About two months after undergoing back surgery, Tiger Woods said Tuesday he can now putt.
And then he did it.
I also tutored some people.
As one might guess, you’ll at least see Woods golfing this week as he hosts the Hero World Challenge. Below, you can watch the 15-time Grand Slam winner in a two-minute video posted on his tournament team’s social media on Wednesday. Below are some additional ideas.
What’s the first thing that moves in a putting stroke, according to Tiger Woods
Putter head, he said.
Not the body.
“It’s like a golf swing,” Woods said.
Why Tiger Woods looks like he’s ‘slamming’ his putt, says Tiger Woods
On a putt, Woods would move the putter back to a suitable length, then pull it back, make contact, and the follow-through would look short – or, as he puts it, like a punch.
He explained why.
“I believe the weight of the golf ball slows down the putter,” Woods said in the video. “So I’m accelerating all the way, but the weight of the putter head actually slows it down, so it looks like I’m slamming it. I’m just putting all that energy into the ball, and the ball ends up slowing the putter head down.
“You see some players with that follow up [a longer one]but I don’t understand that because I always — if you see a guy hit a punch, his swing is going to be shorter on the follow-through than a guy who hits the ball and catches the ball. This will be a longer follow-up process. Well, it’s the same concept. If the weight of the ball stops the putter head, momentum on the front side will slow down. It won’t look the same. So it looks like I’m hitting it, but the weight of this golf ball is just slowing down this mass [the putter head] – that’s all. “
Tiger Woods says why old putters help Tiger Woods’ putting stroke
Woods said that’s because they are mostly smaller.
“With a lighter grip and a smaller grip, my putter is a lot lighter overall,” Woods said in the video. “So because it’s lighter, it’s more susceptible to the weight of the ball than these newer putters. Your putter has a bigger grip, a bigger head, more mass, and it’s going to take a lot more stress than my putter.
“Ben Crenshaw’s little 8802 putter? Things stop right away. It has no mass. So the weight of the ball is really affected. So that’s why it looks like I’m doing it, but I’m not.”
But should you putt like this?
Good question. Perhaps the best answer is comfort. If you spin 360 degrees before putting and the ball goes in, spin another 360 degrees. If for some reason your follow-through is long and the ball goes in, keep the follow-through long.
