[Overkill]

I have my feet about 10 inches apart and the ball about 2 inches inside the left heel. I tend to align about 4 in. to the left for every 10 feet. I have my eyes directly over the ball. In spite of aligning to the left, I will miss putts a bit to the right when I make a bad stroke. I recently switched from a face-balanced mallet to a Scotty Cameron 1.5 so I am starting to release the putter more easily.

M

I am not a teacher, nor do I want to be; nevertheless, for what it is worth I am happy to give you my thougths from my own experience and from what I have seen on Tour over the last 10 years.

First, I believe that putting is all about 'feel'. In reading your response my first reaction is that you may be away too mechanical. Most Pros that I know set up over the ball so they are comfortable and stance wise, that is all they are concerned about.

Two things however, that they are concerned about is that the putter face is pointed where they think it is and that there is no tention in their arms or hands (soft hands). To make sure my hands are soft, I slide my hands up and down the grip and then apply just enough pressure so that I can pick the putter up before I stroke the ball. With the putter face, have someone work with you to make sure you are pointed where you think you are.

Being left eye dominent, I like that you have the ball forward; I like to have my left eye over the ball, not my eyes. Also, My stroke tends to be mainly straight back and through and therefore I like a face balanced weapon. I use S.C.'s Red X. However, if you like a stroke which opens and closes then I believe a toe heavy putter is better.

Now, with this next statement you may think that I have really lost it; but I do not know nor do I care what my stroke really looks like. H B says I don't care because I'm a good putter; I don't want to know because I do not want to be thinking about it. All I want to think about is putting the ball into the hole; all I care about is that the ball starts on the line I intended it to. The last Tourn I played with H B, I had 11 one putts and 25 putts for the round; won my flight by 5 shots.

Here are some drills that I do which help me with 'feel'. Feel for the stroke and feel for where the putter is. Some of the best putters I know on Tour use them to tune up their strokes.

First, putt 3'rs with your sand wedge until you can make at least 5 (10 is better) in a row. Hold it like a putter and stroke the ball with the leading edge. This will take any 'hit' that you may have out of your stroke.

Second, using your putter, putt 4'rs with your eyes closed and call your putts; push, pull or straight. When you consistantly call them right, then you have a feel for where the putter face is at impact. You will soon get to like how good the straight ones 'feel'.

Now, find a five foot putt that is straight and with 5 balls start stroking sets of 5 until you can make at least 90 out of 100. This will give flow to your stroke and chase away any tension. If you miss more than two in a row go back the sand wedge.

In a former life, I played semi-pro basketball and I like to relate putting to free throws. You looked at the rim and you let it go, if mechanics got in the way, you were done.

Have fun