Quiet Lower Body for Improved Putting

Improve Putting with Quiet Lower Body

Nick Lewis PGA Assistant Golf Professional

One of the necessary physical attributes critical for a good putting stroke is the ability to disassociate the upper and lower body. This ability allows you to keep your head and lower body still while rotating the shoulders in a manner that creates a smooth and repeatable putting motion. To improve this aspect of your putting, the torso rotation test is an excellent drill to practice in the off-season. By enhancing your torso rotation, you can develop a more consistent and effective putting stroke, significantly improving your overall putting performance.

Practice Without a Club

Here's how it's done… set up in what I would call a golf posture without a club. From there cross your arms and place one hand on either shoulder. Practice rocking your shoulders back and forth making the right side move up in the air then the left in a smooth steady manor. The goal while doing this will be to keep your head and lower body as still as possible. Now, this sounds easy but for some it can be quite difficult. Start off making the movement very slowly with a narrow range of motion and eventually speed up and increase the amount of shoulder rotation.

Practice In Front of a Mirror

I also recommend doing this in front of a full-length mirror so that you can watch yourself while practicing this drill. I have even had students take dry erase markers and draw a circle around their head and lines from their outer hips down to their ankles which gives even more feedback, which is the goal of any good drill. At the conclusion of each practice session go ahead and grab a putter and make some strokes remaining conscious of the steady head and lower body. Practice this drill for 3 times per week for 5 minutes per session and you will be one step closer to improving your putting stroke once the snow melts!