Balancing Act

A common fault I see amongst golfers is the inability to consistently hit putts out of the middle of the putter-face.
If you can’t find the sweet-spot of the putter it will affect pace as well as line. A miss strike creates side spin as well as a loss of energy transfer into the ball.
Why do people find hit so hard to hit a putt out of the middle?
One of the reasons is due to poor balance. You might think that the putting stroke is a simple motion, not a dynamic motion like the full swing. But that doesn’t mean that balance at set up and during the stroke isn’t important.
Using a ‘forceplate’ analysis tool, which measures a player's weight distribution at set up and during the stroke, it's not uncommon to see a player's centre of gravity move by more than an inch.
One inch of movement can have a big consequence when you consider the size of the putter face, so unless you can make an equal compensation elsewhere it will be difficult to make good contact. This becomes especially hard to do consistently when you're under pressure in a tournament round.

Written by Phil Kenyon