Stricker's left wrist position key to his consistent putting

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Steve Stricker's putting is one of the reasons he was able to win last week at Riviera.

Who dat? Who dat? Who dat say dey gunna beat Steve Stricker?

Certainly, no one this week was going to beat him as Stricker continued his great play into 2010 with another win at the Northern Trust Open. After the victory, Stricker made many comments on just how much of a "grind" it was on Sunday for him to capture his eighth career PGA TOUR title. A sign of consistency is when a player doesn't have their best, but still finds a way to get it done.

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One way to grind out a win is top-shelf putting and Steve Stricker has certainly leaned on the flat stick to move him up to the No. 2 ranked player in the world with his win. It is really something to watch Stricker roll the golf ball, at times every putt he hits, looks as if it is going to go in the hole.

What I like about Stricker's putting is how he sets up with his forearms in line with the putter shaft. You may have noticed over the years how upright Stricker stands at address. This is a result of his left wrist position. One of the keys to the putting set-up is to grip the putter with the left wrist level and not cocked. Here's how you do it: Extend your left arm out parallel to the ground, in line with your left shoulder while extending your index finger straight ahead and your thumb to the sky. This would be considered a level left wrist as defined to the top of the wrist. Now, cock your wrist so the index finger is pointing more towards the sky and then conversely, un-cock your wrist so the index finger is pointing towards the ground.

Stricker sets his left wrist level to slightly un-cocked at address with the putter. This condition of the left wrist allows the putter to sit more in the palm versus the fingers and allows the left forearm to be in-line with the putter shaft. Furthermore, this left wrist position allows Stricker to align the right forearm with the putter shaft as well, resulting in a single plane between the putter shaft and both forearms. You can clearly see this when you watch Stricker putt from the down the target line view because you can't see the butt-end of the putter grip as it is perfectly in-line with his forearms.

One of the most common errors in putting is gripping the lead hand too much in the fingers. This usually creates a cocked left wrist and leads to the right forearm being on a much different angle than the putter shaft. This is evident when you watch a stroke from down the target-line as you will clearly see the putter's butt-end positioned well below the right forearm.

Setting the left wrist level and aligning the forearms with the putter shaft is a great position to have when putting. Although there are many other styles that can work and get the ball in the hole, we have found at the TOUR Academies that when a golfer mimics the address position used by Stricker, the stroke usually works on a more natural arc leading to better results on the golf course with less need to manipulate the club to make consistently solid contact.

Just Because

Not even sure where to start this week as I had the great opportunity to attend the Super Bowl in Miami this weekend. Wow! What an experience and no question one of the greatest events I have ever attended. I know for certain I have officially adopted the subconscious "Who Dat" chant as the people of New Orleans took over the city of Miami with the endless chant that continued up I-95 today all the way home. Heck, even the halftime show was "The Who... Dat"

We took in some great parties while we were there as well. One of them was the ESPN event on Friday night and I must say it was a very close second for me to the actual game itself. You know how much I love the NFL and to mix it up with the game's best players, well, it just doesn't get any better than that.

Unfortunately, football is now over and it's time to turn attention to my trusty old Seattle Mariners. Now let me be the first to tell you that the Mariners are going to be tough this year. I am predicting a playoff spot and who knows, perhaps a trip to the World Series. Why not? With Felix "The Cat" and Cliff Lee leading the pitching staff -- I really like our chances this year. Hey, the Saints won the Super Bowl so why not the Mariners taking the World Series -- there's a first time for everything. I believe Dat.

Travis Fulton is PGA TOUR Academy's Director of Instruction. His views do not necessarily reflect the views of the PGA TOUR. To learn more about the TOUR Academy, click here.