Left Hand Low Putting

[JP1111]

I'm a right handed player. My putting isn't terrible but I often get a bit "handsy" on short putts which results in me dragging a lot of them to the left. It's been suggested to me that gripping the putter with my hands the other way around may help. I have tried it out and it seems okay if a little strange and I intend to carry on experimenting. Has anyone else tried this and what were the results?

[colin007]

i have been putting left hand low for probably 7 years now.  i found that i was blasting my putts way past the hole with a conventional grip and that when i went to the LHL grip i was able to control my distance better.

i still have a weird loop in my putting backswing.

[tooc]

Only know of two good putters to put this way Harrington and my brother, tried it myself and really didn't improve thing much in the long term, my recommendation is to get a belly putter practice with it then try to get the same feel of the stroke with ur conventional putter

[boil3rmak3r]

I putt left hand low.  I've done it so long (since 2002-ish with a short putter and a belly putter) that I can't putt worth a lick with a traditional right hand low grip.  I guess that goes to show that when I switched to it, I never looked back.  For me, LHL makes it easier to grip the club with a flat left wrist and to simply maintain that FLW throughout.

Based on a quick online search, it seems the two main advantages of LHL are 1) it can help to square up the shoulders and 2) it can make it easier to remove wrist action in the stroke.  Apparently, the folks say it can make you better at shorter putts.  The drawback I saw listed online was difficulty with lag putting.

I used to be hit and miss with lag putting, but think it was due to technique and not grip.  I can get in trouble with my lag putts if I don't make sure I try to match the lengh of my backstroke and throughstroke, as opposed to always having my throughstroke be considerably longer than my backstroke...

My 2 cents...

[Ernest Jones]

I was a cross handed putter for a couple of seasons until I discovered that I like being a little wristy in my putting. I find I have much better touch with a little bit of wristy-ness. It feels freer, more dynamic and athletic. I don't know how "wristy" I actually am as I have never bother to work with film or anything but I feel loose when I putt, in fact my last move before pulling the trigger on a putting strokes is to release all tension in my grip, very liquidy feeling...if that makes sense...

Putting is very much a personal thing though, there are very few hard rules and plenty of people putt great with LHL or cross handed putting. Whatever methods makes it easiest to a) hit your start line b) control your speed is what you should be using.

[gophinmedic]

If your concerned about being handsy, you could try one of the oversize putter grips. I'm thinking about switching to one. Seem to have a lot of great feedback.

[jsgolfer]

If your concerned about being handsy, you could try one of the oversize putter grips. I'm thinking about switching to one. Seem to have a lot of great feedback.

I have the oversized grip and love it.  The Superstroke Fatso 5.0

[saevel25]

I'm a right handed player. My putting isn't terrible but I often get a bit "handsy" on short putts which results in me dragging a lot of them to the left. It's been suggested to me that gripping the putter with my hands the other way around may help. I have tried it out and it seems okay if a little strange and I intend to carry on experimenting.

Has anyone else tried this and what were the results?

Why not just go right hand low and switch to a left handed putter , joking joking

@iacas has mentioned a few times that there can be or is a slight hinge and unhinge in the putting stroke. It is very hard to keep the wrists perfectly still. I think people get caught up in the dead hands idea that they loose all feel with the club. For me when I am putting good I just totally focus on the feel for distance. Everything else I trust. When I struggle I end up thinking about the stroke, or the line, and things go to down hill fast.

Also take a look at getting fitted. Most people swing a putter that is way to light for them. I might give the Odyssey heavy putters a try, or go to Edel and get fitted. What I did was added lead tape under the grip of my putter. Added about 20 grams or so, allows my hands to really feel the putter better. A lot more heft in the hands.

[Crim]

Only know of two good putters to put this way Harrington and my brother, tried it myself and really didn't improve thing much in the long term, my recommendation is to get a belly putter practice with it then try to get the same feel of the stroke with ur conventional putter

Actually there is a ton of great players with left hand low...to name just a couple badasses...Furyk and Spieth.

I switched over to left hand low at the end of the summer. I will never go back. Putting has improved ten-fold. I will admit thought that I believe it is because I always had a very good backhand in hockey. I golf right handed and play hockey left handed and my backhand was extremely accurate. Left hand low is basically my backhand shot.

@ the OP, I'd st ick with it.

[Crim]

Here's a quote from Furyk...

"

JIM FURYK

"My father taught me to grip it with my left hand lower than my right, and my right index finger down the back of the shaft. He said Arnold Palmer and Gary Player told him they wished they had learned that way. It's easier to use the shoulders and not slap at it."

Read More http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-instruction/short-game/putting/puttinggrips#ixzz2t1OnBoRM

[ghalfaire]

I have putted left hand low since 2005 and I like it.  I always had trouble with my left wrist breaking down when putting the conventional way.   Putting with left hand low seems to have solved the problem and I am a much better putter these days.  It did take awhile to "get the range" on longer putts but it seemed to solve the short putt problem almost immediately.

[DennisMiller]

I've tried and tried, but I can't do it. I do something odd otherwise. My putting grip has the little finger on my right hand overlap, but with my left hand index finger reverse overlapping at the same time. Thus, my right hand little finger is overlapping my left hand middle finger.

I find this very comfortable and it serves two purposes. My hands are a bit more directly opposed, so while I still have to concentrate on making an arm stroke without too much wrist, I don't open or close as much as I did with the more common reverse overlap grip. The second thing it does is lets my hands be a couple fingers higher on the grip making the putter feel slightly heavier. I really like heavier putters and this allows me to feel better with some average weight putters I already have.

[THException]

I just want to say that Nicklaus and Palmer have both been documented saying that they wish they had learned to putt left hand low. Nicklaus said explicitly that it was "the right way".

Obviously saying something is "right" is unwise in golf....but I'm just stating facts here

[Fourputt]

I just want to say that Nicklaus and Palmer have both been documented saying that they wish they had learned to putt left hand low. Nicklaus said explicitly that it was "the right way".

Obviously saying something is "right" is unwise in golf....but I'm just stating facts here

Nicklaus may have been the example I've usually tried to emulate, but at times he has been known to put his foot in his mouth.  With putting, there is only one right way, and that is to impact the ball with the putter face square to the line and with the right speed.  How one accomplishes that is not that critical as long as he is consistent.  I use my conventional interlock grip with the putter just as I always have with the rest of my clubs.

I just recently changed to a Super Stroke grip (not the fattest, one step down from that), and for a while I thought it was a mistake.  I did get used to it and now I putt about as well with it as I did with the old "standard" putter grip, but I find that I don't have to think about my wrists or hands.  I just seem to stroke the ball as smoothly as I used to, but without any conscious thought.  It has taken at least one thing out my conscious thinking, and anything that simplifies the putting stroke has to be good.

[bste]

I have putted left hand low since 2005 and I like it.  I always had trouble with my left wrist breaking down when putting the conventional way.   Putting with left hand low seems to have solved the problem and I am a much better putter these days.  It did take awhile to "get the range" on longer putts but it seemed to solve the short putt problem almost immediately.

I'm the same way, LHL stopped the wrist action.

Much smoother stroke.

[chipandcharge]

I switched to left hand low because my right hand was too active.  I played a lot of tennis and had a very wristy forehand, and that sometimes carried over into putting.  I went to a putting clinic where we were asked to putt one handed, with the right hand and with the left hand.  It showed me that I had a tendency to flick my right wrist during the putt but my left hand putting was very smooth.  So, I switched to left hand low and have not looked back.

[Ernest Jones]

I putted left hand low for at least 2 seasons, but I find my feel is better with a standard technique.

[dchoye]

I switched to left hand low because my right hand was too active.  I played a lot of tennis and had a very wristy forehand, and that sometimes carried over into putting.  I went to a putting clinic where we were asked to putt one handed, with the right hand and with the left hand.  It showed me that I had a tendency to flick my right wrist during the putt but my left hand putting was very smooth.  So, I switched to left hand low and have not looked back.

I been finding that putting grip resembles the serve grip More continental with Vs on the top bevel I been finding I still prefer lining up the grip with my knuckles as that more normal for ground strokes and my golf swing