A simple check to putt like David Micheluzzi

Every week that David is playing on tour, we know that the greens are different, the speeds are different and the surfaces are different. I’m big on making sure that the ball rolls end over end, so that is an element of David’s putting that we check every day.

Loft of the putter, shaft lean and ball position can all impact how quickly the ball begins its true roll, so we will make whatever adjustments we need to get that ball to roll correctly. Ideally, that true roll will happen as soon as possible off the putterface and I will monitor it by taking a video of the first couple of feet after the strike.

There’s a simple way that you can check your roll. Head out to the golf course early when there is some dew on the ground and practise hitting putts from 30 feet. You will immediately see when the ball starts to stick to the ground and roll properly.

Move to a different spot, play with your hand position and ball position, and try to get the ball rolling end over end as soon as possible. Make it a complete putting drill by picking a spot on your intended line and see whether the line that the ball leaves through the dew travels over it or not.

Rolling the ball correctly on the target line is a great start towards making more putts. 

Based at Spring Valley Golf Club in Melbourne, Martin Joyce is the high performance director for Victoria and national coach for Golf Australia. He has been a PGA member since 2005.