The After-Forty Finger

by Gene Sarazen, 
US Open Champion, 
1922 and 1932

WWW.THINKANDREACHPAR.COM

The Basic principle of good putting is to keep the blade of the putter square to the hole. When you talk turkey with a businessman, you must look squarely at him during the entire conversation. It’s the same in putting. When you’re talking turkey on the greens, the face of your putter must look squarely at the hole throughout the stroke.

Most of the time, when a golfer fails to take the putter back square to the target, the error he makes is “breaking” his wrists. This causes him to pull the putter off the line and eventually to cut the putt off to the right or yank it to the left of the hole.

To correct this habit of breaking the wrists, I suggest placing the index finger of the right hand so that it extends directly down the shaft--behind the shaft. 

You can’t break your wrists then, and the finger also serves as a fine guide in making the stroke.

I call this the “after—40 finger,” since it has been especially helpful in improving the putting of my friends who are getting along in years, but I recommend it to golfers of all ages who are erratic on the green.