Putting tip of the week  

Arc Putting Technique

There has been a great trend in recent years towards the long and belly putters. Long putters are swung back and thru while being anchored to the player’s sternum or even sometimes their chin while belly putters are anchored just above or near the belly button.

A couple reasons they are so successful is that they allow the putter to be swung in a perfect plane around and up much like we try to accomplish when we make full swings with our iron or wood clubs. By swinging in a plane, the putter face also stays square to the arc it is swinging on while it turns back and thru because the shaft swings back and thru on the same angle as the club’s lie angle for the entire stroke. The clubface is only square to the target line during its impact with the ball. This type of ‘arc putting’ as it is called, is a very efficient way to putt yielding solid and accurate putts that consistently find the hole.

This arc putting technique has been the most widely regarded putting technique of recent years and it can be used just as easily with an unanchored conventional length (32-36 inch) putter. The key points to achieve an arc putting stroke with a conventional length putter are to allow your elbows to move slightly around, along and up your sides during the stroke. You don’t want to see separation of the elbows moving out and away from your sides during the stroke, either for the backswing or follow thru. The next key point is to swing the clubhead and not the handle. Much the same way as when a putter is anchored to the player, the butt end of the handle should not move very much relative to the amount that the clubhead is swinging.

Concentrating on just these few points during putting can create an arc to your putting stroke and greatly improve your distance control and accuracy, thus resulting in bunches of holed putts.