Bobby Locke's Hook Putting Technique (Video)

Since the legends are playing today on the Champions Tour occasion, I idea it is probably a laugh to observe the unusual setting stroke of a past legend -- the "hooked stroke" of South African legend Bobby Locke. This first video simply indicates certainly one of Locke's putts again and again so you can see how he did it.

In this video you can honestly see that Locke makes use of a closed stance (his trailing foot is further from his aimline than his lead foot is) and takes the membership sharply within the aimline.

In this video Gary Player each describes and demonstrates how Bobby Locke certainly executed the hook setting stroke.

There are four things occurring here, consistent with Gary Player.

• The ball is placed just off the toe of the putter (not the center of the face).
• For a straight putt he aims two feet to the far side of the hole. (This aim point changes, depending how far the ball is from the hole to begin with.)
• He takes the club back to the inside of the aimline.
• The putter travels only about six inches past the ball on the followthrough.

What Gary doesn't say -- but you can see when he sets up -- is that Locke also Hooded the face of the putter. This means that he leaned the putter shaft forward at address so his hands are ahead of the putter face and therefore ahead of the ball. This is part of the key to this style of putting, because keeping the hands ahead of the putter face helps keep you from twisting the face open at impact. If you open the face at impact, the ball drifts off the aimline -- that is, you "wipe" the putt. By hooding the face, you get very solid contact between the ball and the face, which helps eliminate that.

Now there are more than one different things you might note at the same time as looking these films that aren't cited -- Locke and Player both do them -- so let me provide an explanation for them in short.

One element is that both players maintain their arms very close to their thighs at some point of the stroke. You need to do this a good way to keep the face hooded. (It's additionally the cause that Locke had the sort of short followthrough.) If you let your arms go with the flow far from your frame, you'll generally tend to open the face. That's a bad issue because you get that "wiping" motion.

The other thing, which is related, is that it looks as if both men are using their shoulders a lot and pulling the putter through impact. But that's not what is happening; actually, it's the shoulders that are being dragged through the impact area. If you keep your hands close to your thighs as you make this stroke, your shoulders have to move like this because the hands and hips are moving together and the shoulders have no choice but to go along for the ride.

Although it seems like a crazy manner to putt, the hook stroke is certainly a totally sound approach. It's even viable to get precise outcomes via aiming directly on the hole and hitting the ball within the center of the face. That's due to the fact, depending on in which you function the ball, hooding the face affects how the face closes at effect, and that influences in which you purpose. Hook setting is some thing you need to practice so as to get suitable at it.

But gamers like Locke have proven that it is a dependable way to putt. As I said, hooding the face creates very solid touch among ball and putter, and nearly any setting fashion works properly if it offers you strong contact. So do not be afraid to test with this fashion. You is probably amazed at how properly it works!