Left Hand Grip for Perfect Putting Stroke

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This putting grip tweak can have a HUGE impact on your putting stroke, give it a try and see if helps you stop pulling putts! RSA members, please provide your feedback with this test and let me know how it performs for you!


Do you have a tendency to pull putts?

I did horribly.

And so, using the Sam Putt Lab, I've been starting to work out what's causing it and making little changes.

And then testing those changes and see what the data shows.

To start getting myself to the point where I should putt as well as I hit the ball and I've made huge strides so far.

I'm at about four and a half to five strokes improved in my putting, which is absurd, especially for a plus handicap golfer to be able to take that many strokes off just from the putting stroke.

But you'll see why in this video, because I want you to test something.

I tested something today.

I'm going to show you both in video what I did and in the data what the data shows.

Because at the end of the day, it's all about making putts.

And if the face angle is point where it's supposed to be, at address or at impact, we're going to be in good shape.

So I just want to the baseline data I have is here on the right.

This was the very first time I got on the Putt Lab this year and just said I'm not going to think of anything.

I'm just going to set up there and putt and do what I do naturally.

And then this on the left is showing after I've made some adjustments and been practicing a little bit.

I'm not too concerned about the static stuff, the stuff that's happening at setup.

I'm more concerned with what's happening during the stroke and that's what we're going to start to look at.

So on the right hand side, you can see that I was pretty severely swinging to the left.

And then at the end of this video, in a moment, I'm going to show you on video what was causing that.

And then the change I made in my grip that started fixing this because it made a lot of other changes in my setup.

And so if you have a tendency to pull putts, make sure you stay on to the end of this video.

Because I want you to try this fix that I put into play and see what it does in your own putting stroke.

So at impact you can see that on the right hand side I was 2.

4 degrees left.

Now, that's pretty severe.

But as you know, from some of the from the first putting video that I did, that the path is far less important than the actual face angled impact.

And in the case of my baseline, I was Degrees closed.

And, as I mentioned before, on a standard, you know, typical good birdie putt that you're taking a look at.

A 15-16 footer.

If you're one degree off, you will miss the putt, you'll miss the hole.

So it's very, very critical to be inside of that one degree at impact, which I've accomplished here, I'm much closer.

I'd love to get it to zero, but, you know, half a degree of improvement is a significant improvement on a 15-16 foot putt because it means I can actually make it now.

So no point in hitting a great drive and a great iron shot and then missing the putt by a mile simply because the putter face was pointing the wrong place at impact.

You'll also see that my path is markedly improved I went from 2.

4 Degrees swinging left, which is the equivalent of a out to end, over the top golf swing.

But with putting, you know, obviously it's a much shorter stroke, so it doesn't show up as severely.

It's very difficult to see, even on high speed video.

It's why you have to have a tool like this to really see what's going on dynamically, at impact.

And you can see.

Now my path is only Degrees left, and I'm very consistently getting that same path.

So now we can.

As the stroke is is markedly improved, worrying about face angle becomes much more easy to focus in and dial in on as I become much more consistent with my stroke.

You'll also see that the the actual stroke itself when you can visualize it.

This dotted line represents basically a straight back and straight through putting stroke.

Or really just the target line, if you will, and my putting stroke before on the right, you would see have a tendency to go outside and I'm gonna pretty much all of these.

I took it to the outside and now the putter is more consistently starting on the line.

One little outside there, one little goofy.

But it's much more consistently following the path instead of swinging kind of out and over the top.

And this is again due to the grip change that I'm going to show you in just a minute.

This also had an impact on where I was hitting the ball in the face.

You can see at the beginning I very consistently hit it in the heel and still kind of all over the face.

And now the concentration, the grouping is getting a lot tighter and it's less severe towards the heel.

So that is also making a big difference in the quality of the strike.

Because where you're hitting it in the face, if you have a tendency to kind of hit it way out on the toe or way out on the heel, it'll.

It'll affect distance control control, because the distance or the solidness of the strike will be impacted.

So you may start leaving some short, you may nuke some.

It's very difficult when you're hitting it inconsistently on the face.

This stuff here I tend to do pretty consistently, don't tend to worry too much about that.

It's really about figuring out this face angle and path and making the adjustments to your body.

To get yourself to be able to make a consistent stroke and get yourself to get the clubface as close back to square to Inside of one degree on every single stroke and make sure that that path is squared up.

So let's take a look at the video now.

Okay, so on the left I have my normal putting stroke, which was leading to a ton of pulls, a ton of missed putts.

Struggling with distance control, but mostly just yanking the ball left and not making nearly as many putts as I should.

And on the right, I have video of the grip change that I made now I realize in in this view, it's while you can see somewhat of the grip change.

It's difficult to understand everything, so I want to use this video just to point out what you'll see in the setup.

And then I'm gonna go and actually walk you through the script.

Change for Rotary Swing Academy members.

Because I want you guys to test this and experiment with it and give me feedback before we share this with everybody because I want everybody to have a chance to.

I want the RSA members have a chance to test this out and give us some feedback first.

So on the left hand side, you can see.

The most obvious difference is that you can see a ton of my right arm, right.

This is all right forearm, right bicep here, and on the right hand side, you can just barely see my right bicep and no forearm.

And that is all done just by a grip change.

It may seem like I'm trying to turn my shoulders or something like that, but this is really just this grip change that I want you to test out.

And what you'll notice is that again, as I before my stroke, tended to go a little bit to the outside and then kind of pull.

I think it Degrees left, so I was stroking, my stroke was swinging to the left and the putter face was closed on top of it.

Just a big old pull, so you'll see here this one is.

After a little bit of practice, I still hit a little bit of a pull here and missed the putt.

And again, remember, it's just one degree off from this distance is enough to miss the putt.

So by having my forearms misaligned, you can see my forearms as we come down into impact, which is right about there, my forearms.

If you put a shaft across them, would be pointing well left of the target.

Now let's look at the stroke on the right.

You can see now my left forearm is clearly covering the right forearm and my shoulders.

This helps square my shoulders up a little bit more as well.

You can see the left, you can see less of my shirt around my midsection here on the right hand side, then you can compared to the left.

You can see a little bit less of the logo on my shirt and so on.

So this is just helping getting everything with my upper body squared up a little bit better.

And, more importantly, what directly immediately affects the path of the club, which is what my how.

My forearms are aligned, so as you'll see here, as I go back into impact, right there.

My forearms are almost perfect alignment, almost exactly where they were to dress, similar to where my forearms are pretty much where they were at address.

On the left hand side as well, but on the right hand side, they're actually square, which helps me know that the putter face is square as well.

So as this ball rolls nice and true more into the center of the cup, at least I made it.

And then just one more stroke here, you can see again just a hair of that right.

Forearm.

Forearms are basically in really good alignment here.

And so now, as I let this play through, I should make a nice, good stroke.

And the ball rolls pretty true.

So let's take a look at the grip up close again.

This is just for RSA members so that you guys can test this out and give me feedback.

So the second half of the video you need to be an RSA member to to watch and give me comments and post feedback on, because I want you guys to test this out first, all right, Rotary Swing Academy members, I need your help.

I want you to test this grip change, and I want to explain what, what we're doing and why.

So, first of all, I want you to understand the whole purpose of what I'm doing.

The purpose of this is to teach you a simple, repeatable, super consistent, super reliable, accurate putting stroke.

As I've talked about in the in the first video, how critical face alignment is.

One degree is so difficult to see with the naked eye, you can see it, but it's very, very difficult.

And so it's really hard.

Especially when you're looking at your swing just on video, your stroke just on video, to see all of this stuff with the naked eye with, even with high speed cameras, it's very difficult to see.

So what I wanted to do is start giving everybody fundamentals that would allow everybody across the board to start putting better.

And as you've seen, I've already shaved about five strokes off my own putting stroke, which had a huge impact on my scores.

Just because I've started working through fundamentals that are data driven, which is, of course, what the Sam PuttLab is all about.

Sam PuttLab measures everything down to the hundredth of a degree, which is way more precise and accurate than we're ever going to be.

But what it lets you do is start to really understand what's really affecting when you miss a putt.

And for me personally, and for many, many golfers across the planet, there's a lot of pulled putts.

In fact, I just played in a golf tournament this weekend with some amateur golfers, it was a, you know, hit and giggle fun tournament.

But I watched countless putts, including my own being missed on the left side of the hole with pulls, and I started noticing a very consistent trait.

And I said, I'm going to video my stroke from up the line and see if I see the same thing, and so I did.

And I noticed that from up the line, it was very evident to see that my right forearm was above my left.

Now, part of this is something just I didn't realize that I was doing it.

And second thing is that part of it was the stuff that I was taught and had taught other students over the years, that allowed me to kind of get into this bad habit, and that is many, many years ago.

I had an instructor who was working with me when I was still trying to make it as a pro.

And he had me get my hands externally rotated like this as much as I could, within reason.

And the reason for this was that your wrists are now opposing each other.

If you try to move your wrist this way, well, that one doesn't work that way.

Whereas when most golfers if they take their hands like this, very easy to get your wrist to be very handsy, to have a very handsy putting stroke.

If you struggle with the yips and you've got your thumbs kind of going down the shaft, well, the right wrist can bend in this way and the left wrist can bend in this way, so it's very easy to be very handsy.

So a lot of golf instructors, including the one that I worked under at that time, had me take my wrists and externally rotate them.

So now that the wrist when you try to move on, this one doesn't work, want to work and bend in that direction.

And it does give you a much simpler stroke it takes the hands out of the stroke, however, it also does another thing.

At least it did in my case, that as I externally rotated my left arm, you'll see that it rotates my arm back and puts my right hand into a position where it wants to be on top and dominant.

And so when I'm saying on top, you see my forearms are pointed to the left at address.

And, of course, as you saw on the Sam Putt lab data, that my stroke tended to go a little outside.

I Degrees closed with my or out to end with my stroke, which caused the putt club face to be a degree and a half closed.

And that's enough to completely miss the hole on a 15 foot putt easily.

So understanding the critical importance of being inside that one degree, we have to have that putter.

Face.

Very precise at impact and having a stroke that allows for that, and a setup that allows for that is the goal.

Now.

For me, the benefits of the Dead Drill are that it helps you understand how to fix stuff when it goes wrong, right?

Golf is so much, for so many people, just all about feel, and they try something different every day.

We call that chopping wood swing thoughts that work only one day.

You don't want to chop wood with your full swing.

You don't want to do with your putting stroke either, and trust me, I have chopped tons of wood with my putting stroke.

Because I have tried everything under the sun to try and improve.

And finally just gave up and said, You know what, I'm just not a good putter, it's I'm just not born with it, right?

I'm not ever going to be like a Lauren Roberts or a Brad Faxon.

And just have this silky, smooth putting stroke and make every putt that I look at.

And then, as I started thinking about, it doesn't make any sense, the stroke is so simple.

Why could it possibly be that I can't?

I can hit a 350 yard drive and I can't make a three foot putt?

It doesn't make any sense.

And so I started saying, Okay, let's just take the same approach to putting that I have with full swing.

Let's look at everything analytically, let's look at things logically.

It's all cause and effect based relationships, right?

If you input A, you should get output B.

If you input C and it's wrong, you're going to get output D or E.

And these things all start to work together and they're very simple to understand.

And in the putting stroke, when you have a tool like the Sam Putt Lab that can allow you to measure and quantify everything, it becomes very clear immediately.

To know exactly what you're doing wrong in your stroke.

And we combine that with video and you can see the whole picture of knowing exactly what you need to do to fix your putting stroke.

So for me, as you saw, it made a huge difference in the data, right?

Going from two and a half degrees shut to, you know, degrees or whatever it was you know with my path made a huge difference made a huge difference in my face angle and all I did was make a grip change and you'll see that this grip change that I want you to test for yourself in just a minute is makes a huge difference from my setup when you look at it from up the line which is how I want you to video this when you're practicing so go out take your phone put it on a little tripod up the line on a straight putt and see where you look at address are your shoulders cockeyed are your forearms cockeyed can you see your right forearm on top of the left can you see it under the left the goal is that these should match because we want this stroke to be as simple as we can possibly make it and so if we're trying to compensate for a bad setup then we're just adding way too much variable way too many variables into the stroke and the putting stroke we want to make it as simple as humanly possible so by getting my left forearm into position where it more or less matches my right forearm this made a huge difference in my stroke and my face angle and all I did was something that I've seen many golfers do for many years which has never really made a ton of sense to me because golfers like this like Tiger Woods and Brad Faxson all tend to use skinny grips more like this one all right this has got a much thinner profile this grip is much thicker much deeper and overall just a much fatter grip which is the trend nowadays right you see so many golfers out there with these giant grips and I've tried them they feel bizarre to me I've never putted well with those either uh I don't you know I'm not don't tend to be very handsy with my stroke but just like anybody else every now and then that right hand wants to take over when I make a bad stroke and so I always thought well gosh it makes sense to have a fatter grip and then this thin grip because that makes it really easy to get the club in your fingers and get kind of wristy with it but some of the best putters I've ever seen on the tour over the history of the years have all had thinner grips and what's interesting about it is this grip change that I made works really well with a thinner grip but in this case I have kind of a mid-sized grip but you'll see as you start setting your hands on here that how the grip will make a big difference in this but you'll understand how it affects forearm alignment so let me show you first what we're going to do I'm going to get my fingers the grip more into my fingers so from up here you'll see that I'm basically getting my pad of my palm more on top of the grip now what this is doing is it's putting the club more down my fingers whereas if you externally rotate your arm like so many golfers do nowadays to get it take the wrist out of the stroke it puts it more into the palm slightly versus the fingers as soon as you do this and you rotate your hand over this way you'll see how it wants to get your hand on top now why does that happen well in the putting stroke or in the full swing the way that we avoid getting our shoulders really open at setup is we have axis tilt right so your right hand has to be lower on the club than the left well of course unless you're putting left hand low which is also fine but I wanted to have a very natural feeling putting stroke I wanted to feel like I just stepped up to the ball and I the best putters I've ever seen have all been you know very neutral looking very relaxed at a setup and with a neutral grip oh my gosh if I could just putt like that it seems and feels so much more natural but I just pull everything well this was why so now with the putting stroke you don't have all this crazy axis tilt in order to get your shoulders to be square so with a tendency and this is what I was seeing observing with all these amateur golfers this weekend in this tournament is that they set up like this because they're sitting up nice and tall and it helps them look at the hole so they set up kind of open so now you've got this tendency to kind of pull across and swing across with a closed face and that's how you start missing a ton of putts even though you feel like you've got a good putting stroke you know you may not be yipping it you may have a decent smooth stroke but if you're aligned incorrectly at setup all bets are off and you're going to make some sort of crazy compensations to try and make up for it we don't want any compensations simple that is the goal of the putting stroke that's what we're trying to do here so by getting the club more into the fingers of the left hand and getting the pad more on top of the grip not only does this get my forearms into much better alignment so now i'm not cockeyed like this and and you know pulling the putts this also gave me another benefit that i asked craig morrow about who's the certified rotary spring instructor many of you guys know him taking lessons with him and he's also still to this day one of the best putters i've ever seen and he's very natural he puts with the conventional grip and he steps up there and just looks like he's going to make every putt and he darn near does and i asked him what does he feel in his putting stroke because to me i've tended to kind of always feel you know you see a lot of golfers out there tiger does this a lot go out on the putting green and get the feel with their right hand and and so i've kind of always felt it's a little bit more of a right-handed stroke that's where my sensitivity and my touch and my feel is craig said he feels the exact opposite he feels that he just pulls through with the left hand and the right hand doesn't do anything that's really interesting it's the opposite of what i would have expected because he looks very natural and fluid and looks like the club just releases releases perfectly but he feels left -handed when i was able to get my left hand on top i instantly changed this feel it changes the way that you the club sits in your hands and the way that the hand activates the left wrist activates at this point versus this kind of makes it dead as soon as you get the left hand on top it feels like gosh i don't even need my right hand there anymore it just feels like this just wants to swing back and forth and have more of a pulling stroke which is you know from a physics perspective is a much more stable way we're pulling the club through the hitting area instead of hitting at the ball which is what a lot of golfers who struggle with yips do is you know kind of get a little right wrist pop in there so this has two benefits it has the benefit of getting your forearms aligned without you having to try and add some crazy axis tilt in there to get your right hand below the left and it also starts aligning yourself with the same things that made me wanted to go left hand low which is left hand low naturally puts you in a position to want to pull the club through the hitting stroke and that really made a big difference in my putting but it just never felt natural it never felt comfortable i felt like i was you know always trying to like just keep everything rigid and so i wanted to again have a natural feeling conventional putting stroke with very simple fundamentals getting everything set up perfectly square so you don't have to think about it when stuff goes off you have to just go back and look at the basics right if if you're one of these people like me who's tried 50 000 different things like oh well let me i'm really right-eyed dominant i had somebody told me i need to play the ball off my back foot and then get my my wrist to do this and then i had somebody tell me to play the ball off my front foot i've talked wide stance all of this stuff and it's just all of it works once right i you know you change your focus for a minute you have something different to to think about some other distraction and you know you go out and you put better for a day or two but eventually it all falls off and then you're like back to square one searching how do i get back and the goal with this for me was to give everybody a set of simple fundamentals just like the dead drill when you do if you don't shift your weight this is going to be the result if you don't turn your hips this is going to be the result same thing with the putting stroke if i get you set up correctly get myself set up correctly then all of a sudden you can see the data verifies that this stroke is more repeatable it's more consistent it's giving the desired results and more importantly when i get off in the future i can go back and just say oh well i'm set up incorrectly my grip has changed my posture has changed all of these things are what we're testing with the sam putt lab making different variable tests so the first one that i want you to try is this left hand grip i want you to try and get the left hand more into your fingers to get your pad more on top this is going to put the wrist the back of the hand more down the target line or even slightly to the right of it versus this position where a lot of people are teaching and as i did in the past myself getting the the corner of the club to kind of be in the lifeline this is the opposite we're getting it in the pad so i would love to hear your feedback again i'd love for you to video your swing up the line and take a look to see if you're open at first at all because i've seen most people tend to pull their putts and then and post down in the comments below as you made this change did you see a change in your in the putts made did you change how your putting stroke felt did you start making more putts etc so i'd love to hear your feedback on this i'm going to keep testing it i'm going to keep trying things piece by piece we're doing things one thing at a time to give you a simple and repeatable putting stroke

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Jesse
Two questions please: 1) with the left hand low...what grip works best? Medium grip, pistol grip? ...and 2) putter length...is it necessary to cut the putter down from 34" if you need a 32" length, or can't you just grip down to accomplish the same thing?
August 16, 2023
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Jess. It isn't necessary to cut the putter down, but it may help with arm positioning. The grip is up to you. A lot of players use the lead hand low pistol or 10 finger.
August 17, 2023
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Frank
Any update on further confirmation of this or other related refinement?
July 25, 2022
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Frank. I don't have any data to post for your right now. But, can confirm the same method above is still being used because the ball is going in the hole more . It helps not only with the feel, but the physics aspect to keep the head working much more stable throughout the stroke.
July 25, 2022
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Barry
Another great video. Couple of +&- Alignment of both forearms DTL really helped. Also, should the shaft and forearms form a straight line as well? Was hard to get the heel pad on top of the grip because of extreme ulnar deviation and short fingers even on a skinny grip, didn't feel secure enough without causing a lot a tension in my wrist. Trying a slightly stronger grip, still in the lifeline with an awareness of where the lead forearm is, that it doesn't drop under, leading to pulls.
March 10, 2021
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Barry. If you can get it in the fingers with a golf club you should be able to do it with this. Skinny grip still wasn't enough? You don't have to force a straight line, but they will be pretty darn close.
March 10, 2021
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Barry
Thanks for your response Craig. Guess my comment may be an outlier... I'll stick w/ it. Regripped my putter (skinny & tackier) and choking down extending lead arm helped. Question: you putt well pulling w/ your lead arm on the downswing, what do you feel in the backswing? Like a lead arm push back or pulling your trail shoulder blade, or something else? Thanks again.
March 15, 2021
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Barry. I still feel mainly shoulders in the stroke. Right back and left through. But, with a bias that the lead hand always in control.
March 15, 2021
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Mike
I have learned many things on Rotary Swing but this left handed putting grip is at the top of my list. I am now able to bring the putter back on line instead of a wildly inconsistent stroke. I now feel I actually have a chance to make a putt from 20 feet and in. If I miss the green my one putts are way up. I really don't mind 2 putts if I am on in regulation. Still experimenting with my right hand. Thank you for the huge improvement to my game.
October 8, 2020
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Mike. Thanks for the post and awesome news about making more putts. Keep rolling the rock!
October 9, 2020
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Emilio
Here is a general comment consistent with everything we do with RST. First point ever raised is to basically close our ears and ignore our golfing buddies. Putting I have found is even more important. How often do we hear our buddies say, wow that recall broke. But I have seen something else, the putter face was open and the stroke was drawn inside. Ball was spinning like crazy. No way the ball could go straight. They all go and put believing there was a break where there was not one. We can learn from others who put before us, but only if you really watch the stroke and the ball together.
September 25, 2020
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Emilio. Thanks for the post and thoughts about how we/all of us take in information to work on our game.
September 25, 2020
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Michael
Hi Chuck, Wow, I also trief left hand down and back with right shoulder and pulled puts to the left. I have tried now your new tip withr left hand grip change on my putting mat perfect practise mat (OHKsports) and it is amazing the puts go extremely straight down the line: 1. Feeling does a little hurt in left hand 2. the left wrist is dead straight and cannot break, if if I want, I hrdly can break it 3. at impact it is a bit harder and I can feel the shaft swingin 4. Ball rolls extremely straigt, now side spin Only drawback: distance contol is more difficult. Thanks a lot dor this great tip. I change instantly my putting to this. Kind Regars Michael
September 20, 2020
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Michael. The new feeling in the lead hand shouldn't hurt. Don't add the death grip . Glad you are liking the results however. Distance control will improve with more consistent strikes. Less guess work.
September 21, 2020
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Malcolm
Amazing how sharing a putting misery becomes a "me too" moment. Went through same misallialignment woes, pulling, even hooking putts. Correction was long term, but got mojo back when using your left hand dominant grip (illustrated in latest video) plus rotating right ellbow clockwise, totally locking right hand's move or get misaligned during stroke. Have to experiment with it some, perhaps changing eye position and posture. But does create
September 19, 2020
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Malcolm. Keep us posted. Glad to hear moving onward and upward.
September 19, 2020
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Remington
When asked what the single change in his game he would have made, Jack Nicklaus replied ‘putt left hand down’. How does this grip change you recommend work with this?
September 19, 2020
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Remington. Working on/using Lead Hand Low is still acceptable. This is another way to skin the proverbial cat. Some players just have an enormously hard time getting used to lead hand low. This is another alternative to help make the stroke feel more natural and still make putts.
September 19, 2020
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Stan
You didn't mention how you place your right hand on the putter....is it irrelevant?
September 18, 2020
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Stan. For right now where ever you would like. We are doing the studies on the trail hand right now. Much more info to come.
September 19, 2020
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Sam
Chuck, I typically putt well but I also realized long ago that when I am a little too casual or lose concentration, I will strike closer to the heel and miss or lip-out left. I use an opposing grip as you described (with a Cameron pistol grip) and was never really conscious of being right hand dominant. So, I tried your suggested grip. The first half-hour or so was spent simply gripping and regripping to replicate the grip and get somewhat comfortable with it. After putting a few, I quickly understood Chuck's comment about "feeling" the left hand. That was a revelation and reminded me of a brief attempt at trying the left-hand-low grip...which did not last long though. Your recommendation, however, is one that might have promise for me and I will work on it. Next step is to video.
September 18, 2020
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Sam. Great! Report back your results.
September 19, 2020
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Ian
There are two types of putters -0ne where the face of the putter will want to rotate ( in the same manner as an iron) and another where it is designed not to do so but rather to stay square. Does this method apply to both and which style is recommended?
September 18, 2020
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Ian. This method will apply to a face balanced, or traditional balanced heel-toe weighted putter. Lead hand low will typically be more prone to a face balanced method however.
September 19, 2020
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Ian
Thanks Craig-one more ?? Are hands high (ie with clubshaft more or less in a straight line with the left arm ) ,or low with angle similar to full swing stance. ? Hope I have explained the question clearly.
September 19, 2020
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Ian. The arms should be hanging pretty neutral and not trying to raise/un-cock to form straight line. But, the putter should be sitting flat and not too toe up.
September 19, 2020
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James
I had this issue (pulling putts) up to 6 years ago and was constantly 3 putting. I was playing with a New Zealand guy playing off 6 and he said to me that he had this issue for some time and reverted to left hand below right that Chuck speaks of towards the end of this video. So I I started to work on this and like Chuck it felt a bit unnatural but because my putting started to improve and I was no longer pulling my putts I persevered with it. However, for long putts I used the conventional grip. As time went on my putting improved and it felt natural. So I then stayed left below right for all putts and even my long putts improved so much I rarely two putt from distance as I once I have taken my line, if it is correct all I am doing is concentrating on pace, as I feel confident that the ball will roll on the line I choose. On a hot streak when I am really picking the correct line I do roll in a lot of long putts. As Chuck said with his grip, it is the pulling of the left arm that helps to keep the putt on line. Two things I love about it is, (a) my shoulders are level at address and (b) it keeps my shoulder parallel to the intended line of my putt. In addition to this I went from a 2 ball Odyssey putter to a 3 ball Odyssey putter and the combination of the setup and putter I have no fears when standing over a putt. Good video Chuck and it helped to explain why my putting improved.
September 18, 2020
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello James. Glad you enjoyed the video and demonstration. More to come regarding better techniques to roll the rock. Even though it sounds like you already found the proper path.
September 18, 2020
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James
Any chance of being able to get that picture in your avatar? I just love that impact position and would like to study it in a bigger size and don't underestimate yourself.
September 19, 2020
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello James. I will have to look. That picture was put up there a long time ago.
September 19, 2020
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James
So was Ben Hogans swing pictures but they are still coveted. BTW, I have posted a comment on this link https://rotaryswing.com/golf-instruction-videos/full-swing-advanced/downswing/stop-slicing-and-start-releasing.
September 19, 2020
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello James. I'm sure it is on my other computer. I will get to the other comment very soon. Still doing some catch up on this Saturday evening. Took me longer than expected to get home from BootCamp today.
September 19, 2020
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Jim
This left hand grip change definitely helps me get the putt started on my intended line. Without even any practice, I was able to make 20 six-foot putts in a row. It seems to allow me to take the putter back in a much more consistent and smoother fashion. Before, the putter head was moving all over the place during the backswing probably due to all my compensations. Thanks for the suggestion.
September 18, 2020
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Jim. Awesome! Thanks much for the feedback.
September 18, 2020
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Ali
I have been putting with left hand lower than right hand grip between fingers for over year and half, essential using right hand for support or slight touch. my percentage of dropping the ball in the hole have improved significantly
September 18, 2020
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Ali. Putting lead hand low is a great method. No worries with you using that style.
September 18, 2020
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Maya
I saw the left hand grip. What about right hand?
September 18, 2020
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Maya. We are still testing the right hand. That data will start coming out soon.
September 18, 2020
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Gerard
Coincidentally, last winter I recorded my putting stroke and was mortified at how over the top it was. My fix was to “flare out” my left elbow (that’s what it felt like...in reality, it was barely noticeable) . My experience with left hand low is consistent with Chuck’s. I’m anxious to try this grip. As they say, the proof will be in the pudding!
September 18, 2020
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Gerard. Great. Hopefully, we will hear some good reports. Let us know.
September 18, 2020
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Gerard
Unfortunately for me, this was not a positive result. I gave the college try...several trips to the putting green and 4-5 rounds of golf. The result was more putts missed left. I have working on my putter take-away, using similar logic to the golf swing.....pull, don't push. I have tried to utilize the core of the body to move the putter, but never thought about which side. By ingraining a turn that is more "pull" in both directions, I am seeing improved results....just in time for winter!
October 29, 2020
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Gerard. Happy to take a look at the putting stroke in a review for further help. But, the notion of pull-pull for the stroke make perfect sense.
October 29, 2020
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Carver
Played 10 rounds with this grip and clearly helped with my putting and will remain my putting grip. CT helped with some minor adjustments. Now it feels completely natural and comfortable. Instead of trying to feel my right hand releasing ala Tiger, now my left hand has control of the putter head and the ball stays on line much better.
September 6, 2020
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Carver. Thank you for the feedback. Glad CT helped with those adjustments. Life is always better when the rock rolls better.
September 7, 2020
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Mark
Practiced the grip tweak since the video came out and it did not really improved my putting. About a week afterwards I did a SAM Puttlab and found out that at impact my club was about 3.1 degrees open!!! Everything else was very good. My problem was was that I tend to rotate my putter open during the backswing by about 10.5 degrees. On the way back it was impossible for me to close it again to have a square impact... All the coach suggested was, that I just try to open my putter less on the backswing but keep everything the same. Been practicing that for about 2 weeks now on and off. the course and my putting has improved exponentially. Finally I feel that I am actually putting in the direction I want to, though I do see that I could improve even more. I am still using the grip that Chuck suggested in the video, because the dominant left hand gives me a better feeling and more control over the stroke! Thanks Chuck, looking forward to the next videos.
August 31, 2020
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Mark. Thank you for the detailed post. We will have much more coming out talking about the face rotation and how to maximize the results.
August 31, 2020
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Carver
Thanks Craig. I am doing a video for CT on Tuesday and have a closed green to video a putting stroke for you. What kind of video set up would be the most helpful to analyze?
August 21, 2020
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Carver. All 3 would be best. FO, DTL and UTL. Try to get what you can however if you are unable to put all the clips together.
August 21, 2020
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Carver
played 18 yesterday and again today. mixed results. some good, center blade strikes and ball would track the line well. but today I pulled a lot of putts. checked that shoulders were aligned correctly but still pulled too many putts. i guess the jury is still out.
August 21, 2020
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Carver. We would be happy to check it out on review. Has to be something creeping in to mess it up. Thanks for the input.
August 21, 2020
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Scott
I tried this method over the weekend and didn't have good results. I practiced for a hour just using this grip before playing. I practiced in my living room leading up to the weekend. I still pull, push, shank and even yeps when I putt. I'd rather have a 180 yards to the pin in a must make rather than a 2 foot putt. I carry a 7 hdcp and if I could putt I believe I could break 70 consistently.
August 18, 2020
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Scott. Good, or bad thanks for the feedback. We would be happy to do a putting review for you to find the culprit in your stroke. Also, we are still continuing the research. More to come to help get that putter back in track.
August 18, 2020
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Carver
Practiced an hour on the putting green. It is a completely different feel. Much less movement in the small muscles and more accurate for sure. I found it best to place the right hand so the thumb was also going straight down the top of the shaft like the left thumb. I also had the sensation of more involvement from the shoulders rocking back and much less independent movement of the wrists and hands. Pulling slightly with the left hand resulted in more center strikes on the face of the putter. It feels a little rigid at first but once you get use to that it's great.
August 18, 2020
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Carver. Thank you very much for the detailed feedback. Very important as we continue to research. Love the good news as well.
August 18, 2020
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Bryan
First day on course with new grip. I'm left-hand low - and I found myself naturally with the left-index finger down the shaft - almost but not quite on directly on top of it. Didn't pull a single putt. I three-putted the 1st hole and still finished with 29 putts (average 32 and 10 greens, today was 29/9). Didn't miss anything under 8 feet after 1st hole. Felt really confident for first time in a long time - unafraid to hit it past the hole. Awesome!
August 14, 2020
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Bryan. Great. Thanks for the feedback and detailed information of your round. Good job rolling the rock.
August 15, 2020
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Jens
I am really finding Good result with LHL but Will try this. Does it matter if my left hand is straighter hanging further away from the body or Bent hanging close like with chuck. Is the important thing in the end just that the bicep stays connected?
August 14, 2020
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Jens. The important thing is the placement of the grip and getting the forearms into better alignment. You don't have to glue the arm to your side. The goal is feeling natural with the above elements.
August 14, 2020
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Jacob
Hi Chuck. I have the opposite problem with the putter face too open at impact. Since golf is made up of opposite Movements I decided what did I have to lose by trying your left hand grip. I didn’t take a photo but stood perpendicular hitting towards a mirror. I immediately noticed the forearms were square and couldn’t see right bicep or forearm. After practicing set up and stroke, took the approach to the putting green and experienced a significant improvement in impact and direction. I’m taking the grip to the course and Even my playing partners noticed the improvement. It’s been a great confidence boost also.
August 13, 2020
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Jacob. Great. Thanks for the feedback. This is what we are looking for is data to see how players are responding to the change.
August 14, 2020
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Harold
Ok Chuck this putter grip works amazingly; I went to my club and practiced on the puttering greens. I am a terrible putter or I was I was amazed at how many two putts I had but here my problem. I confused as to what to do with my right hand with this new grip technique
August 12, 2020
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Harold. We are doing testing at this time with the trail hand. For right now, lightly on the club should suffice.
August 12, 2020
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Harold
Ok I work on that but so far so good guys thanks a ton Chuck your that guy
August 12, 2020
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Thomas
Have you ever used the Pelz putting tutor? That is the device where you putt through 3 steel marbles. As best I can measure, the narrowest setting causes you to just hit the marble if the face angle is off by 1 deg. What would your miss rate be? What would you expect a scratch golfer miss rate to be. I’m a 3 handicap and I miss 20%. I think that is poor for my handicap but you tell me. What would be a good target. PS If I run my putter along a putting arc my percentage missed is not significantly lower. Thoughts?
August 12, 2020
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Thomas
Ps that should have said through 2 not 3 steel marbles.
August 12, 2020
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Tom. I haven't used that putting device. I will need to do some research on it to provide a adequate answer. Maybe one of our other members have tried the device and could provide some insight as well.
August 12, 2020
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David
Tried in my garage first and it generally seemed to work on keeping the ball on the intended line. Took it out on the course yesterday. First several putts were pulled. I then realized I had set my palm first and then wrapped the fingers. Went to fingers first and then palm and no pulls after that. Did find the contact was consistent on all of the proper putts and hit too hard due to more consistent (and likely better) contact (but the comebackers were a breeze). When I missed all were close and always on the high side. Struggled with the right hand and finally just let it hang on for minimal stability which seemed to work. Will continue to work on this but looks like this is a great idea Chuck. David
August 12, 2020
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Chuck
Glad you were able to recognize the cause of the pulls and quickly fix it on the course, that's what it's all about!
August 12, 2020
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Tom
I took this concept to the course yesterday and have a few observations: 1) I use a line on the ball to clarify where I want the ball to start. I noticed that I felt a bit contrived when aligned the club face with the line on the ball using this new grip. 2) I use a pull with my left shoulder to start the forward portion of my putting stroke and this grip really highlighted any time I added a little push from my right side (I like this benefit). 3) I consistently hit the ball on my line (as well as one can tell without SAM). 4) I also used this grip on my chipping to great success. 5) At this point I am a fan but await a few more rounds to become a convert. It could simply be the "I trust Chuck" phenomenon.
August 12, 2020
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Chuck
Keep testing Tom, but your observations were very helpful and exactly what I'm looking for!
August 12, 2020
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Tom
I continue to enjoy this grip. I am making putts that I did not expect to make. I now think that my putter that was properly fitted for my previous grip probably needs to have the lie angle changed to accommodate this grip. I also find that I have to trust the line on my ball because currently putts do not look lined up when I use this grip - but the putts go on line. Still a fan but not yet a convert. Chuck, what do you feel you use to initiate and complete the take away and the forward stroke?
August 18, 2020
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donn
I found the alignment parts of the video most helpful. Practiced on the putting green before playing a round and was able to sink a straight 12 foot putt time after time. My putting set up is very unconventional - but was able to apply the principles and it greatly improved my aim. I found that I was able to repeat it very consistently while playing. My score card reflected the improvements!
August 12, 2020
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Chuck
Fun stuff, thanks for the feedback!
August 12, 2020
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donn
An update. I have continued to work on this and have gone back to a more conventional putting set up. Yesterdays round started with 4 one putts. The difference in my putting by watching your videos on putting is amazing -- Somehow just saying thanks doesn't seem adequate - but "Thanks!"
August 25, 2020
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Bryan
I'm left-hand low and a putt puller. Just tried this in the garage. Definitely fewer (almost no) pulls. Before I know if I'm chopping wood here, need to try it on the course. Intrigued....
August 11, 2020
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Great Bryan. Intrigued is good. So, is less pulls
August 12, 2020
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Chris
I think I need more testing info other than just left hand grip to get a better feel overall at this stage . I don’t think my shoulder movement is spot on etc ... my set up did not seem that far off at address . Love that this info is coming through though !
August 11, 2020
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Chuck
Ya, there are a lot of little things that could easily be off that would cause issues, that's why going through each one at a time is really key. I'll be doing a video on overall setup next
August 11, 2020
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Jared
What do you recommend for the right hand in this grip? More in fingers like left or more through life line?
August 11, 2020
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Chuck
Testing both at this time, right now, I've found it doesn't make much of a difference when the left hand is in control in this position
August 11, 2020
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Harold
Wow chuck this grip change is amazing. The ball rolls true to my alignment. This is wonderful can’t wait to take it to the course and try. It works on my putting green at home
August 10, 2020
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Chuck
Awesome! Let me know how it works for you on the course.
August 11, 2020
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Harold
Wow Chucky dam this grip thing works the ball rolls true to where I align and look at
August 10, 2020
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Love it Harold. Always helps to feel a great roll off the face.
August 11, 2020
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Christopher
Its no SAM and Im having to putt the ball as if it was a 40ft lag putt in order to get a mark on the tape. Amazing consistency. Chuck I think your on to something.
August 10, 2020
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Awesome Christopher.
August 11, 2020
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graham
What do you recommend for those of us who putt left hand low?
August 10, 2020
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Chuck
I used the left hand clocked to the left when going left hand low, but I believe this grip could have the same benefit.
August 11, 2020
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Harold
I putt left hand low and this grip technique tremendously improved my putts direction true to my line it’s amazing
August 10, 2020

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