Do you hover your putter or take it back from the ground?

[yahtzee]

I noticed when I was taking practice strokes in my garage how much more stable my stroke appeared when i was trying to avoid the cement floor. Anyone hover their putter before taking it back?

[retexan599]

This may sound odd, but what I do as the final part of addressing the putt is to 'pull up on'' the shaft ever so slightly. The actual sole of the club really does not leave the ground at that point, but it is enough upward 'feel' so as to avoid striking the ground on the forward stroke. Not sure how to say it any better than that, but it does help avoid brushing the ground inadvertently.

[Evolved]

[quote name='yahtzee' date='06 July 2010 - 07:02 PM' timestamp='1278457327' post='2558335']
I noticed when I was taking practice strokes in my garage how much more stable my stroke appeared when i was trying to avoid the cement floor. Anyone hover their putter before taking it back?
[/quote]

Slightly off topic but also related, do you hover your driver on the tee?

[Bobbers]

I DO hover the driver, makes my swing smoother and my takeaway less than a "jerk away" to start the swing. I use a simple forward press with the putter, however.

[highergr0und]

I don't hover the putter or the driver. I've never tried it with the putter, but with the driver it causes me to get a little too tense trying to hold it at a certain height.

[anth]

Yes definitely lift the putter slightly before going back. This has improved my putting immensely.

[weaver93]

I hover all my clubs off the ground prior to take away. I will ground my irons for alignment, but pick them up prior to back stroke. I think it keeps your wrist and hands looser. I started it as a suggestion from an instructor to prevent hitting behind the ball and I just adopted it to the whole bag.

The one thing I noticed about putters is that if it is rested on the ground and not in the center of your stance, when you pick it up it will drift to center. With a light grip it tends to give you a figure 8 looking stroke. If you hover it in your hands and let it hang freely it will center itself to your grip. I think I notice this more because I am more of a SBST stroke.

Mark

[Guest]

I'm still testing but not sold yet

[mjc694]

I never hover any club, but i do try to feel like im pulling up on my putter before i turn it away from the ball. Still want it to feel as though it is sliding back across the grass in the take away.

[GVo55]

I never really thought about it, but I guess the putter is the only club I hover.

[jt2gt]

Don't hover...anyone hear of any PGA players doing this?

JT

[quote name='GVo55' date='07 July 2010 - 03:34 PM' timestamp='1278531247' post='2560355']
I never really thought about it, but I guess the putter is the only club I hover.
[/quote]

[elrey23]

[quote name='retexan599' date='06 July 2010 - 08:30 PM' timestamp='1278466214' post='2558640']
This may sound odd, but what I do as the final part of addressing the putt is to 'pull up on'' the shaft ever so slightly. The actual sole of the club really does not leave the ground at that point, but it is enough upward 'feel' so as to avoid striking the ground on the forward stroke. Not sure how to say it any better than that, but it does help avoid brushing the ground inadvertently.
[/quote]

I do the same thing. Works for me

[Guest]

I've tried hovering putter and driver, but it doesn't work for me at all. I feel tense when I try it. Never heard of hovering irons before...don't think I'll be trying that either.

[PlatinumNike]

No hovering for me.

I've tried it with the driver...no difference

[nikeV10blade]

I don't hover any of my clubs. By keeping the clubs on the ground lets me relax my arms a little more. I do have a forward press with my putter. It allows me to bring the blade back to square where as If i don't i pull putts'

[lucksack]

only hover the driver. forward press and go with the putter

[Guest]

I "hover" occasionally. Always in the bunker, I know.... You can't touch the sand so it is always hovering, but I start with the club head much higher than most people, helps me catch the ball thin/first.

I hover on a driver when I need to hook/draw the ball. I think I swing faster when I hover w/ my driver which promotes me to draw the ball.

Hovering with a putter is a bad idea (for me). I used to do it w/ a mallet putter when I was younger and after video taping myself I found that my path was very inconsistent. Instead I use a slight forward press, similar to phil

[golfing7861]

I place the putter on the ground, no hovering for me.

[502 to Right]

No hover for me. As others have said, I feel a tension in my arms and hands while trying to hover the putter at a perfect height. To me, it just adds another layer of complexity that is not needed.

[weaver93]

[quote name='jt2gt' date='07 July 2010 - 11:00 PM' timestamp='1278558005' post='2561653']
Don't hover...anyone hear of any PGA players doing this?

JT

[quote name='GVo55' date='07 July 2010 - 03:34 PM' timestamp='1278531247' post='2560355']
I never really thought about it, but I guess the putter is the only club I hover.
[/quote]
[/quote]


[b]By[/b] Jim Flick [b]Photo By[/b] Dom Furore April 2007

Early on, Jack Grout taught Jack Nicklaus to keep the clubhead just off the ground at setup, as I'm doing in the large photo above. Nicklaus never forgot that lesson, and even today doesn't sole the club on any shot. With all the success he's had throughout his career, I'm amazed more golfers don't use this technique.

It requires you to assume a posture that measures out the club to the ball. If you stay in that posture at impact and keep your arms soft, you increase your chances of solid contact. Grout knew that not grounding the club (Nicklaus calls it "unweighting" the club) promotes soft arms, which helped Nicklaus sense the path and speed of the clubhead. Why? When you set the club on the ground at address, moving it off the ground requires a change in grip pressure. That can lead to a jerky, inconsistent takeaway, and inconsistent shots. Unweighting encourages a slow, smooth backswing, a better feel for the clubhead and a consistent ball flight.

There are other benefits:

•When you set up to a ball on the ground, if the club isn't soled, you've never technically addressed it. So if the ball moves you'll not be penalized. And you eliminate the unfortunate possibility of causing the ball to move.

• It also helps in fairway bunkers. You're making the same swing from the same setup as for a normal shot

<BR style="CLEAR: both">

Read More [url="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-instruction/mental-game/flick_gd0704#ixzz0tIx02Nw1"]http://www.golfdiges...4#ixzz0tIx02Nw1[/url]

[ttaylor0024]

I hover all my clubs.

[RookieBlue7]

I sole the putter before pulling the trigger.

[harold baines]

always hover the putter

how do you know how much resistance the green will give you when you're resting it on the ground?

I bet most of the people who claim to not hover, do pick the clubhead up before starting their stroke

you can't just drag the putter along the ground and expect consistent results

[the.landshark]

[quote name='harold baines' date='10 July 2010 - 02:40 PM' timestamp='1278790805' post='2567177']
...you can't just drag the putter along the ground and expect consistent results
[/quote]

Setting the club head down prior to putting, does not equal "dragging the putter along the ground".

I ground the club... lift, then putt. I also get consistent (and good) results.

[weaver93]

[quote name='the.landshark' date='10 July 2010 - 03:53 PM' timestamp='1278791586' post='2567200']
[quote name='harold baines' date='10 July 2010 - 02:40 PM' timestamp='1278790805' post='2567177']
...you can't just drag the putter along the ground and expect consistent results
[/quote]

Setting the club head down prior to putting, does not equal "dragging the putter along the ground".

I ground the club... lift, then putt. I also get consistent (and good) results.
[/quote]


You two are actually agreeing. You both are "unweighting" the clubhead prior to the stroke.

The only arguement Grout made against this is that it sometimes leads to changes in grip pressure. If the idea that grounding the club prior to the stroke relaxes your hands and arms then what happens when you begin the stroke and lift the club?

I think the idea behind hovering clubs is that the place you ground the club tends to be the bottom of your arc. If that is behind the ball it may lead to ground contact prior to the ball. I think this is why it helps me.

[moneiljr824]

i always ground my putter (and all my clubs) before taking my stroke...i hate not being able to ground the club out of fairway bunkers. I kind of fidget with grip before I swing so not being able to ground the club kind of messes me up.

[PuttingDoctor]

Weaver93 +1!

When testing with the SAM PuttLab I see every once in a while a backstroke that is an outside takeaway. This tends to be consistent and with this I very quickly key in on the weight the golfer is putting on the putter at address.

Once I have them unweight the putter the path of the takeaway begins to straighten out nicely.

Try this for yourself and you'll see that when you have extra weight on the putter at address the only direction you can take the putter back on is outside.

To hover or not to hover was the question. Simply unweight the putter either with a hover or a little light tapping of the head up and down to release the tension.

[rtlltj]

I notice that sometimes I take the putter back outside occasionally due to the weight of the putter resting on the ground. I'm trying to make it lighter on the ground before I move it back. Seems to not go outside.

[Mortician]

I ground both the putter and driver. If the greens are a bit longer I may hover the putter.