Accurate Putting - Keeping Your Hands and Wrists Straight

This golf putting tip is probably something that you've heard over and over again, however it is often one of the most over-looked aspects of putting. Keeping your wrists and hands straight and stiff while putting is imperative to success.

Your putter should act as an extension of your arms. I would go as far as to say you should think of your arms as the shaft of your putter and the palm of your bottom hand as your putter face. Now put the putter in your hands and imagine it as an extension of your arms. This being the case, the putter shaft and head should remain perfectly straight through your backswing and follow-through.

The reason you do not want your wrists to bend or your hands to rotate is that your putter face will move out of position and it will be that much more difficult to bring the putter face back to being square to your target or putting line. The more your putter face moves the more difficult it will become to bring it back to the starting position.

Think your hands and wrists don't move while you putt? Try this drill out to see how stiff your position is...Get a normal 12 inch ruler. Add it to your grip while you hold your putter. Make sure half of the ruler is up against the putter, and the other half is above the putter going up your forearms. So, the 6 inch point of the ruler should be right at the top of your putter. Now, take your normal putting swing. If you feel the top of the ruler rubbing against your forearms your wrists or hands are moving during your swing. You should be able to take your swing and not feel any rubbing from the ruler. I've actually heard of this tip before being used with a sharp pencil which I believe would cause some serious problems with a poorly executed putt, which I do not recommend!

The point is that your putter is an extension of your arms. Your swing should be derived from a rotation of your shoulders, not from bending your elbows or wrists or moving your hands. The object of a putt is to create power to send the ball a further or shorter distance which is accomplished not by using your wrists or moving your hands, but rather by making sure your wrists and arms remain straight throughout your entire swinging motion.

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