Understanding The Degrees of Freedom in Putting and How They Can Help You

To develop a good, sound, consistent, and natural putting stroke, it is a good idea to understand what the six major Degrees of Freedom (DoF) are in the putting stroke and how to constrain all but one of these. We identified these many years ago in our landmark text, The Fundamentals of Putting.

The Six Degrees of Freedom (DoF) are:

1. Moving the putter, up and down off the green surface

2. Moving the putter, in and out away from the body

3. Moving the putter back and forth on the target line

4. Rotating the wrists and putter head

5. Breaking the wrists and

6. Swaying the body and shifting the weight during the stroke  

All but #3 should be constrained as much as possible when making a putting stroke.

When we constrain the DoF, we will minimize the sources of error in the stroke.

If the golfer understands this then he/she will recognize why applying each of the fundamentals systematically to build a sound stroke, makes so much sense. Our Frankly Certified Putting Instructors have a clear understanding of this.

Our book, “The Fundamentals of Putting†will allow you to better understand how to eliminate or reduce the sources of error, making your stroke more consistent. If you don’t already have one I would highly recommend ordering your own copy for summer reading, especially if golf is your passion.

Have fun,

Frank