A Balanced Putting Stroke
How the ground and our feet can be the answer to our problems.
Since I started this blog, we have spent a great deal of time talking about finding your optimal stroke Profile and how we can find results better than average. As we continue our discussion, I want to add what has been a game changer for my instruction to the conversation.
As you might know, my work has been greatly influenced by Mike Adams and Terry Rowles, presented in The “Ultimate Golf Lesson.” It is through that relationship I have been privileged to work with them live a number of times. Always watching them closely and asking myself, “If and why those concepts might apply to putting.” It has led me to understand why I saw the Nine Profiles from the very start and what role physical characteristics play in finding your optimal strategy. In each of those experiences, I was fascinated by the conversation on how to use the ground to produce better results in your full swing and shots around the green. Intuitively, I knew it was something that required a better understanding.
We have known from the start of our research that stability over the ball was key. I guess it started with Mr. Palmer and his constant admonition to “stop moving my head.” Of course, he was right. If our goal is to roll the ball where we aim or intend for it to go, then it is important to return to our address position at impact. As we apply this concept, we have found over the years that the closer we come to success, the more consistent the strike. The more consistent the strike and feedback from that strike, the easier it is to develop the feel necessary to adapt to the changing requirements we find on the golf course.
So let's deal with the why. If it is so important for my head to remain still, why do I move it? Turns out the answer is balance. We start with the premise that when the body is in motion, it will naturally seek a position of balance. In a rare moment for me, simply put, if you move, you were off balance to start. By observing putting strokes, in a lab setting, using state-of-the-art pressure plates, it is obvious how a change in an anchor point or movement of the center of mass influences the movement of the putter. It aslo becomes apparent that each of us has a unique anchor point that allows us to move without out change. As we progress through this series of information, we will talk about how the different components of the Ultimate Golf Lesson, grip posture, body type, etc., combined with some of my fundamentals such as visual requirements and source and sequence of movement combine to a specific anchor point for your stroke and heat map ) of pressure in the feet that corresponds to one of the Nine Profiles and a path to better putting.( Thank You Bal.On technology for the term Heat Map)
Next up, an introduction to some new technology that takes us out of the lab to the golf course and how we can use this information to explain many of the mysteries of why some putts go in and some don’t. Fun stuff, and I hope you will continue to follow along and share this blog with your friends.