The String Drill

 

This is a drill you've no doubt seen in numerous golf magazines, it's designed to help you check that your eyes are correctly positioned over the ball and that you maintain a square putterface through the stroke. The usual advice given is that the putterface should be square at the top of the backswing or at the finish.

 

Now this IS good advice, but unless you can align your shoulders parallel left of the target and perform a "vertical" shoulder rock, ie no shoulder rotation then the putterface will be pointing left of the hole at the finish unless you manipulate the putter with your hands.

 

The concept of vertical shoulder rock is not new, Dave Pelz has described it in his book, Dave Pelz's Putting Bible, the trick is learning it and it takes a bit of practice. Most importantly you need to have feedback of some sort when you're trying how to learn to rock your shoulders in the vertical plane.

 

Most golfers have two major problems in learning the on-line shoulder stroke, a) The vast majority of pros don't understand the theory, b) It takes typically 20 minutes to get the feel of the movement into your muscle memory even if you have feedback.

 

The Pro-Putt Laser trainer is the training aid used every day in the putting school and it is proving very successful in getting students to learn the feel and look of the shoulder stroke. The benefits of having a straight back and through stroke are huge, in fact the key to putting on-line IS a vertical shoulder rock.

 

Check out the training aids page or www.igtgolf.com

A vertical shoulder rock, square shoulder alignment and a firm grip, the cornerstones of great putting.