Natalie Adams – PGA Teaching Pro

We are going to look here at how to improve your putting stroke by ensuring that you are not decelerating during the swing. So all decelerating putting stroke means is if I have placed these two alignment poles on the floor and then I stand so the putt is directly in the center of them if I’m decelerating I’ll swing the putter head back over the right hand hole here but as I swing and hit I’ll finish short of the left hand hole. So the length of my backswing isn’t the same as my follow through that’s a decelerating swing there I’ve got a bigger backswing length and then I get back to the ball and I have a much smaller follow through length.

That means I’m going to be slowing down as I strike the pole and stopping early log of an equaling the follow through length with the backswing length. That’s absolutely crucial if you are going to have a really good solid putting stroke and consistently hold a lot of putts. So what we want to move from is I’m having this big backswing compared to a very small follow through is we want an equal distance on either side. So again if I’m going to swing back so the putter head goes over the right hand hole I need to hit the putt and make sure the putter finishes over the left hand hole.

So now I’ve got an equal distance on either side and I’m accelerating through the putt and I’m going to hit the ball a lot more solidly and more consistently. So if you are struggling with that deceleration work on doing this, have two putts in a line but two line of poles, set on either side of you doesn’t mater how far apart the distance is. It’s the fact that you are mirroring the backswing length with the follow through length. So just work on as far back as you swing the putter make sure it goes through the ball in that distance and work on your tempo as you do that. So think about a speed that you feel comfortable with if you imagine a metronome or a clock ticking so u can hear the tik tok tik tok think about that tempo.

Decide what’s comfortable for you whether you want a slightly quicker pace or a slightly slower pace and the replicate it as you practice putting over the two clubs or alignment poles. So we’ll be swinging back tik tok tik tok so you are really working n the tempo. If you want a shorter distance that the ball is being hit just move the poles or the clubs together but still with the same tempo. If you need to it the ball further widen the poles apart but still with the same tempo. Once you go through make sure that your are mirroring the length of the backswing and the flow through and you’ve got used to that then try the following putting drill to see if you can still get this mirror image into a real putting stroke.

So set yourself up on two different poles different distances away, have about 10 or 15 balls and then set yourself up putt the first hole and just work on having this mirror length of backswing and follow through. And get the distance control for that putt then immediately turn to the completely different distance work at how much you’ve got to swing the putter but again make sure you have the mirror image and the follow though is finishing as far through the ball as the backswing moved away from the ball.

So take two different holes hit one putt at one hole hit another putt at another hole make sure they are different lengths, keep alternating between the holes so that you are working on the distance control but ensure that you are following through and that your follow through is a mirror image of the length of your backswing. That will make sure you are accelerating through the putts and you will no longer have a decelerating putting stroke.