7 Keys to Better Putting from a Top Golf Teacher

There's a cruel irony at the heart of golf that every serious player eventually confronts: the shortest stroke in the game is often the most maddening. I've stood over four-footers at Pebble Beach with the Pacific crashing below, and I've felt my hands betray me on dead-flat practice greens in Arizona. Putting, for all its apparent simplicity, is where scorecards are made or broken.

That's why I found myself nodding along to the recent insights from GOLF Top 100 Teacher Tom Stickney, who has laid out seven essential principles for anyone serious about reducing three-putts and building a stroke that holds up when it matters most.

The Foundation: Why Alignment Changes Everything

Stickney begins where every great putting coach begins—with alignment. It sounds elementary, but here's the uncomfortable truth: most amateur golfers have no idea where they're actually aimed at address. The shoulders, forearms, and spine all influence how the putter moves, and when these elements drift out of parallel with your intended target line, you're forced to make compensations mid-stroke just to get the ball started correctly.

I've played with scratch golfers who fight their own setup on every green, manufacturing in-stroke corrections that work beautifully in practice rounds and abandon them entirely on the back nine Sunday. Stickney's advice here is practical: use a mirror or have a playing partner provide honest feedback. Building a consistent sense of alignment takes repetition and external verification—your feel alone can deceive you.

The Quiet Body: Posture and Balance in Three Dimensions

Because the putting stroke is so short, golfers often dismiss balance as a secondary concern. This is a mistake. Stickney frames balance in three dimensions: side-to-side, front-to-back, and up-and-down. Of these, front-to-back balance deserves particular attention because it directly influences whether you strike the ball on the heel, center, or toe of the putter face.

The goal isn't rigidity—we're not statues over the ball. It's about creating an athletic, repeatable position where the body remains quiet and the feet provide a stable base from address through impact. I think of it as establishing the platform from which everything else flows. When that foundation is solid, the stroke becomes dramatically easier to repeat under pressure.

The Stroke Itself: Eliminating Wrist Manipulation

Here's where things get interesting. Stickney emphasizes that excessive wrist action is one of the most common putting killers among amateur players. The wrists can move in several directions during the stroke, and each unnecessary manipulation makes it harder to return the putter face consistently to the ball.

Rather than trying to steer the ball toward the hole—a temptation that intensifies on pressure putts—the focus should be on letting the putter swing naturally while the hands remain relatively passive. This doesn't mean the wrists are locked or frozen; it means they're not actively controlling the stroke. The big muscles do the work. The small muscles stay out of the way.

Why Small Changes Produce Dramatic Results

What makes putting so demanding, as Stickney notes, is that the margin for error is incredibly slim. A fraction of a degree in face angle at impact can mean the difference between a ball that holds its line and one that lips out. A slight variation in speed can leave you four feet short or racing past the hole.

This is why fundamentals matter more in putting than perhaps any other aspect of the game. You can get away with an unorthodox full swing if your timing is exceptional. You cannot get away with inconsistent putting mechanics—the greens are too unforgiving, and the consequences too immediate.

The Takeaway

Becoming a better putter isn't about finding a magic grip or buying the latest mallet design. It's about understanding and repeating a handful of fundamental principles: proper alignment of the body's flow-lines, stable posture and three-dimensional balance, and a stroke free from excessive wrist manipulation. These elements work together to create consistency, and consistency is what separates players who trust their putting from those who dread it.

The next time you're on the practice green, forget about holing putts for a few minutes. Instead, check your alignment with a mirror or a friend's eyes. Feel your balance. Notice what your wrists are doing. The fundamentals aren't glamorous, but they're the foundation upon which every great putter is built.