How to Perfect the Putting Stance 

There are several points in the stance on which there has come to be general, though by no means unanimous, agreement. We should stand with our eyes directly over the ball, the shaft should be exactly perpendicular, the head and body should be completely stationary, the face of the putter should be square to the direction line, and we should strive always for a solid on-the-button contact with the ball.

There are good reasons for all these points. When our eyes are directly over the ball the line to the hole, or that we want the ball to follow, is seen with less perspective than if the eyes are anywhere else. The shaft should be perpendicular because when it is, we are much more likely to strike the ball exactly at the bottom of the swing arc.

Any movement of the head or the body is liable to move the hands and throw the ball off line. The head can move three or four inches on big shots but one inch can ruin a putt. If the face of the putter is not square to start with, we certainly will have a harder time bringing it square at contact.

The flush, solid contact should seemingly be easy with a putter, yet how often have you hit a putt and gotten a dead, off center feeling?

Some putts hit off center will go into the hole, no question about that, but those which are hit flush are much more likely to drop. A putt hit off center is an indication that something has gone wrong with the stroke.

Opinions on other points of the stance differ, but we prefer a slight spread of the feet, so that more weight can be placed on the left leg, giving us a braced feeling and less likelihood of body movement.

We also want a square stance the points of the toes an equal distance from the direction line. This makes lining up the putt easier.

The ball itself should be played opposite the left heel. a shade inside it. We realize this is at variance with the practice of many good putters who play the ball opposite the left toe. We feel that with the heel position there is less chance of pulling the putt. If it is played farther back there would be a tendency to push it.

The stroked putt itself is almost a chip shot in miniature. The club is taken straight back from the ball with the "arms, the arms hinging at the shoulder joints, and the face kept square.

At the end of the backstroke there is a slight, backward break in the wrists. The hands and arms are then moved straight to the left, and the head of the putter is taken through the ball with no break whatever in the left wrist. The right hand is in command at all times and on the forward stroke the palm of this hand should be moved straight at the objective.

We believe, along with many others, that the ball should be struck exactly at the bottom of the swing arc. We see no point in hitting it on the downs stroke or the upstroke. These merely complicate the putt, an operation most players find difficult enough at its simplest. The rhythm of the stroke should always be the same, with the length of the putt determined by the length of the back-swing.

All of this constitutes the stiff wristed stroke, the method most players will find easier to learn and to execute than any other.

The wristy tap is entirely different. In this, since all movement is confined to the hands and there is no hinging at the shoulders, the hands must be exactly opposed in the grip. The left cannot be under the shaft but must exactly face the right.

In the stroke itself the arms do not move. The hands simply bend backward and forward at the wrist joints. Be-cause the arms don't move, the head of the putter is brought up higher on the backstroke and higher again after the ball is hit on the forward stroke. And here there is more of a feeling that the putter is pushed back by the left hand and brought forward with the right.

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