Cant Keep putter straight during take back

[eagles88]

I don't know if it is my grip or what but I can't seem to keep my putter straight while taking it back to save my life. Any tips or videos to help? Thank you all.

[Tax77]

I had this problem for the longest time, for me personally it was the fatter, wider grips that are on putters. I stuck a tour velvet on the putter and it magically worked. You gotta find the right grip, static weight and head weight.

[dlygrisse]

straight to what? You understand you are swinging on an arc right?

[Krt22]

Who said it's supposed to be straight?

[eagles88]

Guess what I meant was it is hard for me to hit the ball with the putters sweet spot. It is always off line.

[Jclenaha]

Use the gate drill. Two tees on either side at address. Two tees in front 3 inches, two tees in back 3 inches.

[kowalgolf]

If your right handed press your right thumb nail into the grip. Thumb should be bent and use the first joint of thumb to control club face. I heard Byron Nelson used this and it worked for him.

[chinaski]

IMO it's better to work with your arc, instead of fighting against it with SBST.

[bvmagic]

Experiment with different ways to grip the putter. I used to use a more traditional reverse overlap putting grip. One day experimented between claw grip / cross hand and the consistency in my contact changed quite a bit. Now my grip has sort of evolved into a crosshanded overlap grip. Left hand is the main hand on the grip, while the right hand I overlap my index & middle finger on top of my left right between the knuckles of my pinky / ring finger of my left.

[Krt22]

But in your post you said it's not staying straight in the take away, it's not supposed to. If you are actively trying to manipulate the putter head to be straight in the take away, that could be why you aren't hitting the sweet spot. I'd see if you can get a SAMlab or similar putter fitting.

[dlygrisse]

Does your putter fit you? is it too long or too short? Just visualize rolling the ball on a line toward your target line. Keep a steady head.

[MaineMariner]

I'm not sure if this is an "arc vs. SBST" discussion or a jerky takeaway discussion. I've had issues with the jerky takeaway forever. You would think a gate drill would help, but it never works for me. A few suggestions that have smoothed things out for me:

Try a lighter grip pressure.

Introduce a little forward press/trigger to start your stroke.

Do NOT look at your clubhead when making your stroke. Pick a spot on the ball instead.

Inhale before taking your stroke, and then exhale and take your stroke at the same tempo as your exhalation. This one actually works best for me.

[timmy8151]

Try the gate drill recommended above or what worked for me was putting on a metal yardstick and working on keeping the ball running down the stick. Helped me with making sure the ball was starting on my intended lines.

[kowalgolf]

Martin Chuck commented today that George Archer looked only at tag on putter shaft instead of ball to get rid of hit impulse. Who knows, but he was a great putter at 6'5 inches tall.

[ofortuna]

I try to focus more on square impact than path and things that help me accomplish that. Nothing moving from hips down. I took a putting lesson and the guy told me that path is the least important part and to focus more on good setup and lining up well. Only mention of path was that he didnt like my takeaway going back too upright.

[PaoloLiotti]

Thanks for this!