Last week we talked about Jordan Speith and his practice swing routine and how he extends his arms back and through especially extending his right arm through impact and on his follow through. Again this past week we were treated to another fantastic week of golf during the second round of the the Fed Ex playoffs. Once again it was Jordan Speith in the mix against his Buddy Justin Thomas and Australian Marc Leishman.
Jordan got off to an incredible start going birdie, eagle, birdie, birdie and jump into a tie for the lead. What was crazy was that Leishman and Thomas also were making putts left and right to stay pace with Jordan. What I was most impressed with was the putting…by everyone! Putting is not easy especially under pressure on greens stimping out at 13! Eventually it came down to Justin Thomas winning the tournament with solid ball striking but relentlessly good putting. The previous day Justin had 8 birdies and 12 three’s on his scorecard!
It’s Justin’s putting I want to talk about this week and how you can improve your putting by copying how the best do it. Justin is a great putter along with his buddy and arguably the best putter in the world Jordan Speith. Next week is the third leg of the playoffs and watch the players how they putt. Justin and Jordan and ALL the others do this…they have a short follow through holding the putter face square to the target. There is no big follow through or swaying forward. Tiger and Greg Norman were very good at this as well. It’s like they pop it with that short follow through.
Too many amateurs have long back swings and follow throughs with lots of body movement. You must stay really still over your putts especially your head. No peeking early to see where the ball is going. Watch your putter head strike the ball and keep the putter head square to the target on your short follow through. Too many amateurs twist the putter face after impact.
As you can see in the photos of Justin putting, the ball is long gone but his putter face is still square to the target and his follow through is very short and compact. Adopt this method and you will improve your putting, lower your scores and be well on your way to playing YOUR best golf!
