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How To: Hone Your Putting Prowess With These Three Expert Tips To Help You Sink Greater Putts

Suchita Chakraborty
Published

Adam Scott

Putting is the most crucial area to learn in golf. To have expertise on that, experts have come up with a list of three tips that will be of great help in this regard. Once someone approaches a putt, three fundamentals should be kept in mind: the line, the speed, and the read. To break this entire thing down, one has to read which line should be followed to reach the destination and at what speed. Once that’s learned, a correct swing and ball speed will help to reach the destination. Thus, Golf Monthly’s coach, James Jankowski, outlined a few tips that should be remembered while putting.

Correct The Correct Line For The Ball

There are different straight lines formed according to different golfers and their eye position and head tilting. For some people, a left eye over the ball and eyes directly looking at the ball with a head tilted square is a nice way to approach the ball. Aiming is crucial and one can do that with alignment sticks. Place a stick aimed at the center, and another stick should be perpendicularly placed. 

Then set up and place the putter head on the same line, aiming for the center. Then, one has to ensure that the ball is struck with the center of the clubface. Now, for more precision, one can set up tees on both sides of the ball, allowing enough space for the club to take a drive. Then, by maintaining that gate, one has to strike the ball. One can place another gate ahead of the first but with a shorter breath for the ball to travel in the right direction. 

Control Speed With A Nice Backswing

Strokes should take a similar amount of time, no matter how long or short they are. From holing a short putt to taking long drives, all should consume the same time. For example, if a backswing stretches far behind, then one has to strike the ball faster. 

James advises that, “It should take the same amount of time to go from address to the end of the backswing, and then from there to the finish. Stroke time can vary from golfer to golfer, but should be very similar for that golfer across all putts.”

One can keep a hold on the speed by taking strokes after practicing with different backswing lengths. That will help to adjust and control the speed. He also explains the correlation between the through-swing and the backswing.

“Your through-swing should ideally be the same length as your backswing, but don’t worry if it’s a little shorter. The putter should feel heavy through the ball because you’re not applying any force to it – that means it’s a stroke rather than a hit.”

Visualize Break And Speed

Base the start line on the curve that will help the ball reach the hole, rather than aiming at an approximate distance to judge the ball’s traveling way to the hole. Put a tee that will be a point at which the ball has to pass up and drop into the hole. To check, one can roll the ball once and see if it’s on the right path. Then, one can practice dropping the ball following the same pathway. Thus, these were a few tips from the golf coach that will help a budding golfer in sinking sensational putts. 

    About the author

    Suchita Chakraborty

    Suchita Chakraborty

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    Suchita Chakraborty is a senior golf writer at The SportsRush. She did her post-graduation at St. Xavier's University. For a year now, she has developed a riveting inclination toward golf, with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy being her top-tier motivational figures to indulge in the sport. She even lives by the words of the Hall of Famer, "You can always become better", which impels her to excel every day. Her strong suit in golf is covering the LPGA Tour, especially the nooks and crannies of the international event, the Solheim Cup. As a pastime amusement, Suchita also engages herself in reading about golf controversies. Her favorite pick is ‘LIV and Let Die’ by Alan Shipnuck, which covers the PGA-LIV beef.

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