Eliminating hands from putting

[calcnation]

What are the schools of thought on how to eliminate or help quiet the hands with different grips, like cross handed versus the claw, etc?

[iacas]

Just learn to do it properly.

You can "over-use" the hands with just about any grip.

FWIW, I don't think you ever really want to truly "eliminate" the hands from putting. You don't "eliminate the hands" (wrists) when you lob a ball to someone. Soft wrists (not flipping or "hitting" wrists) are a big part of how you express your feel.

[Buckeyebowman]

Eliminate the hands? How could I? They are what's attached to the handle!

[calcnation]

Ok, I did not mean no hands at all.  What I was looking for was a tip to change my grip to help reduce the wrists in my stroke.  Hopefully that will help get a responsive reply :)

[MarvChamp]

I have been experimenting with "left hand low" and searching for comments from teachers on that technique. There is a thread on TST, I believe, and Dave Pelz had some thoughts. -Marv

[saevel25]

17 minutes ago, calcnation said:

Ok, I did not mean no hands at all.  What I was looking for was a tip to change my grip to help reduce the wrists in my stroke.  Hopefully that will help get a responsive reply :)

It probably depends on what you can find.

For me, I use a lot more shoulder rocking feel. This helps make the stroke feel more free and takes some of the hands out. I use the wrists to help gauge distance control. It's not like I think about it, but just trying use more instincts to hit the ball the distance I want.

[klineka]

Have you tried putting with a larger/oversized grip like a super stroker for example? If you dont want to buy one, go into your local golf galaxy or PGA superstore and roll a few putts with a putter that has one of the larger grips and see how that feels

[GolfLug]

18 hours ago, calcnation said:

What are the schools of thought on how to eliminate or help quiet the hands with different grips, like cross handed versus the claw, etc?

Putting is more individualistic than anything else so I can only share my 'macro' putting thought that has helped me somewhat - 'putt with your whole body'. For me it help keep joints like wrists soft (as @iacas mentioned) and yet keep them from being overactive. 

'Rock your shoulders' also works for lot of folks as @saevel25 mentioned but be mindful of not making wrists rigid to keep them quiet. Some reason it makes the ball skip more than roll. 

Edited August 11, 2017 by GolfLug

[saevel25]

15 minutes ago, GolfLug said:

'Rock your shoulders' also works for lot of folks as @saevel25 mentioned but be mindful of not making wrists rigid to keep them quiet. Some reason it makes the ball skip more than roll. 

I definitely try to keep my wrist soft. I don't try to keep rigid. It feels slightly like my hands lag a bit behind my shoulder turn.

[scotth]

Practice with just your right hand only on the putter, assuming you are a righty, might help with a more flowing putt and reduce the push that happens when you get to handsy.

I watched this video and have been doing this at night and it has reduced both the number of pushed short putts for me and also helped on long lag putts to not get timid or pull pack at the last minute when I second guess how hard I am hitting the lag.

https://www.revolutiongolf.com/experts/martin-hall/let-it-go-make-sure-you-swing-the-putter?vrg=ys

[boogielicious]

23 hours ago, calcnation said:

Ok, I did not mean no hands at all.  What I was looking for was a tip to change my grip to help reduce the wrists in my stroke.  Hopefully that will help get a responsive reply :)

I use a grip similar to Stan Utley's grip from his book The Art of Putting. The big difference between this grip and my normal grip on my other clubs is this grip is in the palms. It feels like my palms are facing each other direction across the grip. My right hand palm is facing the target line. My left hand grip pressure is firm and my right is a bit less so the left hand controls the stroke.

I do a little forward press to start and my right pulls the club backward. The downswing feel is almost like I'm letting gravity start the stroke. For longer putts, I just make a longer stroke. I don't really think about stroke length either. I just think about how far the putt has to go.