For many, many years we have taught and been taught to use our shoulders for putting. We should not use are wrist, or any other lever in the putting motion so we can eliminate the variables and power. This is not necessarily incorrect but what happens when you have a vertebrae, especially in the thorax region of the spine that has limited mobility?
You are also not supposed to move your head, how can we do all this if we are not a machine or very flexible. I would say most golfers move their head towards the target in the downswing which causes a host of problems including open and closing of the face, temp and distance control. If you believe in shoulder putting wouldn’t the lever have the fulcrum at about the base of the neck or shoulder height? If that is the case then the area above the fulcrum must move the opposite direction of the bottom area. As you can see in the video below the top of the lever will move the opposite direction from the center, nut of the lever. If we are using a true lever system wouldn’t this indicate that our head should move towards the target on the take away and away from the target on the forward stroke of the putter?
The second part is how you may want to align your shoulders if your not blessed with spinal mobility in the joints. If your like me trying to use my shoulders from a somewhat horizontal position at setup only produces bad results. It has a tendancy lift my head, rotate the club and other problems right before impact due to loss of mobility. We know if we are putting well the left shoulder will be higher at impact that the right at impact. So why not start with the shoulder s tilted about 20 degrees? I believe this will help a majority of players that are not super flexible, most golfers
So next time you practice you putting keep your shoulders perpendicular to your target but tilt them so your front or left shoulder is a bit higher than the right. Hit some putts and you will most likely make better more consistent stokes and eliminate many problems in your stroke.
So next time you practice you putting keep your shoulders perpendicular to your target but tilt them so your front or left shoulder is a bit higher than the right. Hit some putts and you will most likely make better more consistent motions and eliminate many problems in your stroke.
This tip is not for all golfers but for those of us with limited mobility in our spine.
Jim Hartnett, PGA
www.myhome4golf.com
