Todd Sones is one of Golf Digest’s 50 Best Teachers in America and has been a Golf Magazine Top 100 Instructor every year since 1995. He currently serves on the Golf Academy of America’s National Advisory Board and runs a scoring zone school outside Chicago.
Every few weeks, Todd sends out video tips on putting and the short game. They’re time sensitive (so they won’t be there forever), but they’re good. In this week’s installment, Todd talks about the lower body’s role when putting. Poor contact or impact in putting is generally the result of an overactive body or hands during the putting stroke. In this video, Todd shows you how to set up in a way that allows your arms to swing the putter freely. It’s different than when you set up to make a full swing. When you’re making a full swing, your lower body is more flexed because it needs to support your upper body as you make your pivot.
A lot of people set up to hit a putt the same way they do to make a full swing. The problem is, because their shoulders and hips are back, their arms get stuck and their hands get “flippy.” Instead, when you set up to a putt, set up with your upper body tilted forward with less knee flex and your hips higher. Your weight should feel like it’s more toward the balls of your feet. That moves your shoulders forward and puts the putter in position to swing underneath your body, keeping your hands and wrists quiet.
Watch this video, and be sure to check out Todd online at toddsones.com.