I wish that 8 or 9 years ago, the governing bodies of golf would have disqualified any putter, or club for that matter, that is anchored to the body. This includes, the belly putter, the “broom”-style putters and others. I guess that is the traditionalist in me.

However, having said that, these long putters actually cause the player to make the exact same stroke that I teach with a short, or traditional putter. The putter swings on the proper plane both back and forward. I believe the face will then swing perpendicular or square to the path of the on plane stroke. This motion allows, or causes, the putter head to release properly. When you anchor the grip end to the body, you simply cannot manipulate the grip in a way that pulls the top of the handle back in the take away or toward the target in the through swing– which is the biggest mistakes I see in my teaching. I teach people to “swing the end of the club that hits the ball.” My new book The Art of the Swing is all about proper sequence in the swing, (putter to driver). If the grip end of the putter is anchored the putter head has to swing the greatest amount which also allows for proper sequence all the way up the chain of movement.

In fact, The Art of the Swing features a scanning technology called Microsoft Tags that allows you to see a large library of swing-based videos that I shot for the book. I thought I’d share one of these videos with you because it demonstrates the exact putter motion that I teach – and that the belly putter requires – to make the putter work for professionals and amateurs alike.

So, do I like the long putters? Not really. But do I like to see people releasing the putter head, making putts and shooting low scores? Absolutely. I love tradition, but I love truth more.

The brain is responsible for processing all these external signals, and while it seems overly complex to even talk about it, there’s something to be said for allowing the mental side of your game control the physical things that help us all be more athletic. Our abilities to see, feel and hear help reinforce some of the things that make a great putter: perception of distance, slope and breaks in the green; touch to “feel” the ball hitting the head of the putter, aural feedback of putter head striking the ball and the tactile feedback that goes from the head of the putter and up the shaft to your hands, and then up to your arms and to your brain; and your ability to trust what you see, hear and feel so that instinctively you KNOW the ball is going into the hole.

In this day and age of iPods, iPads and a host of other very small and portable devices, I’m certainly beginning to embrace the idea that visual learning tools can help with the interactive learning process. This is especially true if these visual cues are repetitive, accurate representations of what I believe makes a great stroke.

I recently did some work on a very intriguing new audio/video aid from a Phoenix-area company called seeitgolf that may benefit your putting stroke and hopefully help you get the ball in the hole in fewer strokes. Developed by Danny Orr, a former professional baseball player and major league scout, the aid is an app that will run on an iPhone 4, iPad and iTouch. Aaron Baddeley and I combined our efforts to include video and audio tracks for the app backed up by some pretty cool music. The longer-form 15- minute video and the shorter individual tracks captured from different angles, were shot with 4 “Red” cameras for an incredible lifelike feel. Danny’s team used super slo-mo effects in the app so you can literally see the dimples of the ball as it bumps and rolls successfully toward and then into the hole.

The app helps you create positive mental images so that you can not only see and hear what a great putt should look and feel like, but ultimately enables you to trust what all these outside signals are sending back to your brain. A lot of very scientific study went into the development of the app, and much of what Danny has produced is reinforced by Dr. Debbie Crews, one of Golf Digest’s Top 10 instructors, and a leading researcher recognized as well by Golf Magazine for her work.

You can find out more about the app by visiting the company’s website at seeitgolf.com. Or, if you just can’t wait to try out something new, you can visit the Apple iTunes App Store and purchase the app for download onto your Apple device.

If you try it, let me know what you think.

Ball pushes tee into side of hole

As best I can remember, way back when I worked hard on my own game, I had a number of practice drills I used to improve my scoring performance. While practice may not sound as much fun as playing a round of golf, what I’ve found is that practice actually makes your next round of golf much more fun because you can see if all that hard work on the practice range pays off.

One exercise I used a lot in my practice routine was making very short putts. Now, I know that in friendly games of golf, those 1’-2’ putts are often conceded by your golf buddies. But, what happens if you get into a local tournament and you actually have to make those putts? Yep, you guessed it…the knees might shake a little, and you might have negative thoughts in your head as you stand over the putt. It’s pretty clear that you need to build confidence in your stroke so that you can sink 100% of those short putts. Missing them can cost you the hole, or even the match.

To build confidence, you need repetition. You need to see and feel the ball going in the hole every time. I would make hundreds of these putts from one to two feet. I would roll some in the left edge and some in the right edge. I would also often put a tee in the back middle of the cup and tap the tee with the golf ball to narrow my focus on the center of the cup. This drill is not primarily about technique, but rather experiencing the benefits of holing putts without missing.

However, please stay aware of what your stroke feels like and what you are thinking when you are doing this exercise. The drill may test your commitment and patience, but I am certain your confidence will grow. Also, realize that when you go to play on the course, you really don’t hit a 3′ putt much different than an 18″ putt.

Download (Utley_OnARoll.pdf, PDF, 1.55MB)

We usually head out to the practice green and I’ll ask them to hit a few putts. I like to stand directly behind the player (such as in this picture to the left) to look for any obvious posture, swing plane, alignment or any other little things that can add up to a bad stroke. It’s amazing that what you think you are doing may not even be close to what I see while observing the stroke.

I think the hands that grip the club need to feel lubricated with a good shot of oil in the joints. The feeling that some people have that your shoulders should move in a pendulum motion is not what I teach. I think the hands are the pivot point for the club head, and it is the club head that must swing much like a fence gate.

Another important point I like to make is that a golf ball with a “hook” spin rolls better than a ball struck with a slicing motion. To do that, the club head’s toe must pass the heel of the club at impact to impart some hook spin on the ball. This is the same concept we see when you swing with a driver or an iron…why should a putter be any different?