Checking the pros putting strokes

I was watching the British Open (now called "The Open") today and was interested in how far some of the players lean over for putting, as that is the key ingredient in my new putting stroke.  I was surprised to see a large number, maybe 30%, who lean over quite far and whose shoulders do not noticably move toward or away from the head, another critical feature of the stroke.  That does not mean they are bent over far enough or getting the correct shoulder movement though, for the simple reason that I don't know if it's possible to see this movement accurately.  In addition, it is possible to have the prescribed shoulder movement, without bending over far enough,  and still not be doing the stroke. In this case, the shoulders move in a different plane than the putter and arms, the clubface is open during the backswing and closed during the followthrough, and the elbows have to bend and unbend a little to allow the two planes to be different.  This elbow movement is difficult to control.  And I just can't see it on TV.  

All I can say for sure is that the angle to which these players were bending over was not quite as far as mine.  So I don't think they got the benefits of the stroke.   If the stroke is done right, the shoulders, elbows, hands and putter move all in one piece without the shoulders getting lifted off or pressed down into the rib cage.  Rather, the shoulders just slide on top of the rib cage.  The muscles that pull the shoulders down toward the rib cage or raise them off the rib cage toward the head are very difficult to control, for me anyway, so I benefitted from eliminating the movement completely. To try this yourself, you can bend over further and further until the one-piece shoulder-arm-putter movement occurs without the undesirable shoulder movement.  This new movement keeps the face square to the swing plane at all times and allows more concentration on putter speed.

The new putting stroke

I have a new putting stroke. It is not brand new, as in "never used before," but hardly anyone has heard of it. And hardly anyone uses it. This could not have anything to do with its effectiveness though. It works great. But it is slightly uncomfortable, which goes against the common grain and against the golf tradition of using a relaxed address position. But Jack Nicklaus seemed to be using it, which certainly gives it some credibility.  I haven't seen any players using it today in the big tournaments that I watch on TV.  

When I look at old movies of golf news, the players of old were mostly putting with wrist bending and very little shoulder movement.  Today almost everyone uses unbending wrists and lots of shoulder movement, presumably to remove the directional inaccuracies of wrist bending.  But what they have done is replace one source of error with another.  The shoulder movement done the common way is very difficult to control and introduces a lot of directional error. 

When I watch Sergio Garcia play so many good shots on TV, I think how unfortunate it is that I can't teach him this simple putting stroke that would solve his putting problems and make it possible for him to beat Mr. Woods and the others. And not only Sergio. Michelson comes to mind. I like both players. Both have had putting problems. Michelson used to miss too many short putts. And there are of course other good players who could improve their chances of winning if only they could sink a few more putts. One per round would be enough.  

I don't think anyone on tour is using this technique. There is a player from England who uses something like it, it seems, but I have not seen a motion picture of his stroke, so I don't know for sure. His teacher promotes this putting stroke, but the instruction is slightly different from what I say, and there is no explanation of why it works.

This new stroke is not difficult to do right. That's the whole point of it. It's easy. All a player has to do is change the setup a little, which causes a new and simplified shoulder movement. It is a simplification. Once accomplished, the player will discover a big gain in directional accuracy. Especially under pressure.  

So do you want to know what this stroke is? Do you want to learn to use it yourself? If so, you need only go to my website and study it there. There is no registration or sign up. Just go to Long Golf and follow the link to "Long's Putting Stroke" in the box "New Golf Techniques" near the top of the page.  Or just go directly there with this link, Long's Putting Stroke.  And please let me know if you try it.  Or what it brings to mind.