1. Start on straight away hole, no more than
ten feet. [Use putting device]
2. Simple grip.
3. Posture - triangle shape.
4. Eyes over ball / ball middle of stance.
5. Hands close to body.
6. Use a two count.
a. back stop
b. forward stop
7. Putter head kept low.
8. Strike center of club.
Let students FEEL putting with hand
to promote putter head to target - back of left hand on line at impact.
[If, they don't do it right first time,
let them do it again] -
1. Review stance, posture, grip, alignment,
balance.
2. Review following exercise.
Club on chest hands on
both end club rotate body.
Club behind arms. [Feel
weight on back foot.]
Club back shoulder hand
on grip and club face rotate body- hold each position back and through
3. Review one piece take-away.
4. Introduce new drill.
Half swing left arm /
Right arm by side
5. Rotary motion gravity swing.
Top of back swing motion.
Weight shift to left
side
Plant left heel, left
hip will turn out and away clearing path for the release (This will happen
automatically with a good backswing).
Extend through ball to
finish.
Swing club to position
behind head on follow-through (Same as backswing)
Finish facing target
up on right toe.
TIP #1: THE SLICE BUSTER: STRENGTHEN YOUR
GRIP!
Let me tell you something, I hardly ever,
ever see an amateur stand up on the tee and draw the ball; too many of
them fight slice. When you slice, you lose so much distance because its
half-hit shot; it's a glancing blow. So let's do something to fix than
slice. Most of the amateurs I play with grip the club far too weekly, with
both of their hands turned too far to the right on the club. Starting with
the left hand I want the golfer to look down at their hand on the club
at address and see two knuckles of the left hand. This is very important.
Now your hand has got to be parallel to the left! Not way over the top
of the club turned to the right. In other words, the line formed between
the index finger and thumb of both hands has got to point to the right
shoulder. Tip: Take a magic marker and put black marks over the two knuckles
on your glove so that when you address the ball, you can see those two
knuckles. Now you have a great visual reference point to
check your grip. Make sure you see those
two knuckles of the left hand, place your right hand on the club in the
parallel position, so than both line's between your thumb and forefinger
point to your right shoulder and you'll be on your way to a better grip
and better game.
TIP #2: THE QUIET TAKEAWAY
"Interference" with the clubhead on the
backswing is poison! When I play in Pro Ams, I see the average golfer doing
all kinds of things with the clubhead at the start of the swing. I see
him put it inside too quickly. I see him lift it up abruptly. I see the
clubface roll open, shut closed and every bad combination of interference
you can image. It's poison, I tell you! At address, with the clubhead obviously
still, you should be two feet back from the ball. If you interfere with
the clubhead at the start of the back swing, you fail to keep your club
on line during the crucial start of the swing. Three men who kept their
clubs remarkably quiet and on line, who did not interfere with it at all,
were Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan and Jack Nicklaus. Now as far as tempo, or
speed of swing, is concerned, not everybody is the same. Arnold Palmer's
tempo is fast, Hogan was fast, Lanny Wadkins is fast, Snead was slow. Littler's
tempo is slow. I'd say my tempo is average. A player's tempo is an individual
thing, like a finger print. The main thing is to feel that the clubhead
doesn't move from its address stillness as you start the swing. Do it fast
or slow or average, according to your natural tempo, but don't interfere
with that clubhead and cleanse your swing of that lethal poison.