releasing the putter head

[moadhia]

I read Stan Utley's book "The Art of Putting" and have decided to change my putting stroke. I was kind of in between SBST and arc , i.e my back swing following an arc but my follow through was straight. I was wondering if any one releases their putter head on their follow through. Its really hard for me to ingrain the release, I kind of hold on to a sqaure face. Any one knows any drills to help me release my putter effectively . I have tried a couple of times and I seem to be pulling my putts.

[deronsizemore]

I read Stan Utley's book "The Art of Putting" and have decided to change my putting stroke. I was kind of in between SBST and arc , i.e my back swing following an arc but my follow through was straight. I was wondering if any one releases their putter head on their follow through. Its really hard for me to ingrain the release, I kind of hold on to a sqaure face. Any one knows any drills to help me release my putter effectively . I have tried a couple of times and I seem to be pulling my putts.

Just like the full swing, I don't think you should be TRYING to release the putter head. It's too inconsistent. One time you'll leave the face open, the next you'll release too soon and pull it. If you just let the putter swing on an arch, it should "release" without much thought. This "release" though isn't a concious rolling of the wrists or whatever you think of a "release" as normally. Really though, as long as the putter face is square at impact, after that you can close, open, or do whatever you want with the putter after that.

I would get a chalk line and find a straight putt and putt 3 footers with the chalk line so you know your putter face starts square at the setup. From there, just stroke putts without really thinking about anything. I think you'll be surprised of the results.

[iacas]

Just like the full swing, I don't think you should be TRYING to release the putter head. It's too inconsistent.

I would agree with that (just as I agree with it in the full swing), BUT Dave Pelz has created a bunch of people who actively try to hold the face square, so they sometimes need to feel a little release just to keep the putter face square to their arc.

So if the person you quoted is used to almost counter-rotating, he may need to feel a little release until he can rid himself of the counter-release the Pelz method almost always requires.

[DavidFehertysBike]

Accelerate smoothly through the ball. When you try to realese the putter you'll get too quick and jabby with the stroke, ive found. Unless you are a swing robot, your stroke is going to have an mild arc to it. Dont fight it. Be water and flow...as Bruce says..lol.