Putting
The principles of putting:
1. The ball must be struck on the sweet spot of the putter blade in order to maintain a constant strength of hitting. Exactly as with the longer shots, we must strive towards perfect strikes and in putting, this means knowing where the perfect striking point is on the putter blade. The point can, however, vary between putter models. Many have a line or setter etched onto the blade's top or front. This, on well-known brands, can be relied upon to show the designed hitting point. But on cheaper models, a line is often only a cosmetic marking and cannot be depended on for accuracy. Make a test with your own putter. Strikes at a point off the sweetspot will leave the ball somewhat short of the target and off-line.
2. The club blade should strike the ball at the bottom of the swing arc with a normal lofted putter. Striking the ball on the up or downswing will mean contact low or high on the club blade, thereby missing the sweetspot. It will also mean a chance of loft at impact. The upswing hit can make the ball fly into air a little at first, and this, together with the off-center strike, leaves the ball short. Striking the ball with the blade traveling parallel to the green at impact will propel the ball forward, initially with some skidding movement, then with line-holding topspin, and of course with increase chances of striking the sweetspot.
3. The clubhead at impact must be traveling along the desired starting line of the putt. Due to the club's short length and upright lie, the natural swing path for the clubhead is close to being along the shot's starting line. We have to make sure that, with our set-up position, alignment, and movement, we utilize this advantage.
4. The club blade's position at impact must be at 90' to the swing path of the clubhead
5. The clubhead's speed at impact must be within certain limits that are required by the length of the putt. This law probably has the greatest control over how many putts the average golfer takes for each green. An average-size golf green is about 100 feet long and 75 feet wide. When we consider that putting is sometimes necessary from beyond the edge of the green, it becomes all the more clear that strength of putting is virtually important to low scoring. Our putting swing must have, within its range of movement and tempo, the capability of hitting the ball up to perhaps the full length of the green. So there we have the criteria for construction of a putting swing. Add to these the external factors - deciding the slope of the green, the effect of grass and wind, the mental pressure of competition, and the brainwork of collecting everything together in a calculated movement - and we face an interesting challenge. It is certainly one that will be as exciting to master as are the game's longer shots, and therefore it should be worth spending some time on.
This is some of the most important principles of putting. This would help improve your short game and will knock a few strokes of your scorecard.
