On The Fringe

How practicing on an arc can improve your stroke    

By Jeff Ritter, PGA, Illustrations by Steve Karp    

Golfers use two kinds of putting strokes: a square- to-square stroke that swings (and stays) square to the target line and an arcing stroke that travels inside the target line on the backstroke and follow through. Although both have their advantages, in this tip I’ll talk about the arcing stroke. It’s most commonly used by people who putt with a blade (as opposed to  the square-to-square stroke, which is more commonly used with a mallet). If you have an arcing stroke and are struggling with your putting mid-round, take a short timeout (while your playing partners are putting) and place the toe of your putter along the collar of a circular putting green. Keeping your putter toe on the collar, make a smooth, rhythmic motion so the toe slightly opens and closes to the arc of the green. Once you try this with a ball, you’ll get your stroke back on track and your putts will roll true and hug the turf right into the cup.
 

If you putt with an arc stroke and are struggling with it mid-round, take a minute and head over to the fringe to get it back on track. 

Jeff Ritter, PGA, is Director of Instruction at the ASU Karsten Golf Academy in Tempe, Ariz., and the author of Golf by Design.