Golf Tips: The Downhill Putt

The dreaded downhill putt is a nightmare to most golfers. You know that you cannot hit the ball too fast for even if you hit it perfectly straight there is a chance the ball will go over the lip and bounce out due to the slightly lower backside of the cup. To miss entirely would spell certain disaster as the ball careens shockingly farther away, leaving you with a much longer putt to make up with. There is nothing worse than hearing your opponent utter those awful words "you are still out"!

One thing many golfers tend to do when faced with such a slippery putt is decelerate during the stroke while tightening the muscles causing a jerking motion instead of the normal fluid pendulum swing that they would normally make. This also tends to open the putter face, which immediately starts the ball off-line. They had no chance of sinking that putt from the very start.

There are two ways to handle such a putt that will inspire confidence in your downhill putting instead of fear.

Hit with the Toe
A well-hit putt normally is hit from the very center of the putter's face or the sweet spot. However if you were to make a normal stroke except allow the putter to make contact with the ball higher up towards the toe of the putter you will deaden the force. This will allow you to make a confident stroke in the same manner that you would a normal flat putt but yet the ball will roll a significantly shorter distance. During downhill putts where you know that all you need is to get the ball starting to roll, this will assure you that it will not be hit too hard and roll too far. Be careful, however, that you do not open up the putter on impact, which will block the ball out to the right. Grip the putter a little more tightly to keep the face from turning.

Choke It
A shorter club will provide less power generated through its pendulum-like swinging motion through the ball. By gripping lower, or choking down, on the putter you will effectively shorten the club. The more extreme the downhill putt is, the lower your grip should be.

With these two tips you should be able to tackle even the slipperiest of downhill putts. Remember to stay confident and make the same stroke as you would on a flat surface putt. By choking down or hitting off the toe you will be able to slightly slow the ball down without changing your consistent putting stroke.