Do your putts ever bounce or get airborne? How do those putts turn out? Not so good, huh. When I teach putting, I stress the importance of solid contact in order to control distance. Solid contact is second only to club face control in the order of importance in a good putting stroke. The question is,”Should you hit up on the ball or hit down to achieve the best roll?” About 10 Years, I had the same question, so I decided to put a video camera on the ground to see what impact characteristics produced the best results.
What did I find?
A ball hit with a shaft that leaned toward the target slightly produced a ball that had a small skid and then a consistent roll. The ball that was struck with a neutral to backwards leaning shaft tended to hop or bounce. Which way is going to be more consistent, the forward lean of course.
The worms eye view:
Even though the golf ball weighs slightly less than an ounce, on a soft putting green it creates a slight depression on the ground (a hole perse). If you hit a putt on the upswing, you will drive the ball down into the front of the depression and the ball will hop.
A Forward Press Helps:
A typical putter has 3 to 5 degrees of loft on it. In order to get a consistent roll, the last thing you want to do is add more loft. Good putters tend to be neutral or take loft away at impact. This is why I like to see a slight forward press at set up. This means that your hands will be positioned just ahead of the club face. I use high-speed video when I teach putting and I have found that 4 to 5 degrees of forward shaft lean seems to produce the most consistent roll and contact. The more I use “The Kure” putting solution training aid, the more I like it because it forces you to get your handle forward at impact in order to make the green light to come on. So why not go ahead and start there.
Hit Down Not Up:
If you have always hit up on your putts for whatever reason, when you lean the shaft forward you will have the sensation of hitting down. If you are topping your putts, you are doing one of three things.
1) your lead wrist is breaking down
2) your weight or your head is too far behind the ball
3) your ball position is too far forward. Start with placing the ball a putter head length inside your lead foot.
A drill to find low point in your putting stroke
Place the grip end of a golf club about 6 inches behind your putter as you set up to hit a putt. Hit putts as you miss the grip in your backstroke. You will feel your stroke swinging from high in the backstroke to low in the follow through. This will help get your hands ahead at impact.
This something that you can work on in the house on the carpet. Best of luck and I will
See you on the lesson tee,
Jason
The Golf Guru Show 
Jason,
I putt with a forward leaning shaft and a forward press. It’s what feels comfortable to me, and, on fast greens, I get great results. However, most manufacturers are making thier putters with only 3-3.5 degrees of loft. My Odyssey #9 comes in 3 degrees (as do most Odyssey putters). With the forward press, combined with our slow, shaggy summer greens here in the South, I have difficulty avoiding driving the ball into the ground with what I believe is ultimately negative loft (when you factor in the forward press.) It’s almost impossible for us mere mortals to get these manufacturers to send us putters with lofts other than what is standard. Mickelson (whose putting style is similar to mine) uses putters with 5-6 degrees of loft. Furthermore, Dave Stockton is ALWAYS saying that most people putt with too little loft on their putters. Just a comment.
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Fred,
Great comment. I use a putter that is 3.5 degrees of loft as well. I try to get to a 0 loft if possible but you are right, the type of grass does have an effect and you can get your putter bent to accomadate your stroke assuming you are consistent with what you are doing, which doesn’t always happn. Slower greens tend to need a bit more loft. Thanks for the feedback
thanks,
Jason
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Hi Jason,
I’ve played competitive golf for 12 years (a few PGA Tour events as well) and have never had forward shaft lean…I just can’t do it. As a golf fanatic, I’ve obviously read about the forward shaft lean (my full swing is $ haha) but can’t execute it with the flat stick. There are a few (Zach Johnson is the most prevalent right now) that are neutral or even behind neutral. As soon as I forward press, I lose all knowledge of my alignment, and my focus goes out the window….So, I went to a sport eye specialist, and went on the QuietI system, and found my right eye to be extremely dominant; and since I shoot left in hockey, my perception is all messed up. I’ve used the belly putter and had success because it gives my setup proof that I’m at least neutral. I’ve had my stance 30degrees shut to the target line, b/c my eyes lied to me…I thought I was square…
Have you ever encountered this and do you have ways to either address it, or make it work? I can putt crosshanded and claw quite comfortably haha!
Do I need to use those alignment glasses as seen on Roy McAvoy a la Tin Cup??
Also, I posted a video of you on our blog thanks for the support with Jason Helman and Swinkey, all the best,
Todd
http://swinkey.com/blog/?p=301
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Todd,
thanks for the comment. You have great insight from what alot of players go through. If you are not comfortable with a press, you can knock some loft off of your putter which will help the roll. Zach Johnson has a putter with 0 degrees of loft because he didn’t want to change his style. Now he is the exception not the rule. Ball position has alot to do with it as well. With your eye issues, you must find the right ball position that allows you to aim. I recommend using a laser (or the kure putting solution) to check this. You might need to move it back a little to get the aim and also to still hit it on the downswing. As long as it is consistent there are alot of strokes that can work (see Mayfair). Your closed stance doesn’t make sense from what you told me but if it works, don’t change it. If you have played in some pga tourneys you obviously can roll the rock at times. Thanks for posting the video on your site. I think you product is very good. Best of luck and spread the word about my blog if you think it is worthy.
Jason
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