Fundamental #4: Ball Position
The fourth fundamental that we are going to talk about is probably the most overlooked fundamental at all of putting. Most people do not understand this, but we are going to try to explain it to you so it makes some sense.
Ball position. Ball position—where you place the ball in relationship to the body is going to be very important in putting the right spin on the golf ball when it comes off the putter face.
Now, when we were talking about the pendulum motion, we have the putter coming back and we have the putter coming forward. Great putters—great putters have developed the type of putting stroke with a pendulum where they are contacting the ball as the bottom of the pendulum starts to come up. Now, this is not a thing we want to be very conscious of when we put. If we can get the right ball position, the stroke will automatically come into the ball as it is just starting to come up from the bottom of its arc.
Now, ball position is the key in this. We do not want to place the ball in the middle of our stance because we would not be hitting the ball with an upward motion to put over-spin on the ball.
So, we want to play the ball up in our stance. I play my ball just off the instep of my left heel. This will give me the type of putting pendulum swing where the putter is coming up, just at contact with the ball. If we play the ball up in our stance, like it is in this position, when I make my swing through the ball, I am actually hitting it with a little upward motion, but no effort on my part to try to make that upward motion. It is just that the ball position is upfront and it imparts over-spin on the ball which gives me a much truer role toward the cup.
So remember, you have to practice this. Ball position should be up, just a little behind or near the left heel.
Putting Pointers for Ball Position
When putting, contact the ball as the pendulum motion is just starting to swing up. This will automatically put top spin on the ball. Putting stance should have the ball positioned just inside of the front heel.
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