Why Do Some Players Stand Open For Their Golf Putts (Video) - by Pete Styles
Why Do Some Players Stand Open For Their Golf Putts (Video) - by Pete Styles

There’s a camera angle that I really like to see when I'm watching golf on the TV. And it’s a camera that sits right down on the edge of the green here behind the player and the club nestles right behind the ball and then at the distance you can just see the flag and the hole. It’s a great camera angle, for whatever reason the pros always seem to hold the putts when you see that camera angle. But one thing you often notice with that camera angle where are his feet aiming, his feet aren’t aiming on anywhere near that hole. You’ll see a lot of good players aim left with their feet, so the club is aiming nicely at the hole, but then the feet are aiming maybe three or four feet further left than they should be at the target. So if I was aiming at the camera this time my feet would be aiming back this way quite open. If it will why does the ball not go over there, how does the ball not go so far off the target line? The reason for this is the feet can be open as long as the shoulders and the club as square. So the shoulders are the real thing that creates the swing path, so if my swing path back and through, you straight up and down that’s generally going to be that’s because where my shoulders pointing. So my feet could aim very open, but my shoulders are aiming square therefore my swing path could be straight back and straight through.

So if some people like to get that left side out of the way as a right handed golfer we sort of open up here to get the left thigh the left hip, the left foot out of the way. That gives me a nice straight through stroke to the hole. And as long as my shoulders are pointing in my intended target direction I can make a nice straight through stroke. So if you feel that sometimes you’re left leg and left hip get in the way and you often have a decelerating or a flicking action by taking that left side out of the way a little bit maybe ten degrees left of target make sure your shoulders are still square, and then as you stroke the ball it should come rolling out nicely towards the target. And that’s why with that camera angle on the floor down there when you are watching the PGA Tour that’s why some golfers don’t have their feet perfectly lined up with the hole. 2014-10-10

There’s a camera angle that I really like to see when I'm watching golf on the TV. And it’s a camera that sits right down on the edge of the green here behind the player and the club nestles right behind the ball and then at the distance you can just see the flag and the hole. It’s a great camera angle, for whatever reason the pros always seem to hold the putts when you see that camera angle. But one thing you often notice with that camera angle where are his feet aiming, his feet aren’t aiming on anywhere near that hole. You’ll see a lot of good players aim left with their feet, so the club is aiming nicely at the hole, but then the feet are aiming maybe three or four feet further left than they should be at the target. So if I was aiming at the camera this time my feet would be aiming back this way quite open. If it will why does the ball not go over there, how does the ball not go so far off the target line? The reason for this is the feet can be open as long as the shoulders and the club as square. So the shoulders are the real thing that creates the swing path, so if my swing path back and through, you straight up and down that’s generally going to be that’s because where my shoulders pointing. So my feet could aim very open, but my shoulders are aiming square therefore my swing path could be straight back and straight through.

So if some people like to get that left side out of the way as a right handed golfer we sort of open up here to get the left thigh the left hip, the left foot out of the way. That gives me a nice straight through stroke to the hole. And as long as my shoulders are pointing in my intended target direction I can make a nice straight through stroke. So if you feel that sometimes you’re left leg and left hip get in the way and you often have a decelerating or a flicking action by taking that left side out of the way a little bit maybe ten degrees left of target make sure your shoulders are still square, and then as you stroke the ball it should come rolling out nicely towards the target. And that’s why with that camera angle on the floor down there when you are watching the PGA Tour that’s why some golfers don’t have their feet perfectly lined up with the hole.