Tiger Woods grabs a putter — and explains why he looks like heâ€s ‘punchingâ€

Tiger Woods, about two months after undergoing a back surgery, said on Tuesday he could now putt. 

Then he did. 

Coached some folks, too. 

One could guess you’d see at least some golf this week from Woods, who is hosting the Hero World Challenge. Below, you can watch the 15-time major winner via a two-minute video released Wednesday on his events team’s social media feeds. Below that will be some additional thoughts.

What moves first in the putting stroke, according to Tiger Woods

The putter head, he said.  

Not the body. 

“Just like in a golf swing,” Woods said. 

Why Tiger Woods looks like he’s ‘punching’ his putts, according to Tiger Woods

On his putts, Woods will move his putter back to a length appropriate to the length of the putt, bring it back, make contact, then the follow-through will look short — or, as he said, like a punch. 

He explained why. 

“I believe the weight of the golf ball is what slows the putter down,” Woods said in the video. “So I accelerate all the way through, but the weight of the putter head actually slows it down, so it looks like I’m punching it. I’m just putting all the energy into the ball, and the ball ends up slowing the putter head down. 

“You see some players have a follow-through like that [a longer one], but I don’t understand that because I’ve always — if you see a guy hit a punch shot, his swing is going to be shorter on the follow-through versus a guy hitting up on it and picking it. It’s going to be a longer follow-through. Well, it’s the same kind of concept. If you have the weight of the ball stopping the putter head, then the momentum is going to be slower on the front side. It’s not going to look the same. So it looks like I’m punching it, but this weight of this golf ball is just slowing this mass [the putter head] — that’s all.”

Why older putters help with Tiger Woods’ putting stroke, according to Tiger Woods

Woods said that’s because they’re mostly smaller. 

“With a much lighter grip and smaller grip, my overall mass of the putter is much lighter,” Woods said in the video. “So since it’s much lighter, it gets affected by the weight of the ball much more than these newer putters. Your putters with bigger grips, bigger heads, more mass, it’s going to go through more than my putter does. 

“Ben Crenshaw’s little 8802 putter? Thing stops right away. It has no mass to it. So that weight of the ball gets really affected. So that’s why it looks like I’m doing that, but I’m really not.”

But should YOU putt like this?

Good question. Maybe the best answer is comfortability. If you do a 360 twirl before putting and the ball goes in, then do a 360 twirl. If your follow-through is longer for whatever reason and the ball goes in, then keep your follow-through longer. 

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