Putting Stance?

[gnlw]

I've never been what I consider to be a good putter, but am constantly striving to improve. I've always putted with a shoulder-width, square stance. I've been experimenting with a narrow and open stance, and I feel that I can see the line better, and that my stroke feels less "mechanical" (if that makes sense). What type of stance do you use, and why? What are the pros and cons of various putting stances? Thanks in advance for any replies.

[smarshal75]

My stance width is determined by the length of the putt before me. I would generally use a shoulder wide stance for long puts or uphill runs. The wider stance improves the pendulum effect when you have to put a little extra on the ball. For short putts my feet are closer together. I basically use the distance between my feet to meter my back swing and follow through.

[gnlw]

Thanks smarshal75. Anyone else?

[Chadwick]

I stand a little wider than shoulder width. I putt better with shorter putters, but being 6'3 I have somehow got to get a little closer to the ground.

[DaveyH]

a good stable wide stance wider than shoulders with,the arms hanging freely without tension nice easy long low stroke..

[Evolve]

I am standing with my feet parallelangled 45 degrees towards the hole, and its helped my putting temendously!

[Geo]

I've never been what I consider to be a good putter, but am constantly striving to improve. I've always putted with a shoulder-width, square stance. I've been experimenting with a narrow and open stance, and I feel that I can see the line better, and that my stroke feels less "mechanical" (if that makes sense). What type of stance do you use, and why? What are the pros and cons of various putting stances? Thanks in advance for any replies.

 

gnlw, with winter coming up now's a great time to work on putting. Read books, practice drills, make whatever changes you feel you need and you'll be good to go. I also use a shoulder-width, square-to-target line stance (I have broadish shoulders), and tend to stand a little upright, with natural-ish arm hang (I'm 5'10" and use a 33" putter). This allows me a fairly repeatable shoulder-rocking to power my putts (no muscling, unless I've got a 200 footer for par :) ). I spend some decent time practicing putts, with some HUGE emphasis on line and distance control (the Boomerang is a big old PITA, mucho demanding, often times frustrating, I've never putted better).

 

As much as I hate to advertise his name, I use the Pelz approach more than anything and have read his Putting Bible cover-to-cover (short game bible, skipped around more). Only reason I don't like him is he is too into getting his name out there and you'll find out several times per chapter that he worked for NASA. One thing I've noticed is that I'm left-eye dominant, which is better for a right-handed stroke. Standing over the putt it's much easier to see the line or your target spot if your dominant eye is closer to the hole. That's one of the benefits to the approach that Evolve mentioned. Sam Snead used to face the target and putted while straddling the ball. When that was ruled illegal, he faced the hole and putted with the ball to his side. One problem with that (and the 45 degree approach) is that it requires a lot of club manipulation. When was the last time Natalie Gulbis held her lead on the last day of the tournament. Best to keep the stroke simple IMO.

[Boonie]

Vot the vuck is up with vat signature of yours George??

[Geo]

Vot the vuck is up with vat signature of yours George??

V's little soliloquy at the beginning of the movie "V for Vendetta." Yesterday was November 5th. It was either that or blow up parliment, and right now England's government doesn't vex me. :)

[gnlw]

Thanks for all of the replies. Also, thanks beruo for the advice on the Pelz book. I went and bought a copy last night, and am half way through it. I also just got back from a couple of hours at the practice green trying out his method. It feels a bit odd putting without the wrists getting involved since I usually putt with a little bit of wrist for feel. It even feels like my wrists want to try to still get involved in the putting stroke, but the Pelz stroke forces them to remain quiet (if that makes any sense). Anyway, my square stance seems well suited to the Pelz stroke, so I guess I'll keep it for now. By the way, to those of you who have changed to the Pelz method, did you find that you temporarily lost your feel for distance control? If so, how long did it take you to regain it? Pelz's method seems to make sense, so I'm going to give it a go for a while. Thanks in advance for any replies.

[Evolve]

Well, at the end of it all, its really what is comfortable to you. beruo makes a lot of sense in his post. I for one tried all kinds of grips till I fixed on one that keeps my hands to the side of the grip opposite one another, and in a series of locks, grip my my left forefinger with my right fingers, while using the left thumb and third finger gripping the wrist (or close to it) of the right. Extremely stable grip.

 

Standing to the side allows me good distance control and the way I stroke it smooth is to ensure that I see a solid line around the ball as it rolls (line drawn by marker). Whether it ends up at the back of the cup or not doesn't matter, cause a good stroke should be judged differently from a good result.

[RobotDoctor]

I stand slightly open which allows me to get a free stroke on the ball. My feet are slightly less than shoulder width generally but I sometimes adjust the width a little narrower.

 

This is the way I used to putt when I started primarily because of Jack Nicklaus and how I patterned my game to his. I used to putt great! I went to a shoulder width, square stance in the early 90s. Over the course of several years, this stance really inhibited my ability to putt. I went from a great putter to a terrible putter and I believe the stance had everything to do with it. I have gone back to the slightly open stance I began with in the past year and now am getting back to becoming a better putter. I am not where I used to be because I have to undo 14 years of putting problems the square stance did for me. I agree that everyone must use what is comfortable to them and if it works, don't change.

[bruinduke]

Very timely post gnlw as I've been experimenting with the same issue. After finally realizing that a face balanced putter is best for my straight back straight through stroke, I've also realized that it helps for me to stand a little narrow with my left foot open to the line.

 

Don't know why, but I see the line better. Pretty much can use my shoulders to move back and forth. I am a bit embarrassed by my stance and almost feel like I have to tell my buddies not to watch my putts for fear of influencing how they putt. Hey, but it works.