The Left Hand

The Left (Front)-Hand is the DIRECTION Hand or AIM Hand, it’s certainly in CONTROL. The back of the hand is what you’re putting Towards the Hole. Much more on this when we get to stroke a putt, but you need to hold the putter with a grip that supports this action.

An often-misunderstood notion about the putting grip is the amount of grip pressure you should use in the left (front) hand. Grip the putter a little FIRM in the left-hand (for a right-handed putter), probably a 4 or 5 on a scale of 1 to 10. The right-hand grip pressure is considerably lighter, about 2 on the scale.

Note: Steve Stricker uses grip pressure of about 7 in his left hand. I think whatever feels the most comfortable is what you should do.

Grip pressure is controlled by the middle, ring, and pinky fingers. I don’t like the Feel of too much pressure forced with the index finger or thumb. This is a FEEL thing though, It’s different for everybody. I don’t think we should over think it, allow yourself to find your own comfort level with Grip Pressure. However, light grip pressure in the Right (Back) Hand is Extremely Important. We’ll talk more about the Right (Back) hand, and you’ll learn its role with Distance Control.

The STRONG left (front)-hand SUPPORTS the left-hand dominant putting stroke, and the two grip pressures reinforce the feeling that the left side will be controlling the stroke. We don't want the feeling of the face twisting, even the slightest, when we strike the ball.