TOUR TIP: SLIGHT MOVES KILL YOUR STROKE

The best players in the world all stay incredibly still while putting. We show you why.

If you watch the best players in the world, the one thing they have in common is that they all stay incredibly still when putting.

The slightest movement in your head or body can throw the putter blade off line, resulting in a lipped out putt or, even worse, a complete mis-hit where the ball either finishes well short of the hole or rolls long.

Staying as still as possible during the putting stroke, as well as after impact, will guarantee a better rolling putt and, over time, your judgement of distance will improve as the ball consistently comes out of the middle of the putterface. Staying still will also, obviously, help you start any putt on the correct line.

On short putts, the margin for error when you move is so small and can result in plenty of missed putts.

One way of getting over this is to listen for the ball to drop into the bottom of the cup. This will also help you keep still because you are not moving your head too much to see if the ball is heading into the cup. Sony Open Champion Cameron Smith is, not surprisingly, one of the best putters in the game. On the PGA Tour, he ranks No.9 in Strokes Gained putting, gaining .893 of a stroke on the field per round.

Note how he is following the roll mainly with his eyes and has not turned his head much at all. What’s also important here is that after impact his putter head is still low to the ground, resulting in a more consistent roll.

Watch good putters like Smith and you won’t believe how little movement they make. Compare it to your regular playing partners, and you’ll see why pros make more putts.