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Wrist Angles

The Wrist Angles that you establish at address are critical to the impact position of your putter during your putting stroke. Change them mid-stroke and you could be in trouble.

Wrist Angles

How a golfer sets up at address is based on an individual preference. While a bio-mechanically sound setup may help in achieving a repeating stroke, there is no right or wrong way to putt.

The primary concern in putting is that you consistently square your putterface to your aimline (target line) at the moment of contact. How you do this is secondary.

If you look face-on in a mirror, you will see that, on placing your hands on your putter, your wrists are set at a certain angle to your forearms. When your elbows are close to your side, there is not much angle in either wrist. Spread your elbows away from your rib cage and you will notice that your wrists are more cupped.

Putting Triangle

In a pendulum-like stroke the idea is that the triangle formed by your shoulders, arms, wrists, and hands is maintained in a fixed relationship. Its shape should not change during the putt. In this stroke your wrists are 'dead' and play no part. Your shoulders are the engine and everything else just goes along for the ride.

So here is the Make or Break of Any Putting Stroke. Whatever the angles formed by your wrists at address, you must retain them as your stroke progresses from takeaway to impact to follow through. That is a principle of Accurate Putting.

If you use a forward press to initiate your stroke rather than a one-piece takeaway, you will naturally alter the wrist angles you established at setup. This doesn't matter as long as you maintain these revised wrist angles throughout your stroke.

There is an exception to not breaking your wrists. In a long putt you may need to break them in order to generate enough power to get your ball to the hole. However, in long putting it is the correct distance rather than pin-point accuracy that you are seeking. When accuracy is paramount, there must not be a marked change in your wrist angles.

Eyeline Wrist Brace

Eyeline Wrist Brace

Unfortunately the reality is that the fault of flipping your wrists is never far away. Under pressure, as you become overly conscious of your stroke, there is a tendency to allow your left wrist to hinge through the contact area. This closes the face of your putter and sends the ball off-line to the left.

This is such a common error that many golfers switch to a cross-over grip to firm up their left wrist. Others change to a claw, or saw, grip to prevent their right hand overpowering their left.


In the full swing your wrists play a vital role in delivering power to your shot. In putting they can jeopardise your putting stroke. Maintaining your Wrists Angles throughout your stroke is the key to accurate putting.


Fall Line Putt Reader Neville Walker, EzineArticles.com Platinum Author

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