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Single Arm Releases - Putting

Just like it the full swing, it is very useful to see what the brain thinks each arm should do. Hit putts with each arm at about a 15 foot target. Notice which arm feels smoother and hits the putt better. If you struggle with both hands, proceed to the instructional section on what each arm should do in a proper release. When one arm is rolling the ball well, use that arm as a guide in order to train the stroke of the other hand. Both hands should be trying to move the putter along the same path or else they will fight each other. It is useful to use the switching hands method shown below and in the video. Be sure to check the differences between your skilled and less skilled hand at set up, top of backswing, impact, and follow through.

Playlists: Train Your Release, Putting

Tags: Putt, Release, Drill, Advanced, Intermediate

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Okay, this next drill is called single arm releases.

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We use this a lot for training the release, both in the full swing, the short game, and yes

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in putting.

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The big concept of this is your hands have a lot of what's called appropriate sectors

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are feel, right?

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So each hand has a lot of feel, and you want to make sure that they're more or less

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trying to do the same thing.

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If one hand is trying to go like this and one hand is trying to go like this, then they're

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basically going to be fighting each swing on who's going to do what?

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And that's going to lead to a lot of inconsistency.

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So single arm releases is basically your going to hit puts first right handed and then left

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handed or first left handed right hand doesn't really matter.

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But you're going to hit a few puts with each hand, and then you're going to take turns

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trying to match them up so that the arms are doing pretty much the same movement.

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I'll show you what I mean.

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So if I take my normal grip and then take my left hand off and then I was to go ahead

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and hit a put just like so.

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All right, we're going to do this a couple times just to kind of get a feel.

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Because for most of you this is going to feel somewhat weird because you've never hit a

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put with just one hand or the other.

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Then you're going to switch hands and you're going to figure out which of these two feels

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more consistent repeatable.

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Like you'll see that I tend to be a better putter with just my left hand.

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So anytime my stroke gets a little off, I will always go back to putting with more emphasis

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on my left hand because it seems to have more control than my right hand.

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But what I will then do is I will hit putt with my left hand and I will stop at various

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positions.

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So I may stop at the top of the stroke and I may stop at the follow through and here's

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why.

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So if I take my right hand off and I hit a putt and I stop at the follow through position

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and that was a good putt.

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If I put my right hand there and then I took my left hand off, I'm now going to see okay

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compared to when I did the right hand only, my right hand was more in here and I

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had actually flipped the shaft a little bit.

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So I'm going to try to hit another right hand only putt where it gives me more of a feeling

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of going back to where that left hand was and you'll see that that putt rolled much better

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and I actually made it.

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So I will use my left hand during my practice sessions to teach my right hand.

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I've had players that you know right hand teaches the left or both and need to be taught

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what to do.

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But in general you will have one hand that tends to put better and you're going to try

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to rely on that hand.

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Now remember the key to this is you start with your normal grip and then you take your

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hands off.

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If you were to just grab the putter for one hand you would probably grab it in a different

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way than if you were to set up for your normal grip and then take your hands off and proceed.

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So give that a try.

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You're going to hit a few putts with each hand and then you're going to try to pause either

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and check setup, switch hands, check backswing, switch hands, check follow through switch

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hands so that you can make sure that both hands are trying to do the exact same job.

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