By “synchronized” I mean that the shoulder frame and arms and hands are moving in “one piece” on the way back.

I try to think about moving my shoulders straight back (battering ram visualization from Geoff) but depending on the level of naturally occurring tension on the day, my arms may lag behind slightly, or my hands turn over too much.

What’s the best way to ensure I’m synchronized on every stroke? When I in sync, I always putt to where I aim. When I’m not in sync, my putt almost always goes slightly to the right of target.

Dear tongzilla,

I could say that the golfer first relaxes and hangs the arms in the natural bend of the setup and then structures the body with muscle tone of about 3 on a scale of 1 to 10 in the hands, forearms, upper arms, shoulders, and top of the back, and that this is the form that stays coordinated during the stroke so that the arm pits do not open in the backstroke or forward stroke. This coordinates the lead shoulder with the movement of the putter head both back and thru.

Instead of that, which is all true, let me try this: it boils down to the lead elbow staying in one orientation throughout the stroke so there is no change in relative orientation between upper arm and forearm on the lead side, whether in the backstroke or the forward stroke.

You can experience this artificially by placing too much tension in the muscles on either side of this lead elbow to fix it in shape, and then make a stroke with that structure and tension remaining the same and the arm pits staying the same throughout the stroke. By getting the lead side alone sorted out, the rear side becomes irrelevant and only supportive.

Backing off a bit to a more relaxed structure, try "rolling" the lead elbow inward towards the chest just a touch in the setup, and then countering this with the lead forearm "rolling" the opposite direction. The first action makes the grip on the putter "weak" with the face a bit "closed" and the second action makes the hand "stronger" back to square with a square face. The combination is similar to "wringing a dish rag" about the elbow joint. This tightens the structure with a special tension up and down the arm thru the elbow, and not just tension. Then pay attention to "where" the inner surface of the elbow aims (it differs for each person slightly -- in my case, the aim is not quite square into the target line but a little "closed" to the right a few degrees). keep this orientation of the inner surface of the elbow the same during the stroke by moving the lead shoulder vertically back. This action will maintain the lead armpit in the same configuration and the inside of the lead upper arm in the same contact with the side of the chest throughout the stroke. At this point, it's just a question of the fullness of the stroke and its fluidity.

Try that. I hope it helps.

Cheers!

Geoff Mangum
Putting Coach and Theorist

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This elbow position / feel you're talking about is similar to what's taught for a full swing in 5 Lessons (by Mr Hogan). I will try this out later today.

Moving on to a slightly different point, do you think "counter-pressures" from the hands on the grip helps? So, with what you've described above, there would be a slight clockwise pressure on the grip with the left hand. I can also apply a equal and opposite anti-clockwise (i.e. right hand palm face down) pressure with my right hand. Will this help stabalise the putter and the stroke? Or will it merely add unecessary tension?

Dear tongzilla,

Being mindful of the difference between "optimal" and "optional" choices for technique, my response is:

The opposing pressure that you describe is generated in the forearms, so that really relates to "forming the structure" in the arms part of the "triangle". That's fine as a choice so long as you don't overdo it and also don't create too much of a sense of "unless the checklist is perfect, the putt cannot be perfect" when an aspect of technique is incorporated into your style. In other words, don't freak out if you occasionally forget to do it! Perfectionist love to add to the "checklist" or "flight checklist" and will only consider a putt acceptable that has ALL checklist items also executed perfectly, with none omitted or forgotten or done imperfectly. Very bad idea for golf.

Now also distinguish the feel of adding this sort of "clockwise-counterclockwise meeting of hands in opposition on the handle" tension in the forearms versus what else you can do to add or subtract pressure or muscle tone in the "hands only" without altering (much) the forearm muscle tone. This is adding "on top of" the forearm muscle tone a bit, but not too much. In the hands only, the issue is more of a "bottom fingers versus top fingers" securing of the handle inside the hands. A flat plane across the two forearms meets this up-down plane thru the center of the hands top-bottom in a perpendicular orientation. The up-down fixing of the grip (or bottom-top fixing) has to do with stabilizing the torque of the putter being held out away from you on its lie angle, so the putter head doesn't droop inward at your feet during the stroke. Golfers apparently get a bit too casual about the pressure in the final three fingers underneath the handle. The muscles that make this "underneath fingers pressing up towards the base of the thumb and the thumb tips on the top of the handle" are at the wrist, and tightening these fingers a bit also strengthens the structure of the wrist against the down-inward torque force of the angled putter.

You want a structure that is unified to the point that you can leave it alone and focus then on the MOTION muscles in the gut and the management of the stroke at the top of the body for accuracy and good timing.

I'm sure this is mostly "finesse overkill", but that's okay so long as you are exploring without perfectionism.

Cheers!

Geoff Mangum
Putting Coach and Theorist

Geoff Mangum's
PuttingZone
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PuttingZone Channel on YouTube
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