Getting the shoulders square when putting

[homerun79]

I've been fighting an outside inside cut stroke on some of my putts and I read an interesting tip about the shoulders, wanted to see if anyone else fights with this problem! The tip says since your your right hand is lower than the left, your shoulders tend to open up a bit, so to counteract that, tuck your left shoulder onto the front of your chest a bit (not sure if that's the best way to describe it lol). This seems to help, anyone else have any other tips they'd like to share about keep things square? I almost never bring the putter inside on the backswing...

Thanks!

[B-Con]

I've never heard anyone say that squaring the shoulders for putting should involve compensating for the naturally lower right shoulder. I think that squaring the shoulders is actually more about squaring the chest, making sure the chest is properly aligned and the shoulders face in the appropriate direction, the idea being that you don't want the shoulders to misaligned at address because it will be difficult to get then back to that position during the swing. So long as you are in a natural position facing the ball with your chest square and shoulders as square as possible, you're in a good position. The shoulders are set up to control the hands, it's all about getting the hands in a position that they can easily return to.

If you have a natural tendency to pull putts, then it's possible your shoulders, have an exaggerated misalignment. The low right shoulder will technically create a slight mis-squaring of the shoulders, but it should be very minimal.

(Disclaimer: You're a far lower handicap than I am, so take this with a grain of salt.)

[homerun79]

hey thanks for the reply, I agree with what you are saying, I'll make sure my chest is aligned too!

[ks8829]

Probably something very simple and easy to fix. Have someone watch your putting stroke and set up.

1) Have you tried left hand low?
2) Are your wrist quiet when you putt? and are your shoulders and wrist one piece on your putting stroke?
3) Do you keep the putter low on the backswing and high on the follow through with the putter face square to the target?
4) Try practicing 1, 2, 3, 4 foot putts and maybe with a club on the ground to check your backstroke.

[homerun79]

Probably something very simple and easy to fix. Have someone watch your putting stroke and set up.

1. I tried left hand low in the mirror it really makes a difference in terms of shoulder alignment! I should get someone to look at my stroke though, I think my view is distorted in the mirror, since I'm not really looking straight down the shoulder line towards the target right?

2. I definately do this, been working hard on that lately. 3. I've never heard of #3, but that makes sense, I'm gonna check that next time I putt. Thanks for the tips, appreciate it!