Matt Fitzpatrick, and some other tour pros, have a new way to make more putts

Traditionally, most golfers putt with the standard reverse-overlap grip. They curl their lead finger over the pinky and ring fingers of the dominant hand. However, more and more tour pros are ditching the traditional overlap, instead choosing to extend the lead finger of their lead hand (left finger for right-handed golfers) straight down the grip, like you see Matt Fitzpatrick doing here [right].

Among the other players doing this now are Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Nick Taylor and Matt Wallace.

“It tends to firm up the lead wrist, which will reduce hinging and promote better face control,” says Bill Smittle, a putting coach and one of Golf Digest’s Best Teachers in North Carolina. “It also brings your hands closer together and your wrist joints into alignment. It means your forearm plane is more neutral. When one hand is lower than the other, whatever hand is on the bottom is usually more extended, which then puts your forearms out of alignment.”

When your left finger is extended down the grip, your left wrist starts to feel like a wall, Smittle says, and you can release your right hand as much as you want in the through-stroke without worrying about it sending the ball off line. In fact, it really doesn’t matter how you hold the putter with the right hand when using this style, including the “claw” and “paintbrush” methods. The left hand remains in complete control, Smittle says, and that’s key to sinking more of those mid-range putts. 

Photo: pedro salado/getty images