Phil Mickelson Putting

Phil Mickelson Putting: Phil Mickelson is a student of the famous putting coach David Pelz. However, it would be a mistake to believe that Phil adopts all of the putting beliefs of his coach.

In fact, one very noticeable difference is Dave’s belief in a straight back and through putting stroke. Phil prefers and inside to inside putting stroke. Nonetheless, Phil credits working with Dave as a great help to his putting game.

Phil Mickelson Putter Tips: What type of putter should you and I use?

Phil believes in using a putter that matches the shape of the line you like to take your putter back and through on. If you like a straight back and straight through putt use a putter where the shaft connects with the middle of the clubface (center shafted model). If you like an inside to inside shaped path line use a putter wher the shaft connects with the heel of the putter’s club head (heel shafted model).

Golf Tips A2Z Note: Training aids also help golfers ingrain the inside to inside and the inside down the line putting path are great tools for developing consistency.

So, what type of putter does Phil Mickelson use? He prefers a heel shafted putter for his inside to inside stroke. Specifically, he uses an Odyssey White Hot Blade Putter which contiues to be sold by Odyssey as the prototype #9 putter.

Phil Mickelson Putting Stance and Setup Advice (posture and eyes, ball, and foot positions)

When it comes to putter setup, Phil believes in maintaining a soft feeling in your arms, shoulders, hands, legs, and torso. Further he believes in a waist bend that does not leave your back posture rigid and the feet positioned to allow for a natural standing foot width. The bottom line is a relaxed comfortable setup to allow for a smooth rhythmic putting stroke.

Phil’s ball position in relation to his feet is slightly forward of center and his eye position is behind the ball in the middle of his stance. A forward of middle stance is used by Phil to make sure that he does not deloft his putter and has enough time to get the clubface square at impact. A square club face helps you avoid pushed or pulled putts. A club that is lofted properly at impact prevents your ball from starting off bouncing with backspin.

Phil’s positions the ball away from his body such that it is slightly in front of his head. In other words, his head is not directly over the ball. His head is closer to his body than the ball. This, once again, matches his putting path. The further the ball is away from your body, the more you will tend to swing the putter from inside to inside.

Golf Tips A2Z Note: If you have and straight back and through putting technique you want the ball and your eyes to be equally distanced from your body. Your putting stroke will have a more natural tendency of traveling on the desired path line. However, make sure that the ball is not inside of your eye line. This would promote and outside to outside putting path.

Phil Mickelson Putting Grip Technique

Phil uses a reversed overlap grip with his thumbs positioned down the middle of the grip. Further, Phil matches his grip to his inside to inside putting style. Namely, he makes sure that he sees two knuckles on the hand positioned the highest on the putter to allow his wrist and putter to rotate from inside to inside. This would be the right hand for the lefty. Conversely, it would be the left hand for all us right handed players.

Phil also uses what he terms a very light grip pressure. It is just strong enough to maintain control of his putter.

Opposing Palms? Well, Phil goes against the conventional wisdom that says your palms should be facing one another. Instead, he purposefully avoids this and only focuses on making the lower palm face down the target line. This style allows him to turns the club head on his backswing and follow through easier.

Golf Tip A2Z Note: Now, if you putter swing is straight back and though, the fact that opposing palms restricts the rotation of the putter and wrist should be beneficial for you.

Phil Mickelson Putting Routine

While Phil definitely has a routine that he follows for putting, he does not believe that there is any particular routine that is the best. Instead, he advises consistency. Your putting setup must have your grip, foot width, stance and posture, eye and ball position, and club head positioned in the same way for every putt.

Indeed, this is a common trait for all great putters. While their individual techniques are more varied than any other aspect of the game, they all have consistency locked into their games.

Phil Mickelson Putting Drill

The most popular putting drill you can find Phil performing before rounds is the circular putting drill. He places ten tees in the ground around a putting hole all equal distanced away from the hole. He will then practice making putts from each tee. The circle can be three feet wide or greater. However, the drill is mainly for practicing short putts.

Because you will be making the same length putt from different positions around the hole, you will develop feel for straight, left-to-right and right-to-left breaking putts. See the video below to see this putting drill in action.

Phil Mickelson Putting DVD and Book Much of the above information and more can be found in Phil Mickelson’s DVD and Book, “Secrets of the Short Game”

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