CHAPTER11（2）

ESTABLISH YOUR PRACTICE FRAMEWORK（自己的练习体系）

11.5 Flow-Lines(身体线组)

Flow-lines—imaginary lines running through key parts of your body — are important because the stroke, the putter-head, and the ball move naturally in these same directions if the small muscles of the fingers, hands, wrists, and forearms are kept out of the putting motion. So set your flow-lines properly at address and you’re well on the way to starting your putts in the right direction.

想象中通过身体关键部位的一组侧线，与挥杆路径、杆头、球的行进方向是一致的，在瞄准时让身体线组与瞄准线平行是非常重要的，同时挥杆时要避免手指，手，手腕和前臂肌肉的参与。

*** Shoulders Are Number One （肩膀一定要平行于瞄准线）

The most important flow-line is that of the shoulders, the line running through your shoulder sockets. If your shoulder flow-line is aiming to the left, as shown in figure, there’s no way the putter-head can travel down your Aim-line unless the muscles in your hands and arms get into the act, compensate against the natural flow direction, and push the putter and ball back toward the Aim-line.

You can see most of your flow-lines by positioning your hands under your shoulders (relax and let gravity do the work) and pointing your index fingers toward each other. This “finger line” makes it easy to see when your hips, knees, feet, and shoulders are parallel-left of the Aim-line. Once both your hands and shoulders are in this perfect position, simply swinging them back and through will create the ideal pure-in-line and square putting stroke.

The best learning aid for shoulder flow-line alignment is Elk’s Key. “Elk” is Steve Elkington, who helped me design this device during our struggles with getting his shoulder flow-lie parallel to his Aim-line.

最重要的身体线是通过双肩肩头的线。如果这条线如下图一样瞄向左面，那么杆头是不可能沿着瞄准线了，除非手和手臂来帮忙做补偿调整让杆面回归瞄准线。

手臂放松自然垂下，让自己的两个食指指尖相对，这个方法能看出胯部，膝盖，脚和肩膀是否平行于瞄准线。一旦手和肩都与瞄准线平行，那么接下来的直线上杆、送杆和杆面的方正就自然而然了。

最好的检查肩线的练习工具是Elk’s Key。“Elk”是斯蒂夫.艾金顿，在我们一起为他的肩线平行于瞄准线的调整努力中，他帮我设计了这个工具。

*** Vertical Shoulder Rotation(肩膀的垂直面转动)

When you putt with a vertical pendulum (hands vertically below your shoulders), your shoulders shoulder rotate in a vertical plane. But many golfers (out of habit) rotate their shoulders around their spines horizontally because that’s what they do in their other golf swings. If this is your problem, it’s a habit you should break.

Learning vertical shoulder rotation is easy. Get your putter and something light and about 36 inches long and connect the rod to your shoulders with rubber bands or hold it against your shoulders. Make sure the rod is tight to your shoulder line and that it’s about one inch away from the wall on both sides when you take your putting address position. Stroke putts along an imaginary Aim-line that is parallel to the doorway wall. If your shoulders try to move around horizontally, the shaft will hit the wall. Learning to make a pure, vertical swing with your hands and shoulders won’t take much time. If you do this drill for five minutes a night for a couple of weeks, you’ll probably never have to do it again.

如果推杆路径是在一个垂直面上的钟摆，那么肩膀的转动也是在一个垂直面上。但是许多球手出于习惯，就如同他们在挥动其他杆一样，让肩膀绕着脊柱水平转动，这是一个必须克服的习惯。

学会肩膀垂直转动并不难，握好推杆，在双肩上绑定一根3英尺长的轻质的棒，或让棒贴着肩，让棒离开两侧的墙大约一英寸，平行于肩线，站位，瞄准，然后沿着想象中的平行于墙体的瞄准线做推杆动作，一个水平转动肩膀的人，棒就会撞到墙。学会手臂和肩膀沿着垂直平面转动并不难，每晚五分钟，坚持几个星期，就能彻底改过来。

*** Forearms Are Number Two(前臂与瞄准线的平行)

The second most important flow-line is that of your forearms. The usual error is to align it too far to the left. Many right-handed golfers set their forearms this way because it’s the instinctive position for those using the conventional “right-hand-low” putter grip with their forearm flow-line pointing left, most golfers cut across their putts (it’s the natural flow direction) and compensate by opening their putter-faces through impact. To align your forearm flow-line parallel to your Aim-line, either tuck your right elbow into your body or use the left-hand-low putting grip.

第二重要的身体线是前臂，经常看到的错误是偏向左侧。采用传统右手在下握杆方式的人本能上会出现这种倾向，挥杆路径斜切过瞄准线，为了修正，在击球时杆面就会打开。为了让双小臂连线能平行于瞄准线，要么让右肘尽可能靠近身体，要么采用左手在下的握杆方式。

 

*** Eyes Are Number Three （眼睛平行于瞄准线）

When you stand behind your ball and judge the distance of the putt, keep your eye flow-line horizontal to the ground. This is called the binocular position, because both eyes are working together and feeding a properly triangulated picture of the putt distance to your brain.

As you address your putt holding your head over your Aim-line, try to align your putter and body to it. In this case both eyes should be on-line – that is, vertically over the Aim-line to help orient your flow-lines and putter-fact to it. Many golfers unknowingly set their eye flow-line so it cut across their Aim-line to the left – because they stand open to the Aim-line trying to “see-the-target” better – which ironically makes it more difficult to see their proper setup position correctly.

During setup and alignment, head should rotate along the vertical plane above your Aim-line. It’s best to turn your head this way, keeping your eyes in the plane of the Aim-line to help orient your shoulder and forearm flow-lines, and ultimately your putter path, to your Aim-line.

站在果岭上球后判定距离的时候，保持双眼连线与地面平行。这个叫双眼机能位，因为双眼同时工作，能提供给大脑一个正确的三角画面以助于判断距离。

瞄准时，头位于瞄准线的上方，杆和身体也都是平行于瞄准线。这时候，双眼连线应该是在瞄准线正上方的一条直线，以协助身体和的杆面平行。但是有些球手为了更好地看到洞杯而身体打开，双眼连线不由自主地斜切过瞄准线朝左，恰恰给身体正确地平行于瞄准线制造了麻烦。

在站位和瞄准时，头是在垂直于瞄准线的垂直平面上转动。不要让双眼越出这个平面，以免给身体、手臂和杆面的方向带来错误的引导。

*** The Rest Are Less Important (次要因素)

The flow-lines of your hips, knees and feet are important only inasmuch as they affect the flow-lines of the “big three” – your shoulders, forearms and eyes. So it is possible to stand with your stance closed or open and still maintain a properly aligned shoulder flow-line. However, I prefer to see my students set the flow-lines of their lower body square, starting with their toes an equal distance from their Aim-line. There’s a much greater chance of success keeping their shoulders and forearms in good positions if the lower body also is square to the Aim-line.

臀部，膝盖和脚的平行会影响到前面提到的肩，手臂和眼睛的平行。虽然球员的站位开放或是闭合，是不会影响肩膀与瞄准线的平行，但是我还是建议我的学生们保持下盘的方正，也就是两只脚的脚趾与瞄准线的距离是一样的。如果下盘是与瞄准线平行的，那么对于肩膀、前臂与瞄准线的平行的作用是正向积极的。

*** Stance and Ball Position （站位与球位）

The perfect putting stance, assuming everything else is normal, is to set your feet shoulder-width apart. Stance width is measured from the center of your feet and the center of your shoulders. Wider than this is okay, but sometimes a little uncomfortable; narrower usually is not as stable.

Once you’re standing properly, the ball should be positioned just ahead of the bottom of the stroke arc, so it will be launched only slightly upward at impact. For most golfers, this puts perfect ball position about an inch and a half (almost the diameter of one ball) behind the instep of the lead foot, and – this is important vertically under your eye flow-line. Once you see that your stance is perfect relative to the Aim-line, and that your eyes are vertically above the Aim-line, measure the distance between your toe line and the inside edge of the ball. This distance, is usually about the length of two putter heads, and should stay the same for all your putts on level putting surfaces. When putts are significantly above your feet, you can stand slightly farther from the ball, and for balls below your feet, a little closer.

对于一般人而言，推杆站位双脚分开与肩同宽，要注意的是指脚的内侧，比这个宽些，无妨，也许会有点卡，但是比这个窄，可能会不稳定。

在站位正确的前提下，球位应该在挥杆弧度的底部稍前一点的位置，这样可以制造一个稍稍朝上的击球角。许多球员把球放在离靠近洞口的脚大概一英寸半的位置（相当于球的直径），在双眼连线的正下方，这一点非常重要。

如果站位与瞄准线一致，双眼在瞄准线的正上方，那么脚趾连线与球之间的距离往往是两个推杆面的长度，在几近平整的果岭上，都保持这个距离。如果球高脚低，这个距离稍稍增加；球低脚高，这个距离稍稍减少。

11.6 Fit Your Putter （选择合适的推杆）

A properly fit putter is important, but it’s not the top priority in helping you putt better. The best putters of our time – could putt well with just about any putter. A poor fit (especially for beginner) can be a significant deterrent to a golfer’s ability to learn to putt. Because when the structure of new equipment is wrong for a golfer, and he changes his posture of stroke motion to compensate for it, it’s wrong.

一根合适的推杆是重要的，但不是你推杆技术的决定因素。好推手可以用拿到手的任何推杆推出好球。但是一根不合适的推杆，尤其对于新手来说，是会影响到他推杆能力的发挥的。如果球手使用了不合适的推杆，他就会在无意识的情况下牺牲自己的推杆动作来适应这根推杆，这样就糟糕了。

You should understand the primary purposes of putter-fitting: (1) to allow your to set up properly as you learn stroke mechanics; (2) to not screw up your already established stroke mechanics (assuming they are good); and (3) to help you aim better.

A badly fit putter can hurt you, while a perfectly fit putter will usually only not hurt you. A perfect putter usually won’t make your stroke better, it won’t make your green-reading any better and it certainly won’t knock the putts into the hole for you.

选择推杆的主要目的：（1）握杆后站位正确，挥杆自如；（2）不会弄糟已经建立起来的良好挥杆动作；（3）有利于瞄准。

一根糟糕的推杆能增加失误，但是一根好推杆仅仅是不增加失误而已。好推杆不会提高你的推杆技术，不会让你读懂果岭，更不会把球推进洞。

*** Lie Angle and Shaft Length（ 杆底角与杆身长度）

These are the two specifications you should get fit first. Starting in a perfect setup position – eyes vertically above the Aim-line, hands vertically under the shoulders, shoulder and forearm flow-lines parallel to the Aim-line, posture and back-to-hip angles comfortable – there is only one lie angle and one shaft length that will position the ball exactly at the sweet-spot of the putter while connecting the putter-head to your hands.

By the way, the shaft can be a little long without hurting the overall balance. As long as you can move your hands down the grip, you’re fine. But don’t let it get so long that it gets caught in your clothing especially in any rain gear or other weather wear.

有两个标准，选杆时必须考虑到。如果站位站姿是正确的，眼睛在瞄准线的正上方，手悬在肩膀下，肩膀连线和手臂连线平行于瞄准线。身体和背臀夹角感到舒服，于是握好杆，那么这个站姿站位所形成的杆底角和杆身长度能刚好让球在杆面的触球甜点上。

 

杆身稍长一些也不会影响平衡，手在握把上下移就行了，但是不要太长，不会顶到衣服，尤其是雨衣和天冷时较厚的衣服。

*** You Must Commit （给自己的承诺）

So you have a putter with the lie angle and shaft length that fit your posture. And you like how it looks and feels at impact. Now, before you begin an improvement program, you must make a promise to yourself. You must commit to using that putter, and no other, for at least six months.

到手了一根杆底角和杆身都适合自己的推杆，而且外观也中意，触球感也好，接下来就是技术的提高了。这时候，你需要对自己有一个承诺：这根杆你至少要坚持使用6个月。

*** The Long Putter （长推杆）

How do you know whether or not you’d putt better with a long-shafted putter? Give one a try, and not for just two or three putts, work with one for several half-hour sessions. The long putter offers several advantages over ones of standard length: There’s no breakdown of the wrist joint during the stroke, and there’s no rotating of the forearms, so golfers are less likely to try controlling the putter-face.

I also like the long putter because it looks something like the pendulum of a grandfather clock, so it help golfers understand the concept of the pendulum motion. I do believe all golfers should at least give a long putter a try. Many golfers actually improve their putting with standard length putters after sending some time putting with the long one.

试试长推杆，说不定对自己会有帮助。不是推两三个球，至少每次半小时。长推杆在有些方面比标准推杆有优势：避免了击球的过程中的手腕动作，也没有前臂的转动，这样就免去了试图控制杆面带来的麻烦。

我喜欢长推杆的另外一个原因，是因为这个长长的杆身让我想到老式落地挂钟的钟摆，能让球手体会到钟摆的概念。我建议球手们至少要试试长推杆，许多球手尝试使用长推杆后，标准高度推杆的成绩还因此提高了。

*** Minimize Hand Control (减少手的控制功能)

When you try the long putter, there is one thing you must do. Make sure you let it swing through impact without controlling its face angle. So rather than wrapping your lower hand completely around the shaft, takes a grip that minimizes hand control. I have found the claw and fingertip grips the best options for achieving this. Allowing the right forearm and hand to control the putter-face and rotate through impact erases the advantages of the long putter.

如果尝试长推杆，有一件事必须要注意：在击球时不要有意去控制杆面。为了能做到这一点，在握杆时不要把放在下面的手整个包住杆身，采用能减少手控制杆面的握杆方式。“爪式”或是“指式”握法都能达到减少手控制的效果。如果让右手参与控制击球时的杆面和转动，就是抵消了长推杆的优势。

*** Are You Limited to One Putter? ( 最多带一只推杆？)

I am frequently asked if I think it is smart and / or acceptable to carry more than one putter at a time. My answer is always the same: “Only if you will putt better and score lower by doing so.”

In all honesty, I’d carry five putters if I thought they would help my putting and lower my scores.

But be sure to test for distance efficiency and then commit to a particular putter for putts of a particular length before you play. You don’t want to be deciding on the course which putter to use.

经常有人问我，带两根推杆是明智的吗？规则允许吗？我总是同样的回答：如果这有助于你推杆，并降低杆数的话，就请带上吧！换了我，只要能帮到我降低推杆杆数，我会带五根推杆。但是最好带上场之前要测试每根推杆的适用距离，特定距离，用特定的推杆，千万不要到了场上，再思考用哪根推杆。

*** Shaft Axis （轴线）

An often overlooked component of a putter’s construction is where the shaft connects to the head. It’s important because it helps determine the axis around which the putter-head rotates, which can help minimize head rotation on mis-hit putts. It’s important to make consistent contact on or as near as possible to, the sweet-spot. Golfers tend to mis-hit toward the toe of their putter – their impact pattern resembles the one should look for a shaft that connects to the head closer to the mis-hit area, that is, farther away from the heel of the club. With his toe-impact pattern, a heel-shafted putter will twist off-line to the right. Conversely, golfers whose misses are toward the heel should use a heel-shafted putter.

杆身与杆头的连接点是大家经常会忽略的一个推杆结构问题，这个连接点决定了杆头转动的轴线，能够最低限度降低推坏时引起的杆头转动。以杆头的甜蜜点或者是靠近甜蜜点的区域击球，能保持击球力量和方向。有些球员倾向于以杆头的趾部击球，这种击球方式的球员，就需要选择杆身与杆头的连接点靠近击球区，也就是说杆身不要按在跟部的球杆。对于习惯于杆头趾部击球的球手，如果杆身按在跟部会导致击球时杆面打开。相反，习惯于杆跟部击球的球员，则最好选择杆身与杆头的连接点在跟部的推杆。

The important principle here is to get your mis-hits to occur near the putter sweet-spot or between the sweet-spot and the shaft axis of rotation of your putter. Two of the smartest golfers I know, Lee Trevino and Jack Nicklaus, have used heel-shafted putters throughout their careers.

关键是当推杆失误时，失误的触球点能尽量靠近甜点，或者在甜点和轴线之间。李特力维诺和尼克劳斯，两个最伟大的推杆手，他们的职业生涯使用的都是杆身与杆跟部连接的推杆。

*** Head Balance: Heel-Toe Weighting (杆头平衡：跟部与趾部的平衡设计)

There is good news and bad news regarding the balance of a putter-head. The good news is that the more the putter-head is “heel-toe” balanced – more of its weight is placed toward the ends of the head – the less it twists when mis-hit. In general, this is good, and explains why heel-toe-balanced putters have sold well over the years: putts hit away from the sweet-spot roll a little closer to their intended speed and line. Of course, no putter can make putts hit away from the sweet-spot roll perfectly, but the greater the heel-toe weight distribution, the more forgiving the putter is on mis-hits.

关于杆头的平衡有两种选择。杆头重量分布越是均衡，杆头的跟部与趾部之间就越平衡，没有击中甜点而导致的杆头偏移就越少，这当然很好，这也是为什么这样设计的杆的销量一直很好的原因，因为即使没有击到甜点，由此而导致的方向和速度的改变也是可以容忍的。但是，这同时也表明，愈是跟趾平衡，击球失误的容错率也愈高。

Now the bad news. The less a putter twists when mis-hit the better it feel. That sounds good, right? Well, think about it. Using a putter that feels good even on mis-hits lets golfers get sloppy with their impact patterns, which leads to long term degradation of putting performance, because the putter masked the feel of a mis-hit.

I suggest that you continue using a heel-toe-weighted putter on the course, and when you practice use a device called the “Teacher Clip”, which trains your stroke to sweet-spot contact. This combination helps keep impact pattern tight while still being somewhat forgiving on the course.

这个优点也就是这种设计的杆的缺点，如果杆头的失误容错率高，那么当失误发生的时候，球手很少有不适的感觉。虽然听起来似乎不错，但是仔细想一想，当推杆出现失误时，杆头没有任何反馈给球手，久而久之，球手的击球感就会越来越差。因为均衡分布推杆遮盖了触球点的失误，最终将导致球手推杆技术的总体下降。

我的建议是，继续在场上使用平衡杆头，但是在练习场使用一种辅助工具：教师夹，来帮助自己实现甜点击球，这种组合既保证了甜点击球不至于生疏，而万一在场上没能击在甜点上，高容错率的好处也不会让推杆出现太大的偏差。