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Putting's Most Important Tip - Find The Sweetspot; It May Not Be Where You Think It Is!

By Steve Lee

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 23Jul2009 Word count: 668 Viewed: 202 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

Putting-related advice normally ignores what I believe to be the most important aspect of consistent putting, centering as it does around issues such as 'developing a good stroke', 'how to read the greens' and 'practice tips'.

Regardless of how good your putting stroke is, how good you are at reading greens or how much you practice, however, unless you strike the ball off the sweetspot of the putter face, you will never achieve consistently good results. This is because putts struck with anything other than the sweetspot will cause putter-face rotation and wobble and, as a consequence, a) start the ball offline and b) transfer less energy to the ball. The rotation is likely to be so minimal that you are not even aware of it - a major problem in itself - although there may be sufficient wobble to allow you to feel a slight vibration in your hands.

The problem with starting the ball offline - however slightly - needs no explanation but what about the transfer of energy; could you not just hit the ball a little harder? The answer, of course, is no. Apart from anything else it would cause more rotation and wobble, but simply dismissing the importance of the sweetspot means that the energy transfer to the ball will be inconsistent, resulting in no control over how far the ball will travel, or how much it will break.

This poses the question, "where is the sweetspot?" or, looking at it another way, "how do you find the sweetspot?"

Before answering, you should not assume that any of the marks put on your putter by the manufacturer necessarily indicate where your putter's sweetspot is. Often the marks are put in the place that is cosmetically the most appealing.

In order to locate your putter's sweetspot, therefore, take the following steps:

1. Stand up straight, hold the grip of the putter by your fingertips so it is out in front of you. Take care to hold it in such a way that it is angled in the same way it is when you putt. Do not hold it vertically (unless, of course, it is vertical when you putt!).

2. Take a key, pen, or something similar in the other hand, and tap around the face, feeling any vibration in your fingertips as you see the head rotate and wobble.

3. Tap around until you find the place where there is no rotation or wobble and the vibration is negligible.

4. Mark that spot on the top line of the putter with a marker pen, and then repeat the process in 1. to 3. above to double-check you have 'hit the spot'.

5. Carefully file a groove or punch a mark where you have marked the top line, and then fill it with a little paint. You now have your true guide as to where to address your putts.

If there is already a manufacturer's mark but it is in the wrong place, repeat the above process to find the true guideline. Measure the distance from the manufacturer's mark to your own, and then measure the same distance from your mark but in the opposite direction and make another mark as described above. You will then have three marks on your top line, the middle one of which you will of course use when addressing the ball.

At this point I should say that your top line mark has indicated the location of the sweetspot on the vertical plane of the putter's face and is the most important.

Your tapping exercise will have also located its position along the horizontal plane which is likely - though not necessarily - to be half way up the face. You should, however, be aware of where the sweetspot is located horizontally along the face.

You can now get down to the work of grooving your stroke, confident in the knowledge that you have given yourself the best chance of striking the ball with the sweetspot of your putter leading to greater consistency and better scores.

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