Best Way to Improve Your Putting in Golf

The idea behind putting is simply to get the ball in the hole. To be regularly successful at this, the ball must be struck by the club’s sweet spot, with a slight accelerating movement towards the target and with enough speed for the ball to reach the hole. The sweet-spot strike gives the ball a more controlled direction and distance.

It is difficult to over-emphasise the importance of putting – ironically the most under-practised part of most players’ game. It appears so simple to roll a ball along the ground towards a target, that beginners prefer to practise the ‘harder’ parts of the game, the drive, the long irons, and so on.

Furthermore, many golfers find it difficult to believe that putting should be done in a specific manner. Perhaps this is because professional players appear to putt in a wide variety of ways. This may be so, but there are certain putting basics which all golf players (pros included) must take into account. The intelligent golfer is the one who works constantly at perfecting the art of putting, with these basics in mind.

• There are a number of differences between the iron clubs and the putter. Firstly, there is very little loft on the putter – loft would lift the ball and the object of putting is to make the ball roll along the ground. Secondly, there are no markings on the face of the putter -markings help create back-spin, which is to be avoided in the putt. Thirdly, the angle at which the shaft enters the club head is more perpendicular than that of any of the other clubs (this enables you to have your eyes directly over the putting line without having to lean too far forwards).
• Even the grip is different. Its shape is different and the part on which you place your thumbs is flattened and thickened towards the top, enabling you to hold the club in a manner designed to increase precision. Also, the material of the grip is different – it gives a softer ‘feel’.

• If you place the head of the putter flat on the ground beside that of any other club, you will see that the putter head is much nearer your feet and the shaft more upright, enabling you to stand closer to the ball.
• How to find the sweet spot. Hold the shaft near the head and tap it with a tee, starting at the toe and working your way towards the heel. When the club head no longer twists but swings back and forwards, you have found the sweet spot.