I have a lot of trouble taking the putter back straight on line. Sometimes it wavers outside the line, sometimes inside the line. My grip is light and I have my right index finger pretty much in line with the shaft. I am not sure why I do this, but it does effect my short putts especially. Maybe it is the way I take back the club. I am not sure exactly which muscles should control this movement.
Do you have any suggestions or exercises I can do to improve this.
Thanks
Jeremy.

In my case when I start to see some serious wiggling on the backswing, it means that I am trying to move my hands and allow my shoulders to follow the hands. When I move my shoulders and let the hands follow, the wiggling tends to go away - and the putts tend to fall

dave

When I feel my stroke isn't going straight back, I make an effort to slow the backstroke down a bit. I seem to get in trouble when I start out too quickly.

Dear Jeremy,

The best tip I've ever seen about starting the putter back is from Loren Roberts. He says he starts the putter back with his lead shoulder shoving the putter back, instead of moving the putter back with his hands or arms. When the shoulder shoves the arms and putter back as a unit, the putter will necessarily head back (at least initially for a short distance at least) dead straight back along the same line as the shoulder alignment (assuming the shoulderframe is moving in a parallel plane to the line of the putt and aim of the putter at address). With this technique, it is physically impossible to start the putter out across the line of the putt, and the putter will either go straight back or will tend a little to the inside.

You can try this by setting up facing a wall with the toe of the putter near but not touching the baseboard. Use the shoulder to shove the putter back with the shoulders square or parallel to the wall. The putter should move so that the toe does not get closer or farther from the baseboard as the backstroke progresses (and the putter should remain square to the wall to boot).

Another technique is to "unweight" the putter at address before starting the movement back from the ball. This is Jack Nicklaus' term. Basically, this means to get the putter up off the turf resting poised or suspended on the cushy grass. This avoids the necessity of starting the putter back with some extra initial effort sort of like that required to "strike a match." Keeping this extra "strike" effort out of the start also smooths out the motion.

Finally, I sometimes think of the bottom of the putter (the sole) as a curry comb and the grass of the green a horse's mane. When you comb the putter back thru the mane, you have to keep the comb headed straight or the comb will tangle and snag in the hair. So I imagine the bottom edge of the putter face as a curry comb and then move it straight back as if combing the green.

Cheers!

Geoff Mangum
Putting Theorist and Instructor
Geoff Mangum's PuttingZone
http://puttingzone.com
Golf's most advanced and comprehensive putting instruction.

Over 1,060,000 visits and growing strong ...

518 Woodlawn Ave
Greensboro NC 27401
336.790.8176 home
336.340.9079 cell

In the book Coaching Golf Successfully by Bill Madonna (ISBN 0-7360-3391-2) he states on Page 120

"To float means to lift your putter slightly off the ground (about one-eighth of an inch) to establish equal pressure in both hands and to determine the distribution of weight in your feet.
Watch the putter head at the very moment you lift it. The direction it moves tells you if your weight is equally distributed in your feet.
. If the putter head swings or jerks left, your weight is on your left leg or your grip pressure is not equal in both hands.
. If the putter head jerks away from you, your weight may be too much in your toes.
. If the putter head jerks toward you, your weight may be too much in your heels.

Let the putter head stabilize (It may shake slightly while hovering over the ground: that's your heartbeat.) Then set it back down and notice how fluid and straight your backswing is. If you had not floated out those inconsistencies, that jerky movement would be present in your backswing and would almost certainly prevent you from keeping your putting stroke on the target line."

My own personal experience is that the distance you stand from the ball can vary from putt to putt without you consciously picking this up. Too far, in other words, reaching for the ball, and there will be a tendency for your arms to fall back closer to your body on the backstroke. Too close, and there will be a tendency for your arms to move away from your body. Floating or hovering the putter helps to establish the correct distance so that your arms move back smoothly along your stroke path.

Nevile Walker
Perth, Oz

This Forum is really great.
It helps to realize that facing certain challenges I am not alone.
I trust that all the tips and advices provided by Geoff and Neville and others will help.
As for myself I really started to improve when I have found my dominant eye.
After finding it I started looking carefully at one particular point on the golf ball during my stroke. This season the improvement has been impressive for me using this.

What I have realized doing so was that I was focusing too much on the backstroke path and not enough on the golf ball itself.

You will find the article on the Quiet Eye in the articles section on www.puttingzone.com

For me it has truly improved my putting.

In conclusion I also have a drill when I struggle with this (my natural sometimes comes back).
I look at a point on the ground just back of my ball. This helps me to stroke the ball with a straight back and straight threw stroke.

Also I now truly believe that best gift you could do to yourself would be to get a putter with a high Moment of Inertia. I have a MacGregor V-Foil M5K center shafted and let me tell you that compared to a Newport from Scotty Cameron the accuracy I get with the M5K even on slight mis-hits (missing the sweet spot) is far more consistent.

Best regards,

Martin
Canada.