Hey, Quite The Chap here for GolfersRX. Do you jab, slap, hit, spank, poke, waffle, yip your putts? We’ve all spanked a putt haven’t we…in today’s video.

Putting is so stressful. Apparently, it’s easier to sink a putt the closer to the hole you get but in the real world, it only gets more stressful the closer to the hole you get. Standing over a 15 footer is not a big deal, standing over a 3 footer gives me the cold sweats. I’ve made strokes on 14-inch putts that looked like a doodle on an etch-a-Sketch. It’s embarrassing.

There is a simple way to help alleviate this:

Practice putting with your wedge
throw a ball down…whoa whoa…maybe just place a ball down
take your wedge and address the ball like you’re putting
make a stroke but ensure the leading edge makes contact with the belly of the ball

this is going to do multiple things:
if stroked properly, you’re going to get the feeling of the ball rolling right off the bat
you’re going to have to keep your wedge at a consistent level to hit the belly of the ball (everything just rotates)
your hands will be quiet
and you’re going to accelerate through the ball

When you go back to making a stroke with your putter you’re going to feel much more confident in making a simple stroke through the ball. Getting the ball rolling right off the putter's face and into the hole. Practice with a wedge to take the stress out of your putting.

Until next time, keep it simple