Mid Length Belly Putters Help Steady Your Stroke (Video) - by Pete Styles
Mid Length Belly Putters Help Steady Your Stroke (Video) - by Pete Styles

One of the biggest things that's taken over golf in the last few years are these mid-length putters. You've seen an awful lot of guys on the TV using these clubs and you can guarantee that if they're using them and they're making a living and they're winning millions of dollars out of these putters, they must be working for them.

It isn't purely the club that is going to pay the players to play them because if the players were playing them and not getting results, they'll take them straight back out of that bags. Don't forget, those guys are making a living by using these clubs. So, mid-length putter must be beneficial. Let's have a look at how and why they work.

When we set up to the golf ball, having an extra anchoring points, so the club can sit anchored into my belly position there, I can then hold the club in my normal grip. If I choose to go cross-handed, normal or overlapping that can work nicely and then having an extra anchoring point steadies the ship to a certain degree. I can now rock the club backwards and through the golf ball and by having an extra anchoring point, it helps me eliminate my wrist hinge. My wrists can't fight and argue with each other.

If I was to have it anchored in my chest and swing backwards and forwards, the top end here will stay still. If I take that out of my anchoring point there and use my wrists too much, you can see how much that top end moves when I make an incorrect stroke and how it stays relatively stable when I make a correct stroke. So, having it anchored in my chest feels really nice.

Now, if I don't move my knees, my hips, my chest and my head too much, my stroke is nicely backwards and forwards. The rest can actually sort of adhere to normal putting principles: Same length back, same length through. Try and keep the face square on both sides. Roll the first putt down. They're nice and close. Top the second putt in.

But if you struggle with the yips and sort of flicking the club, your technique might look quite sound normally, but on the pressure, it breaks down. These sorts of clubs have proven really nice even with the best plays in the world. The under pressure, their putting strokes are holding up nicely. They're not getting the pressure yips. They're not struggling to close out tournaments down the back Nine. So if putting was costing you some extra shots, consider looking at a mid-length putter, just to iron out the floor in your stroke.

 2012-08-07

One of the biggest things that's taken over golf in the last few years are these mid-length putters. You've seen an awful lot of guys on the TV using these clubs and you can guarantee that if they're using them and they're making a living and they're winning millions of dollars out of these putters, they must be working for them.

It isn't purely the club that is going to pay the players to play them because if the players were playing them and not getting results, they'll take them straight back out of that bags. Don't forget, those guys are making a living by using these clubs. So, mid-length putter must be beneficial. Let's have a look at how and why they work.

When we set up to the golf ball, having an extra anchoring points, so the club can sit anchored into my belly position there, I can then hold the club in my normal grip. If I choose to go cross-handed, normal or overlapping that can work nicely and then having an extra anchoring point steadies the ship to a certain degree. I can now rock the club backwards and through the golf ball and by having an extra anchoring point, it helps me eliminate my wrist hinge. My wrists can't fight and argue with each other.

If I was to have it anchored in my chest and swing backwards and forwards, the top end here will stay still. If I take that out of my anchoring point there and use my wrists too much, you can see how much that top end moves when I make an incorrect stroke and how it stays relatively stable when I make a correct stroke. So, having it anchored in my chest feels really nice.

Now, if I don't move my knees, my hips, my chest and my head too much, my stroke is nicely backwards and forwards. The rest can actually sort of adhere to normal putting principles: Same length back, same length through. Try and keep the face square on both sides. Roll the first putt down. They're nice and close. Top the second putt in.

But if you struggle with the yips and sort of flicking the club, your technique might look quite sound normally, but on the pressure, it breaks down. These sorts of clubs have proven really nice even with the best plays in the world. The under pressure, their putting strokes are holding up nicely. They're not getting the pressure yips. They're not struggling to close out tournaments down the back Nine. So if putting was costing you some extra shots, consider looking at a mid-length putter, just to iron out the floor in your stroke.