especially for golfers whose putting is unsatisfactory

Putting is the most imprecise science in all of golf, and there are almost as many putting techniques as there are golfers. A technique I have found successful is to try to think of throwing my right palm out and into the hole. This helps me keep the putter blade square to the hole and prevents pulling or pushing the putt off line.

Successful putting is largely in the mind, anyway, and I find it helps give me the right mental image, the right feel, if I rest the putter shaft against the fleshy heel of my right palm. My left hand leads just slightly in the stroke, but when I have made a good putt I feel the sense of the hit in that right palm.

I stand with my right elbow just barely touching my right hip—not resting on it, just brushing it. Then if I concentrate on aiming my right palm for the hole, I usually find that I stroke the kind of putt I want. It seems to me that concentration, which is the absolute core of good putting, is made easier if the golfer focuses his attention on one detail only, whether it is this one or one of his own choosing.

from ART WALL JR., Pocono Manor, Pa.

TWO PHOTOS

ILLUSTRATION

Above: shaft rests against the heel of the right hand

ILLUSTRATION

Right: Art Wall throws his right palm "into" the hole

NEXT WEEK'S GUEST PRO: HELEN DETTWEILER ON THE WRIST TURN