Should putting come natural?

[mkrosal]

So I’ve been getting golf lessons for about 3 months now and we’re starting to concentrate on putting a lot more. My golf instructor has had me adopt a style of putting that mimics a regular swing. Basically its the swing-in-an-arc approach to putting with and open then closed club face. I’m having a very difficult time with this approach and I’m a little torn on what to do. It feels very unnatural and I almost feel like I am hitting the ball blindly to the hole.
I’m curious as to what you opinion on putting techniques. To me putting is something that should come natural and feel natural however a basic golf swing is unnatural so I’m torn on which direction to go. Do I stick with the approach I’m being taught and “get used” to it or should I experiment with other techniques to find something that feels natural? I actually love the claw-grip approach to putting however I’ve read and have been told that it’s a very inconsistent way to putt.
Reply with your opinion!

[he4dhuntr]

Just starting out and taking lesson here too, but haven't really gotten to putting yet (still working on that swing). As far as my pro has told me, and to what I've seen/read, it seems that many players develop their own style of putting as per what works best for them individually. Don't take my word for it though... Have you asked your pro about it? If you trust him and he's been good, maybe his advice is sound.

Cheers,

[Tugglife2]

I've never seen anyone do that and I would think it would be pretty inconsistent. In the end if it's comfortable for you and you are successful at it then I suppose that's all that really matters.

[Scott_K]

Putting style/technique is a personal preference. I like the arc path of the putter head. I feel as if my shoulders are just rocking around my spine and the putter head goes inside to square back to inside. I have tried the SBST method, but it doesn't work for me. I've also tried the claw, the reverse and a few others, but they didn't work for me. Different pros will teach different techniques. So like everything else in golf, I'd keep an open mind about it and give it a try. Most new things are usually uncomfortable and don't feel right, but after a while, they become a normal feeling.

This season I changed the distance between where I stand from the ball and it is working out for the better. This change felt pretty weird initially since I was using a technique which I've used for probably 10+ years.

[Paradox]

putting is all about feel and what feels right to one person will not feel right to another. For instance, I grip down almost to the shaft when I putt, I play the ball a little forward of center, and I forward press and hold that. Not something that I copied from anyone, it was just what felt right to me and what gives me the best results...follow your gut and do what feels natural when putting. As long as you understand the basic fundamentals of the putt (speed, direction, etc...etc..) it doesn't matter what else you do.

[B-Con]

I wrote up some of my thoughts on the arcing putting style , and why I think it feels natural. I don't see how it resembles a normal swing, outside of shoulder rotation. Your elbows, wrists, and hands should not move or tense.

Your putting stroke should feel natural, but it doesn't have to start that way. Experiment on a flat putting surface, your only goal when you start should be to get the ball rolling in a straight line. In a real situation, you just have to aim to account for break. But don't practice various strokes on a surface with noticeable break because various speed inconsistencies and rubs of the green can give you a false feedback as to how your putt truly went. Make sure you do it on a flat part of a practice green, or even carpet.

[allin]

This is the only part of golf I excel at. Although there are few absolutes I believe a grip which allows the palms to oppose each other, although left hand under has the hands at different heights it still conforms, and a style which minimizes manipulation is best. IF it is simple it is easier to repeat. If you have to force part of your stroke, as in conciously accelerate the putter, release the putter head etc it will probalby be less consistent. The other extreme freezing the hands and arms and forching the putter straight back from the ball can be just as difficult. Standing square to your line at least in the beginning is good, as you gain experience then allowing more variance is ok. If you meet these mechanical norms then you are able to focus more on feel and reading the green which is where the best putters excel.

[Harmonious]

So I’ve been getting golf lessons for about 3 months now and we’re starting to concentrate on putting a lot more. My golf instructor has had me adopt a style of putting that mimics a regular swing. Basically its the swing-in-an-arc approach to putting with and

The method your pro is teaching is a good one, but maybe you are interpreting it incorrectly. You mention an open, then closed putter face. That is way too inconsistent. As I understand the method (Stan Utley is probably the most famous proponent), your putter face should always be perpendicular to the arc of your stroke. It should never open or close in relation to the stroke arc, although it will seem to be open or closed to the target line.

The Straight back-Straight Through method (Dave Pelz) is also a good one, but requires some manipulation during the stroke. I have used both, and like the Utley method a little better. Hope this makes sense. Good luck with your lessons.

[The Recreational Golfer]

Try this. Sit in a chair and put your hands together above your lap like you're holding a putter. Now swing your hands back and forth and just let them go where your body wants to take them. Don't try to make them go in any particular direction or on any particular path. Just swing them back and forth. See your shoulders turning and carrying your arms and hands with them? That's your body's natural movement.

If you do this same thing with a putter and a ball, and move in a way that reflects ball joints instead of slots, going straight back and through results in an arc. That's how I see it.

[saevel25]

Putting is very personal, and there is no wrong or right was as long as you get the ball in the hole.

Personally, i use the same grip for all shots, including putting, i find it comfortable that way. I usually stand so my eyes are just on the inside of the ball and behind it. There is theory about which eye to play it of of depending on which eye you are dominant with, who knows. I like to keep my forearms closer to my body, then i just rock the shoulders and keep the wrist quiet as possible. This will keep the clubface square. My key swing thought is to never deaccelerate. the forward stroke should be as fast or a bit faster than the backstroke for me.

[alomar123]

I enjoy using the claw, but it can be inconstant for a reg putter, thats why I got a belly putter(between reg and long ones), so I can brace it more. Theres no problem using the claw if you like it.

[iacas]

Putting isn't natural. A lot of good putters have some natural instincts or tend to do naturally what is required to be a good putter, but putting isn't "natural" by any stretch.

Good putting can be taught. Some people have varying degrees of "touch" but a key to having even an average touch is hitting the ball consistently every time. The key to tapping into the touch every human being has (again, to varying degrees) is to develop the mechanics that allow that player to hit the ball solidly.

This is more than my dislike for the over-use of the word "natural" to describe something that is not at all natural (golf, or putting, does not help with our survival)... A good putting stroke is not decelerating at impact. A good putting stroke strikes the ball with a consistent face angle time and time again (I didn't say square - Loren Roberts' is open nearly two degrees - but it's almost always exactly the same amount open). A good putting stroke has the putter moving up through the ball with between 0.5 and 1.5 degrees of loft (or close to it).

You can teach (and learn) all of that.

THEN you get to use some of what does come naturally to you - a little piece of athletic ability we like to call "feel."

[saevel25]

Feel is just muscle memory associated with depth perception, feel can be learned, with practice. Though things like tension which constrict the movements will throw off feel, it more or less throws off on part of the equation.

Yes the word natural is over used, but each putting stroke is individualistic, like each swing is individualistic, but each have there key points that make them successful.

The best thing i can say to do, is practice putting over and over again, until it becomes ingrained, something you can repeat over and over with solid contact.

Over the winter i will putt inside, with my putter wrapped in rubber bands only leaving the sweet spot open enough to make contact with the ball. This helps me drill in one putting stroke hitting the one spot over and over again. These type of things can help.

[jamo]

I wouldn't call it natural, but there is a lot to do with putting that can't be taught.

You often see home videos of pros from when they were on their first putting green, picking up the putter, smacking the ball around, but they didn't know how to hit putts when they were born. They watched people (their parents, other players, the club pro) hit putts and soaked up knowledge, something babies are very good at. This means it isn't natural, more like learned without even knowing.

Then there are the parts you can teach. A repeatable stroke (much more meaningful with the flatstick that with the full swing), solid contact, that stuff.

But there are also the parts that you can't teach. The inborn athleticism that you either are born with or you aren't. Feel. This part is a little more inborn. It's how you consistently get 100 yard putts close and how you figure out the break and speed on those huge swells at St. Andrews. I wouldn't call it natural, but at this point it just comes down to how you define natural.

[allin]

Try this. Sit in a chair and put your hands together above your lap like you're holding a putter. Now swing your hands back and forth and just let them go where your body wants to take them. Don't try to make them go in any particular direction or on any particular path. Just swing them back and forth. See your shoulders turning and carrying your arms and hands with them? That's your body's natural movement.

This is similar to what I posted earlier. I would have used the term rock the shoulders. I would add that posture is an ovelooked element. I prefer to keep my arms pretty close to my body under my shoulders. I see quite a few golfers who do not match their putter length to the style they are using. Trying to putt in my style with putter that is to long takes the hang out of your arms and does not work.

[Paradox]

I don't think the term "natural" was used in reference to instinct or some innate ability that individual humans have. My guess would be that the term was used to express individuality in the putting stroke. As in, we all have different things that are comfortable to us and the putting stroke is one place where we can take liberties for comfort and still get the job done well.

[Leftygolfer]

I wouldn't call anything in golf natural. If you don't like the way the pro wants you to putt then I'd focus on other parts of the game with him. I'm not big on the debate of SBST or arc, I really don't care all that much about that. I want my stroke to be as simple as possible where I can hit the exact same spot of the putter with the same amount of loft so I can roll the ball consistantly. I've read alot of pelz so I have been influenced to have a more square stroke and not much rotation. There are really only 3 things in putting that matter, starting it on the line you intend, hitting it in the same place on the putter, and with the same amount of energy.