He Geooff,

I figured I would start a different post as I was getting off the original topic.

I think I figured out my problem. Now I would be interested if this is common and if you agree with my solution. I spent a fair amount of time practicing my putting while watching my hands during the putt. What happens on short putts where the total backstroke is say ~3" is my hands start the backstroke and for a second the putter lags behind and than sort of jerks into motion once the hands get far enough in the backstroke...consequently the putter goes inside early and the resultant impact position is not very consisent nor square.

I started using a technique where I make an effort to move the putter first away from the ball (similar feeling to hiting a pitch but obvisouly not with such a forward press. Then my shoulders kick in for a brief moment on the backstroke and then the forward stroke occurs. I think using this technique results in a little longer overall backstroke thus the ball is sent firmer to the hole.

I also found that a belly putter obviously fixes this as there is no chance for the hands to outrace the putter head on the backstroke because the grip of the putter is anchored. The ideal would be if I could get the same backstroke motion (that I get with the belly putter) with my shorter putter. Geoff, what do you think?

I should mention that putts over say 6 feet are not a problem as the backstroke is typically long enough to compensate for the takeaway error.

Hi Geoff,

Is this a common error?