Putting Tip – “Rocking the Baby”

My teacher, Mr. Harvey Penick, was masterful in aligning a past muscle movement in his instruction when teaching a stroke/swing.  I can still hear Mr. Penick saying “swing the club like your swinging a bucket and you don’t want to spill the water” or “follow through like your hitting a top spin forehand” (tennis) or my favorite for kids “hold the club like your holding a tube of tooth paste or a baby bird.”

For kids, drawing on past muscle movements will guarantee to accelerate the learning.

For Putting!  One of the parents in my MyLittleGolfers class was working with his daughter and used the example of “Rocking the Baby” when making her putting stroke.  It worked magically and here is why.

• Creates “gentle” rythematic stroke – kids tend to want to “hit” vs. stroke.  On their downswing, they tend to be a bit violent when they make their downswing. 
• Big Rock for long putts and little rock for short putts – depending on the distance of the putt, you can have a bigger/shorter rocking.
• Promotes using the “big muscles” – in putting you want to use your big muscles.  The rocking maintains the triangle with the arms which will enable the shoulders to generate the power. 

So next time you take your child to the putting green… see if rocking the baby helps them smooth out their stroke. 

Take Dead Aim!

Twitter – @mylittlegolfers