Golf: The Putting Grips Of The Pros

By vet4golfing51 on July 3, 2024

Putting is by far the most individual aspect of the game of golf. There is more written about putting than any other aspect of the game. Despite the fact there are people that keep insisting that greens in regulation is the most important stat in the game, because they want ball striking to be more important, it really is putting. If Colin Morikawa had putted well in the fourth round of the first two majors he would have won both of them. He definitely struck the ball better than the law firm of Schauffele and Scheffler. How do the people that make a living at this game attach themselves to the putter. I divided them into four groups. The normal grip with the right hand below the left and any variation. The self explanatory left hand low grip. The yip fixing claw grip. Finally the long putter, including the one that is braced against the arm. This was far from what I would call a scientific study. I watched golf on Thursday and Friday for about 3 weeks. I included women pros, although most were men. The total number came to 108. What were the results and did I feel I learned anything.

There were 58 pros who used what I would call the conventional putting grip, basic reverse overlap. Thirty two used the left hand low. Nine used the claw grip and 9 used a unique putter. I was surprised by two things. The conventional putting grip is still the preferred method of gripping the putter by a wide margin. I was surprised at how few players use the claw. The most unique grip was by tour player Joe Highsmith. He is left handed and keeps his right hand low and claws, calling it the reverse claw. Even in the short time that I did the survey, there were some players that changed their grip method. What did I learn from this little survey? Not a whole hell of a lot, quite frankly other than something that I already knew. That putting is all in your head. The other thing, which I have advocated in the past, is do not become enslaved to one method of putting. Do it until it stops working but then move on to another method. I have what I feel are about 4 or 5 methods that I use to putt and will change them based on results. None of them involve making a major grip change. Putting is nothing more than confidence and guts.