At impact, when the putter meets the ball, the position of the ball on the ground in relation to your stance can have a big impact on which direction the ball leaves the face of the putter and where the ball hits. ball actually hits the face of the putter (towards the heel). or toe).
Most golfers are completely unaware of how extremely important it is to have the ball in the correct position in your setup. They usually just walk up to the ball, put the putter behind the ball, adjust the rest of their body, and take their shot. Then, when the ball doesn’t go into the hole, they automatically blame the putting stroke, the condition of the green, and even the putter itself. If the ball is only a fraction out of place in your setup, you have already increased the probability of missing the putt before you have hit the ball.
Whether the ball is too close to your body, too far away, too far forward in your stance (towards your front foot), or too far back (towards your back foot), each of these errors, even if only a fraction of , can send the ball up to 6 inches off the line in just one 10-foot putt. If you look at the best putters on the PGA Tour right now, you’ll notice that the position of the ball in their setup never changes…ever. No matter what type of putt they face, they know exactly where their ball is. It needs to be in their setup to make sure they leave no room for error in their setup so they have the best chance of making every putt successfully.
Now you and I are no different. We each require an ideal ball position in our setups so that the putter hits the ball in the right place on the putter face and strikes it at the best possible angle for a pure “square to target” stroke. . So how do the rest of us weekend golfers find our sweet spot if we don’t have access to $5000/day trainers, million dollar high-speed cameras, and computer software?
Well, since every golfer is different and there is no one ideal position for everyone, there are basic principles that must be followed to ensure proper ball position at all times.
#1. The ball must be far enough forward in your stance that the putter will strike it at the first moment of the upswing while the putter is in an upstroke. Catching the ball in this short, ideal moment will get the ball rolling further. If the ball is too far back in position, the putter will hit the ball while it is still in a downward motion, pushing it toward the ground and causing it to roll out of place in the first few inches of rolling. Too far forward and the putter catches you too much on the upstroke lifting you off the ground.
#two. The ball should be far enough away from you that you are in an ideal position so that you can see the line of putt while standing on the ball. This also allows you to hit the ball in the center of the putter face. Hitting the ball toward the heel or toe of the putter causes the putter to spin and send the ball to the right or left of the target.
You should now see how important it is to be able to get your ball into this ideal position every time you step on a putt. Since correct ball position has absolutely nothing to do with your putting stroke, this is an act you can do to help your putt that doesn’t even involve having a putter in your hands.