have to avoid unnoticed forearm twisting by keeping the triangle intact and NOT changing the hands' orientation from that at address during the stroke. The hands stay above a line across the toes, and they do not drop inside this line going back or through. (When the triangle collapses or breaks down, the lead arm fans across the chest and the forearm rotates as the extension back continues.) But when the triangle is kept intact as the stroke progresses, it feels a little like an extension or stretch "away" of the putter head from the feet in both directions to keep it out over the line of the putt, but it's really only moving the triangle bny moving the shoulders in a plane, with no arms or hands action at all.

Cheers!

Geoff Mangum
Putting Theorist and Instructor
The PuttingZone
http://puttingzone.com <http://puttingzone.com/>;
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Hi,

saw your putting message, take a look at the one I posted on the same website and see if that makes sense. I think the place to start looking at your stroke is in the shoulder movement. If you can truly rock your shoulder vertically AND align yourself to the target then with "dead" hands your putter should stay square throughout, - try the shaft and laser across the front of your shoulders as I described., - the putter head might not look square but that is perception and it doesn't take long before you have the right feel and visual image. I've used a putting track before but found it too easy to manipulate the putter through the track with the hands. Focus on your shoulder movement and alignment.