Thoughts on open putting stance

Hey all,

I was toying around with my putting yesterday and being very right eye dominated I thought that if I opened my stance slightly it may help my vision. I was knocking in putts left and right. What's everyone's thought on an open putting stance?

I know there are some famous golfers in the past that used this such as Jack, Fuzzy, and Brad Faxon, but I can't think of any modern day ones.

As long as your shoulders and club face aren’t open, it’s all good.

Let me take a picture today, I feel like my shoulders were open but my face was parallel to the target. What issues would open shoulders cause?

Open stance can help you finish the arc back towards your left side, as opposed to straight down the line.

Putting is such an individual thing. There is only a few musts in my opinion on the putting stroke:

1) Eyes must be over the ball or slightly inside (most am's are way too far away from the ball, causing large arc'd strokes)

2) Putter Shaft must be in line with your forearms. Should look like one really long club when you look at the shaft and your arms.

3) Slight Forward Press - to keep the ball down and rolling true

The rest of it: grip, stance, posture, etc. I've seen a lot of different flavors that work. But all good putters that I've played with have the above 3 things.

tiger and jack did it

Opening your stance for putting is kind of old school but if it works for you just go ahead. Make sure through time you don’t start having aiming issues, which is commonplace with an open stance. I’ve seen players that have putted that way all their life because it was a natural setup for them. When you force it you eventually go back to a more square setup.

Slightly Open stance has to make more sense. Just in the idea of binocular vs monocular vision. You have to get over the ball and be able to see the line first. Loads of people cannot do this with a square stance. I’ll also add that tons of people who think they have a square stance are actually shut slightly and pull and/or hook everything . I think of it similar to a full shot. Do you automatically see a draw or a fade ? To me this usually roots back to how you see the path of shot over the ball as in instinctively.

My putting stance is WAAAY open meaning my feet, shoulders, chest, all face the target< basketball style aka side-saddle. I never understood how people can putt well when they are looking at the hole w side eye.

I think it depends on the kind of stroke you want to employ. People with a long flowing stroke need to be pretty much square to the line so their stroke will go in the right direction. People with more of a pop stroke would not be as affected by and open position and might even get a better look at the line that way.

Steve

My stance is open. I see the line better and my shoulders rock better.

I can't think of anything in golf that permits as much variation as putting. There have been really great putters over the years with widely differing stances, alignments and strokes. Nothing is wrong if it works..

Steve

Open stance is one of my emergency solutions, when my regular method fails. Squared to closed footline, ball slightly to welll forward and high trail shoulder is what generally works best for me.

Put a line segment on your golf ball, line it up, trust that’s the line. That said, if an open stance helps you “see the line”, go for it.

Perhaps there are other reasons for opening your stance, but seeing the line better can’t be better than seeing and trusting the line on your golf ball.

> @Moonlightgrm said:

> Put a line segment on your golf ball, line it up, trust that’s the line. That said, if an open stance helps you “see the line”, go for it.

>

> Perhaps there are other reasons for opening your stance, but seeing the line better can’t be better than seeing and trusting the line on your golf ball.

That is exactly it helps me with.

> @Moonlightgrm said:

> Put a line segment on your golf ball, line it up, trust that’s the line. That said, if an open stance helps you “see the line”, go for it.

>

> Perhaps there are other reasons for opening your stance, but seeing the line better can’t be better than seeing and trusting the line on your golf ball.

Line on the golf ball causes speed issues with me. As in I tend to just hammer it on that line. You need to be able to see the line of The putt to properly feel speed.

my speed control and aim is much better with a slightly open stance. have similar setup/alignment issues on full swings, but don't think I set up open. I wouldn't know though

You can't get any more open in your stance than me - since I'm a Sidesaddle putter!

That putting style is the best thing I ever did for my golf game.