Setup for Straight Strokes

A good setup for straight, consistent strokes is one in which the stance and bend are comfortable and stable, the arms and hands hang naturally without unwanted tension, and the shoulders are aligned parallel to the target line. From this setup, the golfer can make consistently accurate and repeating stroke movements defined in reference to the bottom of the stroke. (audio podcast, 6 mins. 44 secs.) LISTEN

Perfect Lagging

The two rules of perfect lagging, or indeed perfect distance control for any putt, are: 1. Don't go long; and 2. Don't be short. Functionally, the first rule really means: "Don't ever speed up the normal timing of your downstroke." The reason is because your brain relies upon the stability of your backstroke and downstroke timings to set the size of the backstroke for a given putt, and once the backstroke is selected by these non-conscious processes, the stroke is pre-loaded with 100% of the distance, and not 103% or some greater distance. The brain and instincts of all normal adult humans for movement control are THAT GOOD! Accordingly, it is not physically possible to send a ball 103% with a 100% backstroke UNLESS you speed up the downstroke, so don't. End of Rule 1. The second rule, don't be short, really means "Don't fear going long." We just sorted that issue, didn't we? The two ways golfers manifest the fear of going long are by not allowing the backstroke to reach its full size, and / or by tightening up in the downstroke so that the putter head at impact is slower than it would be in a free-flowing stroke. These two ways of "chickening out" always leave the putt well short, so don't chicken out in the backstroke or the downstroke -- just stick to the normal timings back and thru and let the instincts alone handle the size of the stroke. (audio podcast, 4 mins. 02 seconds). LISTEN