Arc...

Whenever I teach a student, the first thing I look at when putting is their right wrist.

I like to see a cupped right wrist being maintained throughout the stroke. What I usually see in anybody struggling with putting is their right wrist breaking down.

This can be for a number of reasons, but usually it’s bad alignment - where the student is aiming too far to the right of the target line, or a bad tempo of putting stroke. If the hands are setting up behind the ball at address they are already in a bad position.

You can see from the pictures below how I maintain the shape of the right wrist from start to finish. You can feel that angle by practicing solely with the right hand. This will give you far greater control of speed while maintaining a square face on the stroke.

If you are unable to maintain the arc in your wrist, take a look again at your alignment as you are most probably over compensating for mistakes in your initial set up.

Feel...

Being productive in a practice session is a difficult discipline. Unless you are the most determined of golfers, taking hundreds of putts from six feet is not going to encourage you to practice for long.

So rather than aimlessly knocking putts around the green, go and find the most difficult putt on your course.

Here I am on the 9th green of the practice course at Los Flamingos. I have chosen a ridiculously fast downhill right to left breaking putt. Now I have a challenge! Were I in a match I would be happy to get down from here in two. I could happily play the game of trying to hole this putt for an hour, and in doing so I am practicing my aim, alignment, stroke, touch and feel.

Start by looking from behind the ball and assessing the break. Find a spot that you want to aim towards. Then forget about the hole and hit your putt towards your new target.

Don’t be afraid to practice opposite breaking putts as these are commonly the hardest
putts to hole.