Pros And Cons Of A Cross Handed Putting Grip In Golf (Video) - Lesson by PGA Pro Pete Styles
Pros And Cons Of A Cross Handed Putting Grip In Golf (Video) - Lesson by PGA Pro Pete Styles

So if we look further, the cross handed putting method, people often suggest to me, "Well, why did you go cross handed, what did you do that for?" And like I suggested before, I wasn’t a brilliant putter in the traditional method, so going cross handed gave me a couple of little extras in my putting game, and it was worthwhile making the change. And the real focus and the real difference to me is that it helps me get the putt on line a little bit more. I find it much easier to make the putt on line with my cross handed method; my hands are quitter; they do less work.

In my traditional method, I tend to have too much hand action, and that’s the same as what I say in my general teaching, anyone that has too much hand action would benefit from a cross handed method. It takes a bit of time to get used to it, but they will like it. Also the benefit I feel, I am thinking one of the reasons why Mcilroy has made the change he has made, is actually the resilience to pressure that in a cross handed method, the right hand particularly that can get a bit shaky and a bit rattly under pressure, is very passive and I find it much easier just to rock that back and through in that style, rather than the traditional method my right hand would sometimes get a bit too involved and flick the ball. So starting the ball on the right line and doing that consistently under pressure, I really like that as a good change. Now what are the downsides, what are the cons of doing this? If those were the pros, what are the cons of doing this change? A lot of people they initially struggle with distance control. They are so used to putting in this fashion that they would find distance control becomes quite simple with the standard grip, and changing to this grip they might feel like their distance control suffers a little bit. I would suggest that’s only a short term temporary change, and actually the more consistency you build, the more practice you get, you can get out of that concern of your distance control. The one other change that people suggested fails for them as a negative side is, it's a bit of separation between what your standard grip is for the rest of your game and your putting game. So you might feel that you are really comfortable with your grip for your drive, your got your irons, your wedges, your chip shots but actually when you make this change for putting, it almost feels like a bit of a negative because it is a very different style. I personally spin that on its head and use it as a positive. I tell myself, my hands are doing different job in my full swing and they are doing a different job when I am putting. So the change of the grip really reinforces that fact that it’s a different stroke, don’t let your hands do the normal thing. Tell him to do something different and the grip change helps me there. But those are the pros and cons of the cross handed putting method. 2016-04-18

So if we look further, the cross handed putting method, people often suggest to me, “Well, why did you go cross handed, what did you do that for?” And like I suggested before, I wasn’t a brilliant putter in the traditional method, so going cross handed gave me a couple of little extras in my putting game, and it was worthwhile making the change. And the real focus and the real difference to me is that it helps me get the putt on line a little bit more. I find it much easier to make the putt on line with my cross handed method; my hands are quitter; they do less work.

In my traditional method, I tend to have too much hand action, and that’s the same as what I say in my general teaching, anyone that has too much hand action would benefit from a cross handed method. It takes a bit of time to get used to it, but they will like it. Also the benefit I feel, I am thinking one of the reasons why Mcilroy has made the change he has made, is actually the resilience to pressure that in a cross handed method, the right hand particularly that can get a bit shaky and a bit rattly under pressure, is very passive and I find it much easier just to rock that back and through in that style, rather than the traditional method my right hand would sometimes get a bit too involved and flick the ball.

So starting the ball on the right line and doing that consistently under pressure, I really like that as a good change. Now what are the downsides, what are the cons of doing this? If those were the pros, what are the cons of doing this change? A lot of people they initially struggle with distance control. They are so used to putting in this fashion that they would find distance control becomes quite simple with the standard grip, and changing to this grip they might feel like their distance control suffers a little bit.

I would suggest that’s only a short term temporary change, and actually the more consistency you build, the more practice you get, you can get out of that concern of your distance control. The one other change that people suggested fails for them as a negative side is, it's a bit of separation between what your standard grip is for the rest of your game and your putting game. So you might feel that you are really comfortable with your grip for your drive, your got your irons, your wedges, your chip shots but actually when you make this change for putting, it almost feels like a bit of a negative because it is a very different style.

I personally spin that on its head and use it as a positive. I tell myself, my hands are doing different job in my full swing and they are doing a different job when I am putting. So the change of the grip really reinforces that fact that it’s a different stroke, don’t let your hands do the normal thing. Tell him to do something different and the grip change helps me there. But those are the pros and cons of the cross handed putting method.