The question here is; should you hold your finish during your golf putting stroke? I don’t think it’s essential to hold your finish in a very similar fashion than its essential in your full swing. In your full swing, we’re used to seeing golfers hold this posy position as the ball flies through the air. We really want to achieve exactly the same thing when we’re making our putting stroke. Now quite often you don’t actually see golfers doing this on the golf course more often because the cameras just cut away to track the ball to the hole; what we’d see on it if we watched the golfer themselves is they would make a stroke and then they would be holding this finish position here looking and watching as the ball rolls down to the hole.
Very rarely do you see a golfer hit it and then just go and stand back and watch it from here. And particularly noticeable when we get near to the hole is very rarely would you see a good player on the course hit a putt and then move to go and pick it up; and that’s probably the thing I see club golfers do more regularly on the golf course that when they’ve got a short putt they hit it and they’re after it trying to get it out of the hole before it’s even finished rolling.
So it’s quite important when you’re taking your putts that you’ve got a good consistent set up, a nice stroke, the head still looks down here for a while until the ball has moved away out of your peripheral vision, then your head turns but nothing else. So we don’t want to sort of hit these putts and the whole body turns, we really want to hit the putt, everything stay still, then the eyes go. So if I’ve got this putt here and I'm rolling down towards the hole, I’m going to hit a bad one first, so, everything is lined up nicely but I hit it and I followed it and it pulls offline and misses left because my body was turning which takes the club offline down the left hand side.
If I hit this putt now with my body being still, I can’t guarantee it will go in I’m afraid because this green is not in great condition, but I’m hoping my stroke looks better, everything is lined up nicely, I stroke it nicely down there towards the hole, it’s a positive putt and my club is in a good follow through position, my eyes are in a good position and it have much more of a chance. Like I said it’s a very bubbly surface but all I can do is give the putt a chance and roll it down there nicely with a good consistent stroke. If it goes in great, if it doesn’t, no problem; it’s nice and close I could tap that one and I’ve taken two putts. So, should you hold you follow through when you’re taking your putts? Absolutely, same as your full swing, pose to a finish, here pose and watch the ball drop into the hole.
