Instruction
The illusion of the putter shaft, and why you should forward press
If you watch the vast majority of Tour players putt, you’ll notice that their hands start in front of the putter head at address, and this condition doesn’t vary throughout their stroke.
Most golfers don’t putt this way, though. Their hands start behind the putter head at address and tend to break down even more. They “slap” at the ball through impact and beyond, which is detrimental for both speed and direction control.
Golf instructors can agree that in order to be effective on the greens, golfers must have the putter shaft returning to neutral or even leaning forward at impact, allowing the hands to lead the blade throughout the stroke. Fundamentally, we know that the left hand controls the putter face and its direction, while the right hand controls the putter head and its effective loft (for right-handed golfers). These two factors together allow golfers to roll their putts more consistently.
The bottom line: if you do not lead the putter head with your hands on today’s fast green, you’ll struggle to be an effective putter.
The Illusion
Jordan Spieth keeps the back of his left hand stable and ahead of the putter head throughout his stroke.
So isn’t the solution as simple as forward pressing your hands during address. Why is that so hard? Well, when most amateurs forward press it’s almost never enough. That’s because they’re fighting an illusion.
That’s right, there’s an optical illusion that occurs when golfers look down from address at their hands and their putter shaft angle. It influences the breakdown of their impact alignments, and promotes a “slapping” action of the wrists and hands. It also encourages the putter head to swing past the hands, leaning the shaft away from the target at impact adding loft to the putter — not something we want.
Try It Yourself
To understand how putters are designed, place your putter flat on the ground, and up against the wall as pictured below. You will notice that the shaft leans away from the target.
If you still don’t buy it, take your setup in front of a full-length mirror and look down at the shaft of the putter. From your address position, you will swear that your putter shaft is even or slightly ahead of the golf ball. But when you look in the mirror you will see an entirely different picture. The putter shaft will actually be behind the putter head.
The Illusion Explained
Putter manufactures have built-in this backward leaning of the shaft and loft into the putter face to promote good mechanics (as well as other things) by forcing players to forward press their hands at address.
This was and still is a great idea, but the problem is that it causes an illusion, leading golfers to believe that their hands are pressed forward more than they actually are. This means that when the shaft is set in a forward-leaning position, the hands are really just over the top of the putter head, not in front of the blade as it looks visually from above.
How to Overcome the Illusion
Most golfers would be better off if they forward pressed their hands too much, rather than too little at address with their putter. This way, there is more room for error if something does breakdown.
A good rule of thumb is to always point the butt end of the putter shaft at the first belt loop on the target side of your belt buckle. As you look down, you may think you have the putter shaft pointed too far toward the hole, but when you look into your mirror you will find that it is only slightly forward leaning. This is the most desirable position for you to roll a putt.
Use a mirror to help you understand of the illusion of the putter shaft. I promise it will give you better control over your line and speed, and knowing you’re set up correctly will give you more confidence on the greens, too.
Don’t be fooled by the illusion.
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While there are many golfers who barely know where the practice (I don’t like calling it a “driving”) range is located, there are many who find it a place of adventure, discovery and fun. I’m in the latter group, which could be accented by the fact that I make my living in this industry. But then, I’ve always been a “ball beater,” since I was a kid, but now I approach my practice sessions with more purpose and excitement. There’s no question that practice is the key to improvement in anything, so today’s topic is on making practice as much fun as playing.
As long as I can remember, I’ve loved the range, and always embrace the challenge of learning new ways to make a golf ball do what I would like it to do. So, today I’m sharing my “top 5” tips for making practice fun and productive.
- Have a mission/goal/objective. Whether it is a practice range session or practice time on the course, make sure you have a clearly defined objective…how else will you know how you’re doing? It might be to work on iron trajectory, or finding out why you’ve developed a push with your driver. Could be to learn how to hit a little softer lob shot or a knockdown pitch. But practice with a purpose …always.
- Don’t just “do”…observe. There are two elements of learning something new. The first is to figure out what it is you need to change. Then you work toward that solution. If your practice session is to address that push with the driver, hit a few shots to start out, and rather than try to fix it, make those first few your “lab rats”. Focus on what your swing is doing. Do you feel anything different? Check your alignment carefully, and your ball position. After each shot, step away and process what you think you felt during the swing.
- Make it real. To just rake ball after ball in front of you and pound away is marginally valuable at best. To make practice productive, step away from your hitting station after each shot, rake another ball to the hitting area, then approach the shot as if it was a real one on the course. Pick a target line from behind the ball, meticulously step into your set-up position, take your grip, process your one swing thought and hit it. Then evaluate how you did, based on the shot result and how it felt.
- Challenge yourself. One of my favorite on-course practice games is to spend a few minutes around each green after I’ve played the hole, tossing three balls into various positions in an area off the green. I don’t let myself go to the next tee until I put all three within three feet of the hole. If I don’t, I toss them to another area and do it again. You can do the same thing on the range. Define a challenge and a limited number of shots to achieve it.
- Don’t get in a groove. I was privileged enough to watch Harvey Penick give Tom Kite a golf lesson one day, and was struck by the fact that he would not let Tom hit more than five to six shots in a row with the same club. Tom would hit a few 5-irons, and Mr. Penick would say, “hit the 8”, then “hit the driver.” He changed it up so that Tom would not just find a groove. That paved the way for real learning, Mr. Penick told me.
My “bonus” tip addresses the difference between practicing on the course and keeping a real score. Don’t do both. A practice session is just that. On-course practice is hugely beneficial, and it’s best done by yourself, and at a casual pace. Playing three or four holes in an hour or so, taking time to hit real shots into and around the greens, will do more for your scoring skills than the same amount of range time.
So there you have my five practice tips. I’m sure I could come up with more, but then we always have more time, right?
More from the Wedge Guy
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As someone who has observed rank-and-file recreational golfers for most of my life – over 50 years of it, anyway – I have always been baffled by why so many mid- to high-handicap golfers throw away so many strokes in prime scoring range.
For this purpose, let’s define “prime scoring range” as the distance when you have something less than a full-swing wedge shot ahead of you. Depending on your strength profile, that could be as far as 70 to 80 yards or as close as 30 to 40 yards. But regardless of whether you are trying to break par or 100, your ability to get the ball on the green and close enough to the hole for a one-putt at least some of the time will likely be one of the biggest factors in determining your score for the day.
All too often, I observe golfers hit two or even three wedge shots from prime scoring range before they are on the green — and all too often I see short-range pitch shots leave the golfer with little to no chance of making the putt.
This makes no sense, as attaining a level of reasonable proficiency from short range is not a matter of strength profile at all. But it does take a commitment to learning how to make a repeating and reliable half-swing and doing that repeatedly and consistently absolutely requires you to learn the basic fundamentals of how the body has to move the club back and through the impact zone.
So, let’s get down to the basics to see if I can shed some light on these ultra-important scoring shots.
- Your grip has to be correct. For the club to move back and through correctly, your grip on the club simply must be fundamentally sound. The club is held primarily in the last three fingers of the upper hand, and the middle two fingers of the lower hand. Period. The lower hand has to be “passive” to the upper hand, or the mini-swing will become a quick jab at the ball. For any shot, but particularly these short ones, that sound grip is essential for the club to move through impact properly and repeatedly.
- Your posture has to be correct. This means your body is open to the target, feet closer together than even a three-quarter swing, and the ball positioned slightly back of center.
- Your weight should be distributed about 70 percent on your lead foot and stay there through the mini-swing.
- Your hands should be “low” in that your lead arm is hanging naturally from your shoulder, not extended out toward the ball and not too close to the body to allow a smooth turn away and through. Gripping down on the club is helpful, as it gets you “closer to your work.
- This shot is hit with a good rotation of the body, not a “flip” or “jab” with the hands. Controlling these shots with your body core rotation and leading the swing with your body core and lead side will almost ensure proper contact. To hit crisp pitch shots, the hands have to lead the clubhead through impact.
- A great drill for this is to grip your wedge with an alignment rod next to the grip and extending up past your torso. With this in place, you simply have to rotate your body core through the shot, as the rod will hit your lead side and prevent you from flipping the clubhead at the ball. It doesn’t take but a few practice swings with this drill to give you an “ah ha” moment about how wedge shots are played.
- And finally, understand that YOU CANNOT HIT UP ON A GOLF BALL. The ball is sitting on the ground so the clubhead has to be moving down and through impact. I think one of the best ways to think of this is to remember this club is “a wedge.” So, your simple objective is to wedge the club between the ball and the ground. The loft of the wedge WILL make the ball go up, and the bounce of the sole of the wedge will prevent the club from digging.
So, why is mastering the simple pitch shot so important? Because my bet is that if you count up the strokes in your last round of golf, you’ll likely see that you left several shots out there by…
- Either hitting another wedge shot or chip after having one of these mid-range pitch shots, or
- You did not get the mid-range shot close enough to even have a chance at a makeable putt.
If you will spend even an hour on the range or course with that alignment rod and follow these tips, your scoring average will improve a ton, and getting better with these pitch shots will improve your overall ball striking as well.
More from the Wedge Guy
- Wedge Guy: There’s no logic to iron fitting
- The Wedge Guy: Understanding iron designs, Part 1
- The Wedge Guy: Understanding iron designs, Part 2
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It is just crazy how golfers are literally beside themselves when they are placed in a properly aligned set up! They feel they can’t swing or function! We take a dive into why this is and it has to do with how the eyes are set up in the human skull!
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Myths as Facts?
Aug 6, 2019 at 5:12 am
A lot of myths being repeated here. A forward press is a triggering device, nothing more. It takes maybe .8 degrees of loft away, so a 4 degree club is more than fine. I’m amazed at the poor quality of this article and the comments supporting it. It seems because someone works with Trackman people assume they have studied this, but certainly this is one of the most ill informed articles I’ve seen on this topic. Ask Frank Thomas. As Geoff Mangum. Ask Ralph Maltby. They will all set it straight.
EgdewRich
Feb 27, 2017 at 7:26 am
Combine Tom’s comments and analysis with Dave Stockton videos and written work and you may find a formula for improved rolling of the ball! I find attaching two longer tees to the heel and toe helps in practice since “seeing loft” helps me see the impact moment that produces a tight roll. Try gluing two quarters together for a practice ball
marker and resting the putter head on them before starting the stroke helps align the “vertical” sweet spot with the impact point on the ball. Try with a Nike Ping or Odyssey textured surface putter face! Putt to a 5 inch wide block of wood and work on the tight roll and just hitting the woodblock!
jc
Jan 16, 2017 at 2:25 pm
this works very well..I have the new golf pride overside piston grip on my ping rustler and b54….I just set it down and it naturally fall into the postion in the article…I then step in so my body mathes the end of the club….then back and into the hole….works with either putter, a no arc and a slight arc…
REAL REASON...
Jan 5, 2017 at 8:44 am
The real reason is because putters are ill designed.
1. Loft causes the ball to be hit below the equater
2. This causes the ball to get airborne, have backspin, bounce and results in bad distance control
Good putters forward press to reduce loft (3* quickly becomes 0* or less).
The ball is then hit at the equator or higher.
“Topped” balls roll better
Putting is the only shot in golf you really don’t want to get airborne….
better hit at the equator or above… better forward press or have negative loft to start with.
mark c
Jan 19, 2017 at 7:05 am
not true – unless youre playing on marble greens you need the ball to initially get airborne to lift it above the slight sunken lie it will be in on the grass and get it rolling on the top
tom stickney
Jan 3, 2017 at 4:55 pm
23 years of full-time teaching…if you doubt this, go to your local putting green any busy saturday am
Steven
Jan 3, 2017 at 2:39 pm
Great Advice. I think many of us would benefit from looking in the mirror during parts of the swing to see what is really happening. Like they always say, feel is not real.
Alfredo Smith
Jan 2, 2017 at 1:32 pm
Awesome read! I use a forward press to avoid a static swing. That illusion check blew me away because it has always appeared that my hands are ahead at address before I started the press. After reading this article my forward press is giving me that much more confidence. Thanks Tom Stickney!
david
Jan 2, 2017 at 1:08 pm
I put a line on the ball and, if I see the line after I putt, I feel I have hit a good putt because it rolled end over end. Seems to me that’s all that matters. Am I wrong on that? If I could read greens worth a damn and hit the short ones hard enough, I might be a decent putter.
Deadeye
Jan 1, 2017 at 11:14 am
Going back to legal anchoring days, why were the long and belly putters so effective? It’s my impression there was no forward press in those strokes. At least not in mine.
Tcope
Dec 31, 2016 at 9:10 am
The best thing I ever did was actually get fitted for a putter. Specifcally an Edel. That putting fit session was eye opening. Instead of really changine stance, press etc. Just have a putter built to your EYES and how you see the ball and address it. Had my first sub 2 putts per round the other day.
PineStreetGolf
Dec 30, 2016 at 10:50 am
My coment didn’t get posted for some reason, so sorry if this is a double.
Where did you get the data that “most” golfers don’t forward press? Study? Could you link it?
Having your hands ahead of the putter is nice, I guess, but its all relative. If your putter has three degrees of loft and 2* of shaft lean and you press it’ll be awful. Its all relative. The full swing is relatively similar and governed by motion physics, so you can make generalizations, but the putting stroke is much smaller – “get your hands forward” might be absolutely awful advice for some people.
Where did you get the source for your comment that “most” need it? Is this just you making it up? Poll? Shotlink? The entire article is based on this sentence and there isn’t a whiff of authority to support it. I’m not saying its wrong, but if your going to solve a problem with an enitre article it would be nice if you first proved there was actually a problem to be solved – where did the data that “most” golfers do this come from?
Myths as Facts?
Aug 6, 2019 at 5:14 am
No one presses two degrees at impact, forward press typically results in a maximum of .8 degrees reduction in loft which is fine for a typical 4 degree putter. That’s not the issue here. However the issues here are indeed many, agreed.
PineStreetGolf
Dec 30, 2016 at 10:18 am
“Most golfers don’t putt this way, though. ”
This is from your article. How do you know this? Study, survey? Or did this come from your head? Curious.
Blanket golf advice “always forward press…” is generally bad, unless you actually have tendency numbers to back it up. Where did your “most” come from? are we talking 70%? 90% Its a whole lot different if your making up that 65% do it versus an actual study that shows 95% do it.
In fact, Pelz concluded in his book the exact opposite – “most” golfers *do* have a forward press at impact. Its just offset by too much body lean away from the target.
i’d really like to see some evidence for the “most don’t forward press” basis of this article. A forward press is relative. If you forward press and then your spine titlts backwards, you actually arn’t forward pressing at all. Its alot more interconnected than this article makes it seem.
Putting your hands forward is not the same thing as proper loft at impact.
JH
Dec 29, 2016 at 10:58 pm
garbage
RichEwen
Dec 30, 2016 at 6:07 am
…and the reason for your succinct comment is??
alexdub
Dec 30, 2016 at 12:01 pm
Hang in there man, you’ll find a job soon!
Lowell
Dec 29, 2016 at 7:05 pm
I had this experience today working with a new putter. I felt to me that if I just set the putter down the putter has a tendency to have a lean away from the target. I almost have to promote pressing my hands forward which looked better but will take some time to buy into. I felt like the feel of the putt felt more solid as compared to when I would step in and set the putter with its natural position as I saw it. Pretty significant to say the least. Knowing this now, I will stick with pressing my hands forward and get that solid consistent roll that I want.
Mr B
Dec 29, 2016 at 6:41 pm
Great read Tom. Quick questions: I feel like I seriously close the face when I try to fwd press. Looks so awkward at address.
Is this common and just an illusion? If not an illusion and problematic, any tips not to close down the face when using a fwd press?
Prime21
Dec 29, 2016 at 11:45 pm
Tape a tee to the face of the putter. If you press the putter properly, it will lean towards the hole. If you are truly closing it will turn inwards towards you. A proper press may very well look “closed” to you, but if you have a system to check it, you will be able to determine if what your eyes are telling you is true or simply different. You may also want to put a line on the front of the tee (facing the target) with a sharpie. If done properly you will never see it, if you’re closing it, it will come into vision.
MR B
Jan 3, 2017 at 12:46 pm
thank you. will give it a whirl
Job
Dec 29, 2016 at 5:25 pm
What about using this technique with a Seemore? When I do this, it exposes the red button on the riflescope and takes away the advantage of ensuring proper alignment, which was one of the big draws of that putter. I now see that I almost assuredly am behind the ball but maybe there is a compromise?
Dill Pickleson
Dec 29, 2016 at 8:30 pm
I use a seemore and arc stroke and don’t think forward press is necessary if you square the face. A device like SkyPro will tell you that. Seemore gives you the setup and feedback you need
Double Mocha Man
Dec 29, 2016 at 4:36 pm
What if I’m wearing Sansabelt trousers left over from the ’70’s? There are no belt loops.
Prime21
Dec 29, 2016 at 11:46 pm
+4
TexasSnowman
Dec 31, 2016 at 12:05 am
Just point the butt of the grip at the penguin logo on your shirt
mlb
Dec 29, 2016 at 3:35 pm
Thanks Tom this helps me a lo i have this problem.
Darrin
Dec 29, 2016 at 2:27 pm
Face square at impact is all that matters. I just focus on the putter face being perpendicular to my starting line, what the shaft is doing at that point is irrelevant.
Jason
Dec 29, 2016 at 1:24 pm
Typical putter lofts are 3.5 to 4 degrees, which is typically measured when the shaft is vertical, correct? If the first belt loop is two inches ahead of the vertical line the putter shaft is leaning forward by 3 degrees which reduces static loft by the same amount. So, wouldn’t I want a putter with five or six degrees of loft if the goal is to return to impact on a level path with three degrees of shaft lean?
If some accommodation is not made in the putter’s loft it seems like a lot of people would begin experiencing bouncing putts.
I would love to know your two cents..
tom stickney
Dec 29, 2016 at 1:50 pm
It all depends on how you deliver the puttershaft into impact…for this article I wanted people to understand only the basics of the “illusion.” Find someone with a SAM Puttlab or a Quintic in your area for the best static/dynamic loft fitting.
Dave R
Dec 29, 2016 at 1:21 pm
Very good and yes it works ,I’ve done it for years tought to me over 40 years ago by a very old and good friend.
Jay
Dec 29, 2016 at 12:59 pm
Good read!!
Philip
Dec 29, 2016 at 12:21 pm
Tom, indeed when you place the putter flat on the ground you will get backward shaft lean, but the face of the putter will also be leaning back and adding loft. I’ve never putted like that and don’t know anyone that does either. I putt with the club face square and flat to the ball which results in some natural forward shaft lean. When I placed the putter faces up against a square steel block I see just a bit of forward shaft lean and when I set up at address I see even a bit more forward shaft lean that matches the full-length mirror when I look up. If one allows the putter to naturally hang from their arms and then lines up the club face to the ball, they will have no choice but to have some forward shaft lean unless their setup is messed up. I do not see this is an optical illusion, but more of an issue of improper setup or not understanding how to use a tool “putter” properly.
tom stickney
Dec 29, 2016 at 12:35 pm
not always…
Tom
Dec 29, 2016 at 11:48 am
Great article. And this technique works.