Best Technique for Golf Putting (Video) - by Rick Shiels
Best Technique for Golf Putting (Video) - by Rick Shiels

Right, you want to hole more putts. This technique is going to help you hole more putts day after day, round after round and your handicap is going to shoot down. Really important thing you've got to remember in putting. It is to make sure that a club face and the direction line is aiming straight at the hole. The club face has an 85% bearing on where the golf ball starts off and obviously that is going to be a massive factor when you are putting it either with slopes or non-slopes or even a straight putt. This counts as a huge factor on where the ball is going to start. The other big factor is the stroke itself. So we got a little rail here and the idea is to run the golf club up and down that rail.

Imagine the golf club is travelling in a perfect straight line, so as I'm looking, almost looking straight over the golf ball then I am looking straight down on the golf ball. I am rolling this up and down that rail so help me bear my -- to get my stroke really straight. Now you can do this at home. If you got a skirting board, maybe ask for permission first, but run it up on the other side of the -- make it run up and down the skirting board at home, or even just use some straight lines and you can run it down after a straight line here on the map and just work on getting that putter straight up and down that line the best you can. A couple of other factors as well is to get your eyes over the golf ball, so when you are setting up, you are not stood right back here. I'll do this actually right so you can see. You know I stood right back here and you can't see and your arc ends up becoming very rounded. A good way of testing this is set up, drop the golf ball straight for your eye and it should land only on the golf ball. That way you know your eyes are directly over the golf ball. So we’ve got club face massively important. We've got the path making sure that our club face is travelling -- the club head is travelling up and down that line and we've got our eyes over the ball more. So that’s getting to a much better set up position.

This is small thing, we want the ball just in front of the centre so we get the ball rolling a bit more. We don’t really want the ball back here because we end up hitting it on the way down, and we don’t want it there because we will hit it too much on the rail. It's just in front a centre. Now the stroke itself and the way that we are going to hit this shot, once you stroke it, we are going to make sure our lower body stays really firm as we hit this putt. So none of this kind of moving about and hitting and moving your feet. One thing to really work on is keeping your feet and your lower body planted like a tree trunks in the floor. You are not going to move these it’s all, you are not going to move your hips. So once you set up, all that happens is your upper body moves and you take a putt. One last thing, do not watch the golf ball go in, listen to it drop. And a good saying for that is 'I'd rather hear it drop than watch it miss. So remember that for next time. I'd rather hear it drop than watch it miss. That’s how you are going to hole more putts.

2013-06-25

Right, you want to hole more putts. This technique is going to help you hole more putts day after day, round after round and your handicap is going to shoot down. Really important thing you've got to remember in putting. It is to make sure that a club face and the direction line is aiming straight at the hole. The club face has an 85% bearing on where the golf ball starts off and obviously that is going to be a massive factor when you are putting it either with slopes or non-slopes or even a straight putt. This counts as a huge factor on where the ball is going to start. The other big factor is the stroke itself. So we got a little rail here and the idea is to run the golf club up and down that rail.

Imagine the golf club is travelling in a perfect straight line, so as I'm looking, almost looking straight over the golf ball then I am looking straight down on the golf ball. I am rolling this up and down that rail so help me bear my — to get my stroke really straight. Now you can do this at home. If you got a skirting board, maybe ask for permission first, but run it up on the other side of the — make it run up and down the skirting board at home, or even just use some straight lines and you can run it down after a straight line here on the map and just work on getting that putter straight up and down that line the best you can. A couple of other factors as well is to get your eyes over the golf ball, so when you are setting up, you are not stood right back here. I'll do this actually right so you can see. You know I stood right back here and you can't see and your arc ends up becoming very rounded. A good way of testing this is set up, drop the golf ball straight for your eye and it should land only on the golf ball. That way you know your eyes are directly over the golf ball. So we’ve got club face massively important. We've got the path making sure that our club face is travelling — the club head is travelling up and down that line and we've got our eyes over the ball more. So that’s getting to a much better set up position.

This is small thing, we want the ball just in front of the centre so we get the ball rolling a bit more. We don’t really want the ball back here because we end up hitting it on the way down, and we don’t want it there because we will hit it too much on the rail. It's just in front a centre. Now the stroke itself and the way that we are going to hit this shot, once you stroke it, we are going to make sure our lower body stays really firm as we hit this putt. So none of this kind of moving about and hitting and moving your feet. One thing to really work on is keeping your feet and your lower body planted like a tree trunks in the floor. You are not going to move these it’s all, you are not going to move your hips. So once you set up, all that happens is your upper body moves and you take a putt. One last thing, do not watch the golf ball go in, listen to it drop. And a good saying for that is 'I'd rather hear it drop than watch it miss. So remember that for next time. I'd rather hear it drop than watch it miss. That’s how you are going to hole more putts.