by Stan Utley
accomplish three very distinct goals. First, I want to find the one or two swing thoughts that I’m going
to go with in my putting for the day. It could be something left over from the day before, when I had a
good round, or something I discovered during my preliminary practice session. Once I’ve got that
locked in, I hit about a dozen long putts across the green, to no particular target. I don’t care where the
ball is going so much as I want to feel good rhythm and solid contact. After those putts, which really
help me refine my sense of the overall speed of the greens, the last thing I want to do before I go play
is reinforce the feel of actually making putts. I’ll pick a practice hole and work my way around it,
sinking two-and three-footers. I always make sure to make three putts in a row before I actually walk
to the tee, to make sure I’m heading into action with a positive feeling.
OFF-SEASON PRACTICE
If you aren’t lucky enough to live in a year-round golf place like Arizona, what do you do to keep
your putting stroke sharp in the winter? Before moving out here a couple of years ago, I spent my
winters in Missouri, so I had to figure out a way to do just that. I bought one of those fake-turf putting
mats—mine was about twelve feet long—and spent the winter doing two things. First, I set up in front
of a full-length mirror and really scrutinized my grip, stance and posture. It really makes you learn
what a good setup looks like—something that will help you diagnose and fix stroke problems out on
the course. It’s tough to use a mirror to actually watch your own stroke—mostly because your
attention should be on the ball, and you’d be watching from a funny angle—but you can get what you
need by checking the setup. Once you’ve done that, just practice stroking straight putts on the mat or a
piece of flat carpet. The speed of the surface doesn’t really matter. You’re just trying to translate that
setup work into actually aiming yourself over a putt. One winter in Missouri, I just wore that putting
mat out, stroking twelve-footer after twelve-footer. I can remember coming out for my first event in
the spring, in Florida, and the first putt I saw on the first hole was exactly the same length as the one I
had been hitting all winter. All the repetition in the basement had really helped me sharpen my ability
to set up square to my target and make a pressure-free stroke without worrying about the
consequences. It was just another putt on the fake green in my basement.
THE YIPS
I want to address one more thing here before we finish up. A lot of players ask me about the yips—
what they are, and if you can fix them. I try not to think about them as a player, but as a teacher, they’re
a fact of life. From what I can figure, the yips come from a subconscious effort to try to correct an
error in the stroke. For example, your brain subconsciously knows that you’re aimed wrong on a two-
footer, and tries to short circuit your muscles to correct it. Have that happen more than a few times
and it’ll wreck your confidence. It’s certainly hard to get rid of totally. I’m not going to say it’s never
a mental thing, or never a nervous thing, but I’ll say that it’s usually some kind of flaw in the stroke
itself that leads up to it. I think a player who strokes it better or different has a good chance to
overcome it. Better technique leads to more consistent contact, which will help anyone’s confidence
increase.
The players I’ve seen who’ve suffered from the yips have had the most success beating them by
switching to a less-conventional method like a claw grip, belly putter or long putter. That approach
doesn’t so much “fix” the problem as it does work around it. That’s completely okay with me—I’m
for anything that makes you feel more comfortable on the green, as long as the fundamentals are good.
And you can use a claw grip, left-hand-low grip or even a belly putter and use the techniques I’ve
been talking about in this book. Mostly you’ve got to be willing to make some changes and experiment
to try to fix the problem. Stubbornly doing the same things and missing short putt after short putt isn’t
going to do anything but permanently burn out your confidence.
CHAPTER 9
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE
You’ve gone through the book and made some changes to your putting stroke. That’s great—but it’s
just the first step. If golf was as simple as learning a skill and then repeating it over and over again,
professional golf would be really boring to watch, with 125 guys shooting 63 every day. Golf—and
putting—is about making adjustments. We aren’t machines, and fundamentals get out of whack for
even the best players. That’s why I have mostly ongoing relationships with tour players, not just one-
time fix sessions.
The moral of this story is that you shouldn’t get discouraged if you go through some rough
patches with your new putting stroke. It happens to the best players, and the only way out of it is to go
back to the fundamentals and rebuild your confidence. This quick reference guide will help you do
that. It’s designed to remind you of the things we’ve talked about and worked on in this book, and to
help you get back on track if you start to struggle.
The putting stroke is pretty simple and straightforward. But it’s also precise. Hit a tee shot with
a slightly open face on your driver and you might miss in the light rough on the right. Hit a putt that
way and you might miss a big five-footer to win a match. The good news is, by checking your
fundamentals regularly and sticking to the basics, you can maintain your stroke and avoid slumps.
When I haven’t been playing a lot of golf and need to get back into tournament putting form, I
essentially start from the beginning and go over the elements on this checklist, point by point, to
rebuild my feel. It really is true that an hour invested on the practice green once or twice a month
during your own golf season can pay bigger dividends than time spent working on any other part of
your game. That’s because solid, consistent putting can bail you out during a sketchy ball-striking day
—and turn a good ball-striking day into a great scoring round.
Grip
The putter grip should run up the lifelines, not down across the first joints of the
fingers.
In a good putting grip, the shaft runs in a line parallel to the forearms—not under
them as it would for a full shot.
I recommend the reverse overlap grip, where the index finger of the left hand
extends over the top of the fingers of the right hand.
Grip pressure should be light, emphasizing feel in the fingertips—the part of your
body responsible for touch.
Both thumbs should be parallel, on top of the shaft. This sets the hands up parallel
to each other and square to the target line at address.
If you decide to use a nonconventional grip (cross-handed, claw), it is still
important to set the hands so that the top of the forearms are square to the target
line.
Stance
A narrow stance is the most natural—you’d stand that way if we were having a
conversation.
Tilt from the hips, don’t slouch the shoulders.
Weight should be balanced across your feet from left to right and front to back.
Setup
I like a square setup, w
ith the shoulders, hips, knees and feet square to the target
line.
It’s okay to set up with the feet a little open to the line as long as the primary
alignment—the top of the forearms—stays square to the target line.
The putterface should be at the center of your stance, with the ball just ahead of
that.
The shoulders and elbows should be relaxed and soft. The elbows should be soft
and resting against your sides, not stiff and extended.
The shaft should be at ninety degrees at address, or leaning a little bit toward the
target. It’s hard to hit the ball solid if you start with the shaft leaning back.
Hold the putter in your dominant hand and use your dominant eye first when getting
into your setup position. You will align yourself more accurately to the target.
Stroke
The stroke comes from the shoulders turning around your spine, not the rocking of
the shoulders up and down.
The stroke is simple—the right elbow folds and the left arm extends, and then the
right arm extends while the left folds.
The putterhead should look like it is opening on the backswing and closing through
impact, but this isn’t something you do by flipping or turning your hands. It happens
with shoulder turn and a slight forearm rotation.
Swing Thoughts
Feel the swing of the putterhead in the takeaway by allowing the right elbow to
soften.
Release the tension in your shoulders before you make a practice stroke. Tense
shoulders destroy feel.
Release the putter by extending your right elbow rotating the forearms, not by
flipping your wrists.
Allow your shoulders to work around your spine tilt, not against it.
PUTTING PROBLEMS
Pulls
Check your ball position. A pull can come from the ball being too far forward in
your stance—where the natural arc of the stroke sends the ball left.
Make sure the right forearm isn’t higher than the left in your setup. This can be
caused by a too-weak grip (hands turned toward the target) or a shoulder tilt (right
shoulder higher than left).
A closed stance (feet, hips, shoulders turned to the right of the target line) can
actually cause a pull. You’ll subconsciously yank the putter back to the left during
the stroke to compensate for the right alignment.
A too-long putter can cause you to stand too far from the ball, which lifts the toe of
the putter and causes you to aim left.
A putter with a too-upright lie angle will cause you to aim left.
Pushes
Rotate the shoulders, don’t rock them. Rocking causes the putter to go back closed
and come through open, which causes the push.
Make sure the left forearm isn’t higher than the right. This can be caused by a
strong grip (hands turned away from the target) or too much shoulder tilt (left
shoulder higher than right).
Stiff elbows and shoulders will promote a push—the clubhead can’t release with
all the tension.
Ball position too far back can cause a push, but it’s uncommon for players to set up
with the ball back.
A putter with a too-flat lie angle will cause you to aim right.
Feel
A tight grip with the handle deep in the fingers takes the sensitive fingertips out of
the stroke—a mistake. Keep the grip in the lifeline, with the fingertips more on the
grip than the palms.
Losing the mix of shoulder turn and arm swing is devastating to feel. A stiff,
shoulders-only swing doesn’t work well. You wouldn’t toss something
underhanded with just a shoulder turn. Feel comes from a flowing mix of shoulder
turn, arm swing and forearm rotation.
Distance Control
The best way to improve distance control is to improve your fundamentals. If you
hit it solid, you’ll have an incredibly natural sense for how far it will go.
Grain impacts speed on all greens, not just those with Bermuda grass. On bentgrass
greens, look for the shine. If, from behind your ball, the grass looks dark and almost
shadowed, you’re hitting into the grain and need to give it more speed. If the grass
looks shiny, you’re with the grain and the putt will be faster.
Green Reading
Walk from your approach shot to the green with your eyes open—it gives you an
overall feel for the tilt of the green.
Examine your putt first from behind the ball, then from behind the hole and then
from the low side of the break halfway between the ball and the hole.
Most amateurs drastically underestimate the amount of break. If in doubt, play more
break, especially on intermediate length putts (fifteen to twenty-five feet)
Be conscious of aiming at your target—the apex of the break—and not cheating
your aim toward the hole.
Grain will impact your read most dramatically on fast downhill and sidehill putts.
Equipment
Putters with toe-hang (perimeter weighting that causes the toe to drop when the
shaft is balanced on your finger) work with the stroke I teach. Face-balanced
putters do not work as well—they’re designed for a straight-back-straight-through
stroke.
Putter fit is just as important as fit in the other clubs in your bag. A putter that is too
short, too tall, or too upright will cause you to have to make compensations in your
stroke.
Most off-the-rack putters are too short (thirty-two inches instead of thirty-four or
thirty-six), too upright (seventy-one degrees of lie angle instead of sixty-nine) and
don’t have enough loft (three degrees instead of five). Keep this in mind, and be
prepared to have your putter bent to suit your new stroke. I most often fit people at
thirty-five inches, sixty-eight degrees of lie angle, and five degrees of loft.
A thinner grip enhances your feel for the putterhead.
The most important cosmetic element about your putter is the way its alignment
looks at address. You want a putter that clearly looks square when you set up over
the ball. If a putter looks open or closed (or is actually open or closed) to the target
line at address, you will struggle with consistency.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Creating The Art of Putting was certainly a team effort. Matthew Rudy did a great job with my
words, and J.D. Cuban’s photographs are awesome. My agent, Scott Waxman, deserves a lot of credit
for putting it all together, and Brendan Cahill and Patrick Mulligan at Gotham Books were great to
work with.
Developing Stan Utley the player and teacher was a team effort, too. I want to say thanks to my
dad, Frank Utley, who became a golf fanatic when I was ten years old. He was my first coach, and he
taught me how to think, both on the golf course and off. My mom, Ruby, taught me patience and
positive thinking. My brother John has been a best friend forever and is now the ultimate business
associate.
I also owe a lot to a lady named Rhoda Luna, who taught me great fundamentals when I was ten
years old. Bob Paris was the best player at the club when I was a kid, and more importantly, was
always a perfect gentleman and a person a kid could look up to. Craig Linson, John Richards, Gates
Paris and I became a foursome of golfers and buddies from the time I moved to West Plains all the
some of the best in my life.
Ken Lanning has been the most dominant figure in my golf life. The more I learn over the years,
the more I realize that the things Mr. Lanning told me when I was a teenager were right. Along that
line, Mr. Lanning and Jim Tom Blair explained the putting stroke to me, and made all this possible.
Rich Poe gave me a golf scholarship at the University of Missouri, and was a great mentor and friend.
Craig Harrison was the first teacher I had after school, and was there for my first PGA Tour win. He
really pushed me to work hard, and I owe him a lot for that. Other teachers who have been positive
influences on me are Fred Griffin, Rob Akins and Jim Hardy. I also want to thank David Cook and
Rick McGuire for their mental and spiritual coaching.
Ed Roberson took a big risk on a young pro, sponsoring me when nobody else was knocking
down my door. He’ll never realize how important he was to my development, giving me the ability to
make some choices at the start of my career. Buddy Henry gave me a sponsor’s exemption into his
PGA Tour event in Chattanooga. I won that week, and it changed my life.
I would like to mention Dillard Pruitt, Fred Wadsworth and Brandel Chamblee as well. These
guys were my running buddies when I turned pro. We traveled the mini-tours together, played practice
rounds together, ate a ton of bad food and slept in a lot of lousy hotel rooms. We’ll always be lifelong
friends.
I have to thank my wife, Elayna, more than anyone. She’s been my partner, my wife, my coach
and my best friend. I certainly couldn’t have had the career I’ve had without her help.
I also want to acknowledge my Lord and Savior—the giver of great gifts, who has given me the
passion to encourage others not just to know Him, but to know and understand golf a little bit better.
Document Outline
Cover
Copyright
Contents
Foreword by Jay Haas
Introduction
Chapter 1 WHAT DO I KNOW?
Chapter 2 THE BASICS
Chapter 3 FINDING THE RIGHT EQUIPMENT
Chapter 4 THE ART OF PUTTING
Chapter 5 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PUTTING