One Putting Mistake You Will Be Surprised to Learn That You Are Doing Right Now
You just had a great game of golf with your buddies. You are at the last hole. You have your putter in your hands, ready to strike the ball and sink this last hole so you come out as the winner. You approach the ball, take your stance, and make your swing.
The putter head glances the ball. Like a game of ping pong, the golf ball goes hopping away toward the hole. It seems like it is on course, yet everyone can tell that there is a lack of control. There is no telling where the ball plans to end up. The ball goes wide and misses.
You want to scream yet your golfing etiquette kicks in. Instead, you congratulate your friends then sulk to yourself during the walk back to the clubhouse. Your friends are sympathetic. They give their golf opinions while repeating that you have to hit up on the ball with the putter head to sink the ball. While you want to argue that you have been doing that with hit or miss results, you vow to try harder the next time.
The Putting Lie We Have Been Accepting
Hitting up on the ball has become such a common response to bad golf putting that it has almost turned into a golden rule. Lift your putter head to make the ball bounce to the hole. Yet this is definitely one piece of putting advice that must be laid to rest for what it is: a lie.
Throughout our whole game of golf, we are told to strike the ball at the center of the club face. No matter which iron or wood or hybrid type of club you are using. You hit the ball at the center so you have more control of where the ball is going to go and more consistent results.
So why are you deliberately hitting up on the ball with the bottom of your putter head when you want the ball to roll forward toward the hole? You lose control on where you want the ball to go when it is bouncing as you might end up with more glancing strikes.
Instead, approach the ball with the putter head kept low. While the putter head will pull up naturally during the swing, you will strike the ball more at the face of the putter. You will watch as your ball rolls in the desired direction with the right amount of force so you get a better result.
Avoid this common putting mistake the next time at the golf course. It might be hard to break this bad habit at first. Yet with more practice, you will see how hitting the ball at the center of the putter head when you have the putter low will lead to having more control of the ball.
