You're Correct!

The way in which your hands move during your putting stroke is very important, especially when it comes to developing a consistent stroke that will help you control the distance that you hit your putts.

When youre faced with putts between two feet and 30 feet, you will be looking to keep the arms and shoulders working as a solid unit, but as the length of your putt increases then you will get to the stage when you will be looking to introduce a little bit of trailing hand release.

When it comes to deciding at what length the putt needs to be to add a little hand release, you do need to take into account a couple of factors first - the speed of the green and whether there is any incline.

Green Speed

The running speed of the green will play a big part in deciding the right distance from the hole you need to be before adding a little hand release. On a green where the speed is fairly quick, you would be looking at a putt of at least over 60 feet before you would be thinking of releasing the trail hand in the forward stroke. If the green was running slow or was wet then you would need to look at a distance that could possibly be as close to the hole as 30 or 40 feet.

The Incline Of The Putt

The only other area that you need to assess before deciding if you need to release your putter a little with your hands is if you have an uphill putt of a considerable incline. For the most part, you would very rarely come across a putt up a step enough incline unless you were on a green with a tier in it. In this instance, you need to pace out from the foot of the incline to the flat spot at the top and add this distance to the length of your putt. You will have more success if you allow your trail hand to release the putter through impact.

The amount of release you have in your forward stroke is almost impossible to measure, and this will then lead to you hitting putts that travel either too far or too short as a result. Improving your putting is all down to having control over your speed so you can hit your putts a consistent distance.

If you were to release your trail hand in your forward stroke then you will struggle to consistently control the distance you hit your putts. Make sure that you keep your arms and shoulders as the dominant force in your stroke or you will leave yourselves too many tough comeback putts.

No matter whether your putt is uphill, side hill or even on a slower green, for the majority of your putts you want to keep the hands and wrists passive throughout your putting stroke. The exception to this would be if your putt was from a very long distance, say maybe 60 feet or more.