Putting Backswing Vs Follow Through

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Putting Backswing Vs Follow Through

A good putting performance can salvage a bad round and turn a good score into a personal best, which is why it's so frustrating when this part of the game is letting you down. In the video and article below, PGA pro Nick Drane clears up some common misconceptions when it comes to the putting stroke that are sure to help.

You will often hear people talk about the importance of accelerating the putter through impact. We certainly don't want to be decelerating, but if you watch the best putters in the world, they keep the putter head at a constant speed. Understanding this will help you discover the flow that is often behind a great putting stroke.

Thinking too much accelerating the head can lead to a few problems, the first of which concerns distance control. Put simply, it makes it hard to be consistent from range.

So, what you tend to see is this short backswing, and then a long, jerky follow-through. As well as making it hard to get the distance right, it also makes it difficult to maintain a square clubface towards your intended target line - so you can clearly see in the video above how that makes me pull it left of target.

Fundamentals

Whether you hold the putter conventionally, adopt the left hand low putting grip, or even utilise the claw grip, working on the basics at set-up will help you understand the importance of matching the backswing and follow-through. 

I take the putter in the palms of my hands and adopt a nice, wide base. What you're trying to remove is any unnecessary wrist movement that will give acceleration to that putter head. A good address position will help you find more control of the putter without needing to grip it any tighter.

Use Your Feet

You can use your feet as a reference for the length of stroke. So, if you watch the backswing and follow-through in the video, you'll see how they are very similar in length. By keeping the length of the stroke fairly consistent - back and through - you should be able to maintain control of the clubface and judge distance more easily.

Obviously, during a game of golf we're going to be faced with putts of different lengths. The key to being successful with putting from distance, is to maintain a very similar length backswing and follow-through.

Tee Peg Drill

This is a simple drill that will help you to focus on your backswing and follow-through - and, ultimately, improve your ability to judge putting distance. Place a tee peg 10ft, 20ft and 30ft away, and practise putting to each one. See how close you can maintain that grouping.

Even just varying the length of your stroke - so just outside the back foot, to just outside the front foot - and observing what distance that produces, is going to be extremely valuable and when it comes to improving your putting feel.

Three-Ball Window

A good drill that provides a nice visual to help you focus on clubface control, is the three-ball window. Think about how you need to keep the clubface square through this zone. It's more a visual to have, or you can hover the putter over the three balls and make a stroke.

No matter the puttMost of the great putters in the world of golf have a flow and rhythm to their stroke. These tips and drills will help with your backswing and follow-through to create that smooth stroke that will lead to more putts finding the target.