Make this one small tweak to flush more putts (Yes, putts)
Golf Digest senior writer Alex Myers is on a one-year mission to see how good he can get at golf through daily training, practice and playing. Read more from his “Late Scratch?” series here.
People always talk about the great feeling they get from a flushed golf shot. Many say it just takes one pure strike over the course of a four-hour round to bring them back to the course. But why do we never hear someone describe a putt like that?
When I first took a lesson with putting coach Bill Smittle in the fall of 2024, I’d certainly never thought about flushing putts. But after a couple big changes—getting rid of my (ugly) extended lead elbow and swinging the putter more on an arc—I remember him saying, “That contact must feel different now.” It did. And it felt great.
So what’s happening that’s making my putts feel so much better? And how can you create a similar feeling? Let’s get into it.
Can you actually “flush” putts?
Yes! Like with hitting drivers or irons, there’s a different sensation when you hit the golf ball with the sweet spot of the putter. The ball comes off so pure that you barely feel any feedback in your hands and arms. It just doesn’t feel quite as good as it does with those other clubs because you’re swinging them harder—and producing more appealing results. Chicks—and dudes—dig the long ball, after all.
In fact, Smittle recently did a big presentation at the 2025 Flatstick Conference (Yes, that’s a real thing) titled “Impact Ratios in Putting.” What’s an impact ratio? Well, it’s the same as smash factor—measured by dividing ball speed by club speed—or how efficiently energy is transferred from the club to the ball.
Anyway, Smittle gets deep into the weeds on this topic during his presentation that I read all the way through and gave me some serious high school physics flashbacks. But this slide, which shows how impact ratio is affected by where you hit the ball on the putter, really stood out to me:
As you can see, the ball will come off with varying speeds based on where the strike is. Hitting one right in the sweet spot produces a 1.72 impact ratio, but hitting one low on the heel brings that number all the way down to 1.53 or an 11 percent dropoff. Think about how much of a difference that would make on a 30-foot putt. The one off the heel would go 11 percent shorter or more than three feet.
How do you know if you’re hitting the sweet spot? You can apply foot spray to the putter head and hit a few putts to see an impact pattern, but you should be able to feel the difference between a center strike and an off-center hit.
How can you hit the sweet spot more?
Or, more importantly, your sweet spot. As Bill also points out on that slide, “Consistency of location is more important than the average.” So you don’t have to hit it in the middle. If your stroke is producing low-heel strikes that can be OK too—as long as you’re doing that every time. As our Drew Powell noted when Tiger Woods turned 50, there were flaws in the 15-time major champ's putting stroke, but no one was more consistent. Thus, his stroke held up so well, even under pressure. “We’re not trying to be perfect,” Smittle tells me. “We’re trying to make more putts.”
But I am trying to hit the middle of the face more. Why not when it feels so much better? And here’s where the changes I made with Bill feed into that. I had always tried for a straight back and straight through putting stroke since hearing that was a good thing growing up. But it’s really not. As Smittle explains, the putter shaft is on an angle so trying to manipulate the path and face to keep them straight messes up the natural arc the putter should travel on. And my extended lead elbow was just complicating things even more.
Essentially, I was taking the putter back closed and then twisting it open at impact without realizing it. As a result, I was making inconsistent contact, usually off the toe (In Smittle’s presentation, he notes this kind of stroke produces lower ball speeds than an open/closing arc stroke). But every once in a while, I’d hit the sweet spot and bang a putt way past the hole. As I noted in my post from keeping track of my stats, the changes really helped with my lag putting last year.
And it makes a lot of sense. I’m hitting it more in the sweet spot consistently so I’m able to judge my speed better, which is the biggest key to avoiding three-putts. However, I noticed that during last year, I had some relapses to my old, straighter stroke. For some reason, this happens more as I get closer to the hole. Like this hideous birdie attempt my buddy filmed when I had a chance to break par at Forest Dunes:
Woof. I kept the putter closed all the way and that thing never had a chance. But a video Bill put out on Instagram this winter—along with his new training aid—drove home a key distinction that has is helping me open the putter more going back, leading to more consistent strikes.
Be careful of this old saying
“Rock the shoulders” is a phrase you hear a lot when it comes to the putting stroke, but Smittle shares why this is misleading. Instead of rocking the shoulders, you actually want to turn the shoulders. This will keep you swinging the putter along its natural arc. Here's how he explains it:
As Smittle told me in our first lesson, you want to treat the putting stroke more like you do the full swing. And in the full swing, you certainly need to turn your shoulders. So, that’s what I’ve been working on a lot in my basement on my PrimePutt mat:
Ah, much better. And that training aid on my putter is Bill’s invention, the Smittle Stick, which provides visual feedback to make sure you’re swinging the putter on an arc. You do this by maintaining that ball being lined up over the center of your putter shaft as you take the club back and through. For someone who spent so many years trying to bring the putter straight back and straight through, it can still feel like I’m opening up the face too much. But as Smittle explains, the face is actually remaining square to the path so by the time you’re back at impact, it’s still square to the target.
Making better contact with the putter might seem like a small thing, but as Smittle’s research shows, it’s a big deal. And when you’re trying to shave every last stroke off your handicap, it could make a significant difference.