On The Agenda: Putting Posture

Posted by: Sean Weir in Putt Better August 27, 2009 0

From the health care debate to the Cash for Clunkers program, there is no shortage of hot-button items on the federal agenda these days.

Today, however, PutterZone.com invites you to look at a more bipartisan issue: putting posture.

Indeed, Time Magazine recently published a story on President Obama’s golf game. What got our attention, however, was the accompanying photo of the president and vice president on the White House’s putting green.

In the photo, the president looks balanced and relaxed, with a nice bend at the hips and a straight spine. The vice president, however, looks tight and hunched, with a rounding of his upper back and neck. Truly, this photo could easily be used in an instruction book to visually demonstrate the difference between good and bad putting postures.

Of course, you see all kinds of putting postures on the PGA Tour, so there’s more than one way to sink a putt. In fact, the vice president himself wields an 8 handicap, so he’s obviously no slouch.

However, in general, the more poised and balanced the posture, the better it will hold up under pressure.

For a winning putting posture, look no further than Tiger Woods. In his instructional book, he writes, “One of the fundamentals sacred to me is posture.” Woods believes in standing fairly tall at address, without any hunching or rounding of the shoulders. This, he says, “allows my arms to hang from my shoulder sockets in a lose, comfortable manner. This reduces tension right away.”

Judging by the Time Magazine photo, we wouldn’t be surprised if there was a copy of Woods’ book in the presidential library.