Make More Putts! The modern putting stroke, as advocated by many of today's teachers, is robbing the average golfer of their natural touch and feel. Today, most golfers are being instructed to "lock" their hands and wrists when on the putting green. The supposed benefit to this is that the larger muscles will lend stability to the putting stroke.

In order make more putts, we need to dispel the myth that the hands and wrists should be locked - to do so you can simply turn to any number of sports or activities.

In baseball, a pitcher employs his wrist, hand, and fingers to deliver a pitch - can you imagine what a pitcher would look like if told to "lock" the very thing that ties him to the ball? The pitcher wouldn't have any sense of feel or touch if he locked his hands.

In football, a quarterback is often said to have great "touch" when delivering a pass accurately to his receivers. This touch comes from the use of his wrist, hand, and fingers.

When shooting a free throw, you will often see a basketball player mimicking a shot with very soft hands and a flick of the wrist. Without this softness, the shooter couldn't apply the necessary touch to make the shot.

When serving in tennis, the ball is lofted overhead with great touch, and then hit with great force and accuracy as the result of the entire link of the shoulder, arm, wrist, and hand working in harmony. If a tennis player was to lock the wrist during a serve, there wouldn't be any power or accuracy behind it.

Next time you throw a ball, shoot a basket, swing a club, or engage in any physical activity requiring accuracy, notice how much more fluid you are when you relax. The same type of relaxation and softness is required to make more putts.

If you were to toss a ball to a small child, you wouldn't think about locking out your wrists and hands, you would simply bring your arm back, and toss the ball with the appropriate amount of touch. To make more putts, simply apply this natural motion to the putting stroke.

Why, when in all other sports are we told to relax our muscles, are we told to hold them rigid with the putting stroke? It is with our hands, wrists, and fingers that we hold the putter in golf. Locking them out can only breed tension - and with tension, those tricky four foot putts become even more difficult. By eliminating this tension, your feel muscles will awaken, you will be in tune with the putter, and you will make a much higher percentage of your putts.

The current method of putting taught by most professionals is doing more harm than good. It is imperative that you relax your hands, soften your grip, and employ your "feel" muscles. Your grip on the putter shouldn't be so tight that somebody couldn't pull it right out of your hands. Most golfers grip the club so tight, they couldn't possibly feel it tracking back and through.

By softening the grip, your hands will be far more in tune with the putter, and receptive to impact You will Make More Putts!