To ground or not to ground the putter ?

[SteveH]

I typically do not ground my putter before I stroke the ball.  I am very comfortable with this and don't even think about it. I think it stems from in the past when i would occasionally skim the turf on my stroke and it would cause my putt to come up short a lot.  I get a lot of flack from a good friend who is a really good golfer, only thing is he has lots of bad habits himself that I don't want to follow and I wouldn't say his putting is that great. His argument is that it puts tension in my arms but I don't feel it does. I did change my grip to left hand low last year, which really helped my distance control. My putter face is square and most of my putts are on line, although he says face is not important and it's all pace. Any help would be appreciated.

[Patch]

I ground my putter only because there were a few instances with head hovering, it sometimes was influenced by the wind and made contact with the ball. That of course is a needless extra stroke. I do play in the wind more often than not. I have not had a problem with turf first putts. (knock on wood?)

I also now do the left hand low grip too. Wish I would have made the switch sooner. 

[rehmwa]

It's gotta come off of the ground at some point - why put in a sudden transition during a stroke?

Even if someone grounds it, I'd hope it wouldn't be a lot of pressure.  Seems counterproductive.  Or perhaps if I'm very tired and need to lean on something for a moment.

[natureboy]

Some pros sort of 'tap' the ground with the sole of the putter at address as a way to gauge being close to the ground without actually resting the putter on it.

[SteveH]

19 hours ago, natureboy said:

Some pros sort of 'tap' the ground with the sole of the putter at address as a way to gauge being close to the ground without actually resting the putter on it.

I didn't think about it but I actually do that as I setup, that's how I gauge enough clearance to be hovering. I don't feel tension as a result of hovering. I plan on getting some more lessons this spring, maybe I will ask the pro to evaluate my putting. I average around 2 per hole but I also seem to miss quite a few of those short 4-6' birdie opportunities. 

[imsys0042]

I ground mine lightly and my visual is picking it up a little bit as I swing it back.   I don't feel any drag at all, so it's an extremely light touch.

[Dan42nepa]

i feel like i need to ground the putter and then adjust my stance, I also do this as an aid to lining up my putts by grounding the club and then setting my feet as i can see the line better.

[dchoye]

I ground my wedge when I have a shortish chip ball below feet and need to release the ball with fadespin. I don't think about "grounding" when putting.

"hovering" is another term I don't think about when on the tee box. I tend to "hover" the sand wedge when in the greenside bunker.

Edited January 14, 2016 by dchoye