Am new to this site and, more importantly, the kind of putting that Geoff teaches. But it is close enough to my 'normal' putting stroke on short putts that I am already using it on short ones at the course.

I was playing yesterday and on the 18th green I faced a "must make" 4 footer (team competition and this was probably for the win). While I make more 4 footers than I miss, I miss my share (or more). And while lining this up I was going through all those "gotta's and don'ts" that you would expect (don't let the right hand overpower and hit a pull and don't overcompensate for the right hand and hit a push, etc.).

I understand Geoff's teachings on practice swings but while I am learning 3 or 4 rhythmic gravity driven practice swings immediately before making the real stroke are absolutely critical to getting to the right stroke on the ball. As I was doing this and all those negatives came flowing in, another thought hit my mind. "Just start the darn stroke back and then DO NOTHING and let the stroke finish itself".

That was the easiest 4 footer that I have ever putted.

dave

ps. Yes, I did make it

Dear David,

Excellent! This "do nothing" business is especially effective on short putts. I always tell students that when they get the tempo down, all that they personally "do" to make a good stroke is start the triangle back with a shove of the lead shoulder. Once the stroke is started, the brain / instincts have given you the right backstroke for the distance, and your aiming of the putter face plus simple setup alignment and biomechanics takes care of the line. What else is there? Just let the putter fall naturally thru impact, and it will do so square and straight.

As it happens, there is one other thing on short putts the golfer needs to "do" -- nothing. This is not what golfers usually "do." Instead, they move the putter at the ball, or hit the ball, or accelerate thru impact, or hit with hands ahead, or rotate the arms and hands into and thru impact, or peek, or move the pivot, or guide the stroke, or hit down, or hit up, or something. If you do "nothing," the pivot at the base of the neck stays in place and the shoulder alignment stays square, and the hands and arms do not manipulate and change the putter head's path or the putter face's orientation.

Indeed, there is the little matter of setup so that the putter can be started back and then return to the same bottom of the stroke headed straight and square, but that's another matter.

As the putts get a little longer, there is one other thing to do, and that is to do nothing until the putter head returns from the top of the backstroke to the bottom of the stroke and then lift or move the lead shoulder of the triangle vertically out of the way so that the putter will continue its natural pendulum swing unimpeded by the body. This is done by lifting the lead shoulder vertically away from the ground by "kinking" the whole upper torso sideways (rear ribcage's bottom heads straight down at rear pelvis) while leaving the pivot centered above the bottom of the stroke or perhaps even "pushing" or "shoving" the whole triangle with the rear hand to lift the lead shoulder vertically while leaving the pivot centered.

I prefer to lift the lead shoulder with a whole-torso kinking action, but others feel a need to involve the rear hand, at least to pacify its insatiable demands for some role in the movement action. This rear hand action works with coordinated timing of the whole triangle and shoves or lifts the lead shoulder via the lead arm, but only does so without disturbing the timing of the pendular swinging thru the impact zone and upward. On these longer strokes, if you don't do this, the tissue and structure of the upper torso allows the putter to fall from the top of the backstroke but impedes its symmetric rising thru and past impact. The result is a slight deceleration thru impact plus a pull action of the lead shoulder running back off behind from the vertical plane it should be staying in.

The "feel" of the rear hand action thru impact is very, very close to the same feel as the shoulder shoving back or tossing the triangle back at the start of the stroke. There is a toss-shove back by the lead shoulder (down and back beneath the neck) that starts the stroke back and allows it to coast to the correct backstroke size, and then there is the patience of the stalking tiger waiting for the putter to silently start down and accelerate gracefully thru the impact area (bottom of stroke), and then there is a very-much-the-same impulse of toss-shove that lifts the lead shoulder (up and back) this time powered either by the kinking action of the whole upper torso or by the toss-shove timing of the rear hand moving the triangle up and back so that it coasts to the top of the follow-thru. Back and down under the neck, patience, up and back under the neck.

So, on short putts, start the stroke and do nothing, just watch and enjoy. On longer strokes, just start the stroke and watch for the moment to assist the pendular action of the triangle in its natural, flowing rise thru impact and into a smooth finish, swinging on a vertical plane beneath a stable pivot and neck.

Cheers!

Geoff Mangum
Putting Theorist and Instructor
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