Many golfers tend to spend most of their golf budget on their iron set or driver. From there, they spend a majority of their time practicing drives and long shots. Sure, there’s plenty of putting practice taking place on that strip of Astro Turf in the office or basement, but let’s face it: putting isn’t quite as fun or exciting as hitting the sweet spot on the club and driving the ball fall down the fairway in a perfectly straight line.
Still, you should make time to practice the more humbling aspects of the game. If you want a solid, well-rounded golf game, don’t forget to put the proper amount of time into your putting.
When it comes to putting, one of the fundamental decisions players have to make — and then practice — is which kind of stroke they’ll use. The two fundamental putting styles are the arc stroke and the straight-through stroke. Often, the style you use depends on how you learned. It might just be a matter of comfort or what you’re used to. But if you’ve been thinking about changing up your game or wondering how you can go beyond the plateau you’ve hit, you might want to begin looking at how you putt so you can determine if you are a straight or arc putter.
If you’re an arc-putter trying to play a straight-through game, it’s like being left-handed and trying to write with your right. It’s that important.
Here are some of the differences between the straight-through and arc strokes to help you evaluate where you’re at. In turn, this will better help your setup and knock down your total points.
Straight-Through Stroke
One of the easiest ways to determine how you putt is to pay attention to how your eyes follow the ball. The eyes of players who putt straight through land directly over the ball. For this style of putting, if you set up a putting line, the sweet spot on the head should follow the line and hit the ball at a 90-degree angle. Your follow-through should also move along a straight course.
Arc Stroke
This stroke is slightly more difficult and is used by pros such as Tiger woods. Many claim this style allows for greater control, and unlike the straight-through shot, your eyes are slightly inside the ball and behind it in the setup. Instead of following a straight line, though, the putter’s face opens in the back and closes through the stroke, creating a slight arc.
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