For the average week-end golfer
Every golfer has his own special style of putting. I have used my style for 30 years now and I intend to continue with it, even though many people tell me it isn't "modern." This modern style they refer to is the very upright, firm-grip no-wrist method which many of our tournament pros employ today and achieve their wonders with.
If I seem to contradict this style (where the stroke originates in the shoulders), so be it. As the saying goes, the answer for each golfer is at the bottom of the cup. I find I putt best by using a very light, very delicate grip that requires about the same pressure I would apply to the wheel of an auto equipped with power steering. I use wrist break. The wrist is the hinge of my stroke, and you might compare this wrist action to the consistent swinging of a garden gate. After taking the club back, I hesitate an instant before beginning the forward stroke. I use plenty of follow-through, exaggerating that action.
My experience leads me to believe that the average golfer—the man who has neither the time nor the talent to master a somewhat unnatural if efficient style like the upright—will do very well on the greens sticking with an old-fashioned method such as I have described. He will "feel" the ball better on the putter-head.
from JOHN BATTINI, Olympic Country Club, San Francisco
TWO PHOTOS
ILLUSTRATION
THE BACKSWING
ILLUSTRATION
THE FOLLOW-THROUGH
ILLUSTRATION
Grip the club almost as if you were holding a small bird in your two hands
NEXT WEEK'S GUEST PRO: BILL ZONKER ON INSIDE THE BARREL