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Patient: Male Age: 34 Current Handicap: 13 Lowest Handicap: 13 Has played golf for: 10 years Plays: Once a month Practices: Once a month The symptoms: From the time I first started playing miniature golf, I’ve struggled with my putting. I’ve tried conventional and cross-handed. I even fooled around with a long putter with no great effect on my poor putting. After watching Chris DiMarco at the Masters, I wondered about his putting style. How does he do it and why does the technique work? Dr. Golf’s prescription: In 1996, Chris DiMarco had no playing status on tour even though he was as good as anybody from tee to green. His problem was putting. He was quoted as saying, “My hands didn’t want to work with each other. My right hand wanted to go left and my left hand wanted to go right. There was a lot of tension there, so I had to do something to get the tension out.” Fellow professional Skip Kendall showed DiMarco the “claw,” a putting grip that has been around since the mid-’90s. With the claw, the lead hand (left hand for a right-handed player) holds the putter in a traditional fashion while the fingers of the trail hand form a claw on the shaft, sort of like holding a ski pole. This technique works because it takes the right hand out of play with no wrist action. DiMarco tries to use his left hand, left arm and left shoulder to stroke the ball. There’s no right hand involved, so there’s no tension. Tension leads to hitting at the ball with some sort of wrist action, which will change the aim of the putter. It’s a lot easier to stroke the ball with the claw instead of hitting at the ball. Patient: Male Age: 41 Current Handicap: 9 Lowest Handicap: 7 Has played golf for: About 20 years Plays: Twice a month Practices: Warms up before the round The symptoms: I’ve been struggling on the greens lately. I can’t seem to make up my mind. One round I try to be aggressive with all my putts. I make a few more, but I offset the extra putts I’m making by three-putting more often. When I try to ease the ball into the hole, I don’t three-putt as often, but I make very few putts. I’m lost on how to approach putting. Dr. Golf’s prescription: On mid to long putts, approach the putt thinking speed first, then aim. The amount of break is determined by the amount of speed; less speed equals more break, more speed equals less break. While reading your putt, imagine how hard you will need to roll it to stop just beyond the hole, then imagine where you need to aim the putt to allow for the break. While setting up, focus on aim first, then focus completely on speed. Then simply roll the ball. On short putts, hit the ball firm enough to reach the back of the hole before it has a chance to break. The speed should be enough to stop just past the hole, so if you miss you’ll have only a tap-in. I like to feel that the ball needs to roll at a speed approaching the hole that will allow the ball to go in if it catches any part of the hole. If you can practice this you will gain the feel necessary for all lengths of putts. Scott Wilson is the director of golf at Vellano Country Club in Chino Hills. He can be reached at (909) 266-1810. Patients in need of help from Dr. Golf should e-mail their ailments to scpgamedia@aol.com. |
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