Are you a Belly Putter? There is an Alternative if the Method Gets Banned!

 

Last week the R&A announced that the 90-day period for objection to the proposed rule change to ban 'anchored strokes' had ended. This means that very soon we will know whether this method of putting will be banned for good, which could be terrible news for golfers who have converted to using a belly-style putter and may struggle to revert. However, Ewan Fallon, author of 'Plane Golf' has a solution that can help these golfers, it's called 'Putting with your feet'...

A tricky situation resolved?

Up to now it was thought that the controversial ruling about anchored and belly putters had doomed their devotees to extinction, but Ewan Fallon in his Plane Golf has offered them a panacea. For those players and for their fellow suffers with the yips, those forced to the claw, and maybe even the left hand downers, it may prove a saving grace.
 

Putting with the feet

Putting with your feet is so-called because the prime mover is the flexing of the feet. In its simplest form, from a regular putting stance but with a light grip, and the weight evenly distributed, the left heel is lifted pressing down on the left toe. This bends the left knee forward and slightly turns, tilts the hips, and starts the takeaway. During the swing, the head, shoulders, arms, hands, and club remain as a single unit, and all turn as a unit with the hips. In relation to the swing, this unit is passive.

 

To find your personal tempo for any club, hold the club about where the right hand is placed, hold it just between the fingers and thumbs and allow it to swing freely like a pendulum. Swing it back and forward using just the feet as above, to find its natural oscillation. Allow gravity to act on the pendulum club, without applying any other driving force. This then is the tempo of your ideal swing to be duplicated for each putt.

 

Grip the club with the thumbs and forefingers allowing the club to pivot freely. By moving the feet as shown the club can be induced to move thusly. Since the shaft cannot be levered, gravity controls the speed of the swing. This is the cadence of putting with the feet, and is even maintained during the loose wrist putt. Each putter length, like a pendulum, has a particular cadence.