Is your putting struggling? It could be your posture.

Most players know what a good putting stroke should look like. The problem is that no matter how hard they work on it they can’t seem to achieve that proper stroke. Golfers purchase new putters, try new grips, and/or just about anything that they think will work. One of the things rarely considered is their posture. The upper body posture of the putting stroke is as important in the putting stroke as it is in the full swing.  

A common problem golfers have in their putting stroke is they tend to hunch over more in their putting set up because they are trying to get their eyes over the ball. This often causes curvature and tension in the upper part of the spine that does not allow the shoulders to rotate properly. If you think about the full swing, if someone has that hunched posture, they cannot make a full shoulder turn and it causes the golfer to lift with their arms. This same type of thing happens in the putting stroke, causing the golfer to use too much hands or arms in the stroke.

Next time you are in front of a mirror, get into your putting setup. If you see curvature in the upper part of your back (called C-posture), this will cause the limited shoulder rotation. Remove that C-posture by feeling like your shoulder blades pull together.  The goal would be to have your back be a straight line from the beltline up to the three-fourths point of your back. This “straight back” will allow your shoulders to fully rotate and allow the hands and arms to stay out of the motion.

--by Golf Academy of America