Jackie Burke's Putting Technique

[jportz]

He says an open stance is best...agree / disagree

Obviously, I'm searching for a putting technique that works for me. Being right eye dominant I'm struggling to find something that works but I read that Jackie Burke said the best, most natural way to putt is with an open stance and both eyes facing the target / line.

Just wondering....of course Mr. Burke is a genious in the game of golf but if this is the "best" way to putt why don't more pros do it?

[Asleep]

Where'd you read that? :)

[jportz]

In his book "It's only a game: Words of Wisdom from a Lifetime in Golf"

 

He teaches different putting styles depending on the player but he says that most right handed people are also right eye dominant but they line up and see most of the line with their weak eye and that throws things off a bit. He says it's like a right hander aiming a rifle with his left eye...it's just wierd. So he recommends opening the stance and viewing the line with both eyes level to the green.

[Spumoni]

I started fooling around with an open putting stance over the winter. I've played with it for about 4 or 5 months now. I feel more confident over the short putts by getting a better view of the line. I put a line on the ball and then line up the line on the putter to the line on the ball. The ball position is oposite my back foot with my front foot pretty far open. With my head slightly behind the ball I get a good look at the line with both eyes now. I don't think I've ever putted better. Jack played with a slight open stance towards the end. Give it a try, you'll like it.

[jportz]

I've been practicing it for a couple of days this week and am amazed at the results. I do a drill where I putt 10 balls from 3', 6', and 10' and I made all but 2 of the 10 footers....that's 28 of 30 putts.

 

My only question now is if there's a certain putter to use with an open stance? What about a long putter with and open stance?

[Asleep]

I'd go with what he says in Chapter 7 starting on page 121.

 

Also, try the putting drill he challenged Mickelson with. Ten balls, 3 feet around a hole on a slight incline. Step up and hit 'em, not carefully lining them up. Putt instinctively. Don't reward yourself until you make 10 straight, then 20 straight, then 50, 100. I'd bet by the time you get to making 30/40 3-footers in a row you'll have discovered your own putting style.

[jportz]

You know what....you might have just struck an "ah-ha" with me. You're right...if I was to putt and putt and putt until I could make 100 3 footers in a row I'd definitely have a putting style down...I'd be forced to find out what worked for me.

 

I'm sure I'd have to start with a smaller goal at first....like make 25 in a row. Once I get that down I'll bump it up to 50 and go from there.

 

Man that's a great idea.

 

Don't you love Jackie Burke's views on golf. He's so "to the point" and I love it. No smoke and mirrors with him and no "magic move". His idea is that there is no one way to swing....whatever works is the perfect swing. If it delivers the clubface square consistently then it's the perfect swing.

 

I wish I could spend a few minutes with him at the range....let him smack some sense into me. :)

[Zach Heusser]

I love Jackie Burke. I was lucky enough to spend a weekend with him at the Jim McLean GOlf School at PGA West. I would reccomend reading any of his information. He says he taught Nicklaus how to putt.

[Yooper]

Huh I just realized something I never thought about before. Seeing I'm actually right handed but golf left handed it is actually a good thing for putting seeing I'm right eye dominate. My dominate eye is the one actually seeing the line. Dang there are advantages of being a lefty...haha

 

Yooper

[tarik]

I told you the 100 putt drill was a keeper! :) IMO an open stance would restrict my tempo and my ability to get the putter back to square. It sounds like it would require more of a "handsy" move as opposed to the pendulum motion associated with a square stance. Does the book talk about the mechanics of the stroke in depth? If so please share.

[jportz]

Not really but he does talk about Jack's style of putting...open stance, bent way over so he's close to the line and the ball...and he also says that most players don't grip down enough on the putter.....he says, there's a big old grip on there for a reason...grip down on that thing and you'll gain much more control of the putter.

 

He talks about Jack's "piston" motion...how he used his right arm like a piston...straight back and through.

 

A good friend of mine went to a Golf School in Monterey and said they had them putt with this little tiny putter...it was a normal putter head but with only 18" of shaft. They would have to bend way over to grip this thing but he said it was amazing how straight you could putt with it....you had no feel for long putts but he said you almost couldn't miss from inside of 15'. The point was that you should grip down on your putter to gain control for shorter putts and stand a little taller and grip more of the end for long lag putts.

 

Obviously there's a lot of ways to putt...Jack putted with an open stance and bent over more for shorter putts and stood up more for longer putts. Tiger seems to take the same stance, grip, stroke, etc for every putt. Bottom line is you gotta find what works for you and then put in some hours at the range.

 

I tried the grip down and bend over tip yesterday and it worked....the real test will be to see if it still works this weekend.