How many of us mid-to-high handicappers often struggle with decelerating the putter? As much as we don’t want to admit to doing it, it’s a common issue that’s crushing your short game — and adding strokes to your scorecard.
Now let’s say you had some tips on perfecting your putting follow through to ensure your distance control is spot on and you roll the ball smoothly across the green. Instead of chronically three-putting, you might finally start to see more effectiveness with the flat stick!
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In the video above — which comes from Peter Kostis and Gary McCord on their “Kostis & McCord: Off Their Rockers” podcast, a GOLF Production — Kostis shares his thoughts on how to finally stick the follow through while putting.
“Since speed is so important in putting, I want you to understand something — we don’t ever want flash speed with the putter. We don’t want the putter to hit the ball and then recoil. That constitutes flash speed,” Kostis explains. “What we want is a nice, slow, steady acceleration of the putter through the impact zone.”
Try Kostis’ tips to master your putting follow through
Struggling with decelerating the putter and recoiling? Hey, lots of us amateurs are. But Kostis says doing so is the reason why your distance control is so inconsistent.
“If you’re one of those [people] who recoils your putter, you don’t have the right distance or length of backstroke for the putt you want to hit,” he says. “You either go back too short, hit it hard, and then recoil, or you go back too long, quit on it, and recoil — so you don’t have any sense of touch or feel.”
To overcome some of the typical issues with decelerating the putter, Kostis suggests giving yourself an easy visual about four inches in front of your ball at address.
“If I put my putter about four inches in front of the ball, there’s where I want to stop and there’s where I want to have my putter head finish,” he says. “I don’t want any recoil.”
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As Kostis hits some shots, he then demonstrates how to control your putter head on longer putts, with him purposely hitting one past the hole by about 25 feet.
“We call it sticking your follow through, so hit and hold,” he says. “It’ll help you get the right level of energy in your putter to get the ball to the hole.”
By following Kostis’ tips here, he ensures better touch and improved feel.
“Stick your follow through with no recoil, and you’re going to get better speed control and you’re going to be a better putter,” he adds.
You can listen to the entire episode from Kostis and McCord below.
