Dear David,
Holy Cow! That sux!
If the toe is flaring open in the backstroke, there are two possible causes:
1. the forearms are rolling the putter open; and/or
2. the lead shoulder is not going down and under but is going OUT and down and back.
The first source comes from starting the stroke back using the forearms and hands to tug the putter handle and putter head back from the static starting position. Use the lead shoulder instead to shove the stick of the putter and its putter head back as a unit, and leave the forearm muscles inert.
The second problem is a fixable aspect of the dead-hands shoulder stroke. Even if you start the putter back with this sort of shoulder action, so long as the lead-side hip remains where it started at address, the mid-section tissues, cartilage, muscles, etc. have something of an "elastic memory" by virtue of which your abdomen can guide the upper torso back to "square" by the time the forward stroke returns the putter head to where it started. This is a somewhat subtle way to make sure the open putter face gets closed in time before the putter head thereafter simply moves straight and rising down the target line. (The putter head has no inherent tendency to continue on an arc by itself, and so the momentum of the stroke "desires" to go only straight after the putter head reaches the bottom of the stroke and resquares. It is only the voluntary (misguided) effort of golfers that disturbs this natural, inherent momentum of the stroke.)
The reason I describe the abdomen action reguiding the putter head in the downstroke back to square as "subtle" is because golfers always want to "bring" the putter forward from the top of the backstroke instead of patiently waiting for the stroke to transpire by itself. This impulse comes from a misguided effort to "stay in control" of the stroke power and line and to "make sure the ball gets there" with sufficient "hit." This, frankly, is the reason why almost all golfers never improve their putting much despite a life of trying this and that bandaid. Patience takes guts! Guts takes confidence! Confidence takes KNOW-HOW!
So what's the "know-how"? You need to know how the stroke is ALWAYS SUFFICIENT for distance without any effort by you other than staying "smooth" in your timing. The instincts handle everything else. So get rid of the "hit" impulse as completely as you can as soon as you can, and love the "patience" of simply wittnessing the thru-stroke take its own course smoothly.
This elimination of the "bringing" of the stroke forward ALLOWS the abdomen's elastic memory to COMPLETE its closing back to square of the putter face by the time the stroke returns to the midpoint or bottom of the stroke, and well before impact begins. This patience also prevents the golfer from continuing to "close" the putter after the midpoint is reached in an inside - square only for an instant - inside again path, and to ALLOW the putter path to swing naturally and smoothly on an inside a little - resquares by the bottom on its own -- stays straight and rising after the bottom square down the line at least three inches.
In the meantime, while you wait for your patience to arrive, make sure you can re-close the putter face bafore the bottom, midpoint of the stroke and well before the back of the ball is reached.
Here are some drills and exercises:
Auto-resquare: set two golf balls either side of the ball to putt, one nearer the feet and one beyond the ball, so the line of three balls is "square" to the target line and aim of the putter face at address and also so that the inside distance between these "gate" balls is at least 1/4 inch wider on the toe end and on the heel end of the putter. Then remove the middle ball and make a backstroke; from the top of the backstroke, hold the base of the neck still while allowing the mid-section to return the upper torso back to square and watch that the putter swings smoothly of its own accord between the two "gate" balls without hitting them and also that the putter face arrives square at the gate and remains square a short distance thru the gate.
Door jamb: setup inside a door jamb aiming at the vertical planks on one side about 4-6 inches away from the aimed putter face and make a stroke that delivers the putter face "flush" to the vertical plank, with the toe and the heel both arriving in contact with the wooden surface at the same time.
Sleeve box: set an empty golf ball sleeve box on the carpet or floor aimed with the long axis at a target and square up the putter at the top of the box and make a stroke that impacts the box top flush and square and sends the box skidding straight.
All of this requires that the throat line start out matching the top leading edge of the putter face as aimed and then either stay there or return to this orientation when the putter head comes forward and reaches the bottom midpoint of the stroke again. In particular, the throat line should NEVER swing to the target-side of this midline as established at address (to the left for a right-hander, as this is either a pull or a push, depending on what is happening with the putter face). The feeling is "staying back at the top" or "nailing your putt square by hitting into a firm left side." Combined with the self-directed trajectory of the putter head momentum thru the impact zone, the sense is also a patient waiting for the momentum of the putter to gently move the lead shoulder vertically up from the surface thru impact as the throat line remains centered and stays back while the arms, hands, and putter just swing smoothly up and down the line.
Chopsticks: use two chopsticks or big tees and aim them as a pair at a hole on a straight putt from about 4-5 feet out, with a gap between them about 2/3rds the width of a golf ball, and back a golf ball up to this gate with its "bum" sticking out behind the gate near the putter face. Aim the putter face and set it behind the back of the ball an inch or two, and draw a line in the green across the putter face to indicate a) the bottom midpoint of the stroke, and b) square face aim. Then set the throat line to match this line on the ground and make a stroke that stays back once the thru-stroke gets back to the bottom. The putter face will then effortlessly and smoothly rise up into the back of the ball and impact everything squarely (toe and heel each hitting their pegs at the same time) and roll the ball straight into the hole. This dynamic -- whether achieved by this minimalist "do nothing" approach that I teach or by "control freak" effort -- is essential to a stroke that rolls the ball the same way the putter face aims at address.
There also seems to be an issue in your case of the pace of your putts, as this is the likely culprit to explain why your break was not the same as the other guys. Pace is simply either "unhurried" or "hurried". A "hurried" pace is due to the same reasons mentioned above -- no patience, no guts, no confidence, no know-how. Never allow yourself to roll the ball any farther than your target spot near the hole, and always think in terms of the putted ball actually coming to a dead stop right on top of this spot (as if the putt had no break at all and were straight and level). This ever-present intention plus the guts to not hurry will fix this problem of line and distance. Then you will find out whether you are any good at reading the break and aiming the putter to start with.
Let me know how it's going. And thanks for asking.
Cheers!
Geoff Mangum
Putting Coach and Theorist
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