a complete analysis of how to putt a golf ball by Basic Steps to Perfect Golf

The most accurate putting action is based on a simple pendulum movement which moves the putter back and forth on the straight to the target line whilst the putter face is held square to the target line.

Unfortunately golfers as a general rule have never been able to discover a consistent putting style, consequently we all adopt a different style of putting stroke which we use until it develops a few flaws, we then create a "new" putting stroke which works for a while and on and on it goes, therefore we are forever tinkering with the putting method.

However like the other parts of the golf swing, it only requires an understanding of the basic movement of the putting stroke to be able to eliminate a lot of the mistakes that are made.

The stance you should adopt for my technique is almost identical to the stance required for the full golf swing except that the body is arched over the ball so that the eyes look directly down on the target line, but with the left eye positioned well behind the ball, so that as you look at the golf ball, the target line/hole remains within your periphery vision.

The feet should be placed slightly closer together than the full golf swing stance and the weight of the body should be equally balanced over each leg throughout the putting movement.

However it is the set up of the upper body that is the key to being able to put well.

Therefore whilst holding the putter with the arms held at a more than slightly bent positions, form the muscles of the shoulders, the chest, the upper arms, the upper back and the forearms and the wrists into a taut condition thus forming the complete upper body unit and the putter into a very tightly held unit so that any rotational movement of the shoulders, regardless how minute this movement may be, it will immediately cause the putter head to move.

( When you understand how the whole upper body unit is held in order to perform the putting stroke you will then understand how the whole upper body unit should be held during the full golf swing, but obviously during a full golf swing the wrists are allowed to cock during the back swing movement.)

The ball position should be adjacent to the left toe, but with the left eye directly over the line of the putt but well behind the ball position, thus allowing the golfer to keep the target line/hole within the periphery vision. Therefore as you address the ball you can also see the line that the ball needs to follow, but importantly, once this position is set, it is vital that the position of the head is held until well after the ball has been struck.

Therefore whilst the compact upper body unit, the arms and the putter are held together as a solid one piece unit, simply rotate a very compact upper body unit so that the putter head moves away from the ball position whilst keeping the putter face square to the target line -- and then whilst focusing your eyes on the back of the ball, simply rotate the compact upper body unit towards the target area until the putter head makes contact with the ball.

Therefore up to the point when the putter head makes contact with the ball, the putter head has moved at the same speed as the shoulders.

However as soon as the putter head makes contact with the ball, the shoulders basically stop rotating whilst the hands continue to move towards the target area at the same speed as the putter head, thus keeping the putter head square to the target line for that extra few inches as it moves through the contact area.

This first video shows how most golfers putt, and although the shoulders are controlling the movement of the arms, there is a slight lack of control of the arms as the putter head moves through the contact area, thus allowing the club face to change its alignment at the precise moment contact is made with the ball -- result - unpredictable.

Now in the second video the the whole upper body unit, including the arms and the putter are held very tightly together as a solid one piece unit whilst the putting stroke is performed, with the both upper arms firmly held against the side of the body at all times

However as soon as the putter head makes contact with the ball, the shoulders basically stop rotating whilst the hands move towards the target area at the same speed as the putter head.

This action can only be successfully performed by keeping the chest, the upper arms, the upper back and the forearm muscles and the wrists in a taut condition.

This will ensure that the putter head will instantly move in complete synchronisation with the rotational movement of the compact upper body unit.

Therefore the key to accurate putting is to ensure that you keep the head positioned so that the left eye remains over the line of the putt but well behind the ball whilst the rotational movement of the compact upper body unit performs the putting action. However as soon as the putter head makes contact with the ball, you must stop the shoulders from rotating whilst the hands move towards the target area at the same speed as the putter head, thus keeping the putter head square to the target line for that extra few inches as it moves through the contact area.

Once you understand this action you will notice a dramatic increase in the accuracy of your putting.

First of all I concentrate on setting up my stance so that I am looking directly down to the ball.

As I perform the putting stroke, I keep an even tempo of the putting stroke from the beginning of the back swing movement, right through to after the ball has been stuck, but importantly I continue to focus on the ball to such an extent that first of all I actually see the putter make contact with the ball, but I also keep the eyes focused on the spot where the ball was resting so that I can see the ball moving away from this spot.

1) Keeping the muscles of the upper body, the forearms and the wrists in a very taut condition so that as soon as the lower back muscles force the upper body unit to rotate into the back swing movement, the arms and the putter head immediately move smoothly away from the ball -- and then simply using the lower back muscles to rotate the whole unit including the arms and the putter as a solid one piece unit back into the contact area.

2) Focusing on the face of the putter to ensure that it is square to the target line before forming the upper body into a compact one piece unit and keeping the face square to the target line throughout the putting action, but as soon as the putter head makes contact with the ball, stop the shoulders from rotating, whilst the hands move towards the target area at the same speed as the putter head, thus keeping the putter head square to the target line for that extra few inches as it moves through the contact area.

3) Keeping the head positioned so that the left eye is directly over the straight to the target line, but positioned well behind the ball so that you can also see the target line/hole as you concentrate your focus on the golf ball.

Imagine the whole unit comprising the shoulders, the arms, the wrists and the putter welded together as a solid one piece unit and hold it like this throughout the putting stroke until the precise moment the putter head makes contact with the ball.

At that point, the shoulders basically stop rotating, whilst the hands move towards the target area at the same speed as the putter head, but keeping the putter head square to the target line.

An important aspect of the putting stroke, is that once you have decided the line of the ball, you must rely on the mechanical movement of the putting stroke and perform the complete putting stroke whilst the head is directly over the target line, the eyes remain fixed on the ball position and the head firmly positioned well behind the ball so that you can see the intended line of the putt in the periphery of your vision.

This means that once you have fixed your focus on the ball position, despite the fact that the ball will move away from this position as the putter makes contact with the ball, your eyes must not follow the movement of the ball, the eyes must remain fixed on the original ball position so that you see the ball move away from this position.

It is difficult to programme yourself to simply maintain a smooth swinging movement of the putter as it moves into and through the contact area and not allow the eyes to follow the ball after it has been struck, but master these two techniques and you will reap the rewards.

The other important aspect of the putting stroke is to ensure that it is the rotational movement of a very compact upper body unit and the arms held as a one piece unit that controls the movement of the putter head whilst it moves back and forth, but as soon as the putter head makes contact with the ball the shoulders basically stop rotating but the hands continue to move towards the target area at the same speed as the putter head, thus keeping the putter head square to the target line for that extra few inches as it moves through the contact area.

The grip that I use is a conventional grip where the back of the left hand is facing the target.

The position of the hands is also conventional, for example, overlap grip with the right hand lower than the left hand.

Both hands grip the putter very lightly whilst the muscles of the chest, the upper arms and the forearms held in a taut condition but with the right upper arm held firmly against the side of the body. The wrists and the forearms are held in a taut condition and therefore whilst holding the arms in this condition, the putter is seen as an extension of the arms.

The main reason why the putter face either "closes" or "opens" at the moment of impact is because the hands tighten up and cause the club face to open or close, therefore whilst carrying out the putting stroke it is very important that the shoulders, the arms, the hands and the putter remain totally fused together throughout the movement and the right upper arm remain firmly against the side of the body.

Control the length of the putt by simply controlling the length of the back swing movement and then using the pendulum action of the compact upper body unit to swing the putter head into the contact area, whilst keeping the putter face square to the target line.

This is where the practice strokes are important, they mentally prepare yourself for the actual process of putting.

Most golfers allow the clubface of the putter to open whilst making the back swing movement, so that at the end of the back swing movement the clubface can be as much as five degrees "open" to the Square to the Target Line -- This "opening" of the club face is a natural movement that is created as the upper body rotates into the back swing.

Therefore so that the clubface can be brought back to the "Square to the Target line" during the forward stroke movement, this movement of the clubface needs to be reversed.

After the ball has been struck, the movement of the upper body then causes the clubface to begin to close in relation to the Straight to the Target Line.

However even this small amount of "opening" and the "closing" of the putter can be totally eliminated by learning to rotate the whole upper body unit as a solid one piece unit.

If you observe the putting technique of the Professional Golfers you will notice that more and more golfers are using the square to square putting method , but importantly the golfer maintains the head exactly in the original address position throughout the putting stroke

To check whether the head position is correct at the address position, if you drop an imaginary plumb line from your left eye down to the ground, two things will indicate the correct position:-

1) The centre of the plumb line weight should be hovering directly over the target line.

2) The plumb line weight should hover over a position about three inches behind the ball position.

Finally, whatever type of grip that you favour, the important things to remember is that you must hold the shoulder, the arms and the putter firmly held together as a compact one piece unit as if welded as one, and also reinforce the stability of the unit by keeping both upper arms firmly against the side of the body, the elbows held close together and the muscles of the arms in a firm condition, so that it is the rotational movement of the compact upper body unit that causes the arms and the putter head to move back and forth, but importantly it is essential that you watch the ball whilst the putting stroke is performed and maintain the head with "pin point accuracy" about three inches behind the ball to the completion of the putting stroke.

Adopt a habit of practising the putting stroke whilst the whole unit is held together as a solid one piece unit , but importantly focus intensively on the face of the putter.

This practice routine does two things for your putting action, first of all it programs your body with the correct movement, but importantly it allows you to concentrate solely on watching the ball whilst you practice the action of maintaining a smooth movement of the putter head.

Most golfers allow the eyes to follow the movement of the ball as it rolls towards towards the target point.

However if you wish to dramatically improve your putting technique, it is absolutely vital that you totally concentrate focus on the back of the ball as you perform the putting stroke.

This means that despite the fact that the ball will move as soon as the putter makes contact with the ball, you must continue to concentrate on looking at the original ball position so that you actually see the ball move from this position, do not allow the eyes to follow the movement of the ball.

As you make your practice strokes, keep your head in the original address position and in the Fixed Frontal condition and totally focus on the ball.

Make about four or five practice movements prior to attempting to strike the ball.

Further, if you are keeping the eyes directly over the target line and rotating the forearms correctly, you will also notice that the swing path is perfectly straight, and the putter face remains square to the target line, therefore to move the ball on the line you intend, you have to visualise the putter being swung along the target line whilst square to the target line.

Once you have decided on the path that your ball will need to take, you must then concentrate all your efforts on using the rotational movement of the shoulders to make a smooth swing of the putter, keep your head well behind the ball position and in the Fixed Frontal condition, keep the eyes totally focused on the ball and rely on the mechanical movement of the putting stroke and trust your judgement on the line of the putt.

I cannot stress enough how important it is to keep your eyes totally focused on the ball position as the putting stroke is performed and to continue to keep your eyes focused on the original ball position whilst the putter moves through the contact area so that you actually see the ball move from this position -- do not allow the eyes to follow the movement of the ball.

If you can get on the green in regulation figures, it is essential that the first putt ends up either in, or very close to the hole.

In order to keep the putt on the line that you choose, it is vital that once you have aligned the putter face with the target line, fully focus your eyes on the ball whilst the putter moves into the contact area, but importantly you must continue to maintain this focus on the ball position as the putter moves along the target line, whilst keeping the putter face square to the target line -- The eyes must not be allowed to follow the movement of the ball.

Discipline yourself to focus at the spot that the ball is positioned and hold this focus so that you actually see the ball move from this position and your putting will improve dramatically.

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