Not sure where to start? Ask Mulligan
Tyler Ferrell is the only person in the world named to Golf Digest's list of Best Young Teachers in America AND its list of Best Golf Fitness Professionals in America.

Improve Your Putting Stroke with the Chopstick Drill

After this video, you'll be able to:

  • Feel the proper connection between your arms and shoulders during putting.
  • Avoid common putting mistakes like excessive wrist movement.
  • Develop a stable putting motion by rotating around a fixed axis.

Learn how to enhance your putting stroke by connecting your arms and shoulders using the chopstick drill. This effective exercise helps eliminate excessive wrist movement for a more stable and controlled stroke.

Video Transcript
WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.960
This is the chopstick drill for putting, so one of the big concepts in putting

2
00:00:05.960 --> 00:00:06.280
is kind

3
00:00:06.280 --> 00:00:11.200
of feeling more of the arm connection and basically avoiding putting it with

4
00:00:11.200 --> 00:00:11.680
too much

5
00:00:11.680 --> 00:00:16.040
wrists and putting it more with either your shoulders or your body.

6
00:00:16.040 --> 00:00:20.240
And a good way to feel your shoulders or your upper body involved in the

7
00:00:20.240 --> 00:00:20.800
putting stroke

8
00:00:20.800 --> 00:00:25.880
is I believe the original inventor was Paul Hurian, but you basically take two

9
00:00:25.880 --> 00:00:26.680
alignment

10
00:00:26.680 --> 00:00:33.130
sticks and then you rubber band them together, you know, a foot or so down at

11
00:00:33.130 --> 00:00:34.000
one end.

12
00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:39.160
And then you're going to take the alignment sticks and stick them in your armp

13
00:00:39.160 --> 00:00:39.640
its.

14
00:00:39.640 --> 00:00:44.010
And what this will allow us to do is this is going to allow us to feel some

15
00:00:44.010 --> 00:00:44.860
connection

16
00:00:44.860 --> 00:00:46.320
between my arms.

17
00:00:46.320 --> 00:00:50.680
And now the main version I'll use is you're going to put your hands on the

18
00:00:50.680 --> 00:00:52.120
outside here,

19
00:00:52.120 --> 00:00:56.400
but you can also do it with your hands a little bit more on the inside,

20
00:00:56.400 --> 00:00:57.360
depending on what

21
00:00:57.360 --> 00:01:03.250
you like to feel in your arms, more of a kind of a pushing activation or more

22
00:01:03.250 --> 00:01:03.880
of a pulling

23
00:01:03.880 --> 00:01:06.920
activation or more of a pushing activation.

24
00:01:06.920 --> 00:01:13.740
Now I like to have an alignment stick here, so if I get the club in my armpits

25
00:01:13.740 --> 00:01:14.520
and I find

26
00:01:14.520 --> 00:01:19.830
kind of a good comfortable length of arm bend, so not too straight and not

27
00:01:19.830 --> 00:01:21.320
behind my body,

28
00:01:21.320 --> 00:01:25.620
comfortable length of arm bend, and then I bend and point this down at the

29
00:01:25.620 --> 00:01:26.360
alignment

30
00:01:26.360 --> 00:01:32.150
stick, this will just make sure that I can see kind of a symmetrical amount of

31
00:01:32.150 --> 00:01:32.880
curve.

32
00:01:32.880 --> 00:01:38.870
And this will allow me to feel what it's like to rotate my body on more of a

33
00:01:38.870 --> 00:01:39.560
stable

34
00:01:39.560 --> 00:01:43.480
axis pointing down at the golf ball.

35
00:01:43.480 --> 00:01:50.020
All common problems would be doing more of a lateral movement like this or

36
00:01:50.020 --> 00:01:50.960
doing too

37
00:01:50.960 --> 00:01:56.660
much rotation, basically almost rotating around a vertical axis instead of my

38
00:01:56.660 --> 00:01:57.360
spine.

39
00:01:57.360 --> 00:02:03.120
So if I'm rotating my shoulders more around my spine or rotating my upper body

40
00:02:03.120 --> 00:02:03.720
around

41
00:02:03.720 --> 00:02:08.040
my spine, it will tend to have a symmetric slight curve compared to this stick

42
00:02:08.040 --> 00:02:08.480
on the

43
00:02:08.480 --> 00:02:17.110
ground, or basically if I had a laser projecting out of this, that would follow

44
00:02:17.110 --> 00:02:17.840
the stick.

45
00:02:17.840 --> 00:02:22.770
And so the two short ends of the chopstick are arcing just slightly similar to

46
00:02:22.770 --> 00:02:23.240
how the

47
00:02:23.240 --> 00:02:30.420
putter face will arc if I just make a stroke that is on plane or close to on

48
00:02:30.420 --> 00:02:31.520
plane.

49
00:02:31.520 --> 00:02:34.450
So once I have a feeling here, the neat thing about if you've got them rubber

50
00:02:34.450 --> 00:02:34.960
band together

51
00:02:34.960 --> 00:02:40.660
instead of holding them together is you can actually hit putts while feeling,

52
00:02:40.660 --> 00:02:41.480
hopefully

53
00:02:41.480 --> 00:02:47.930
this is aiming pretty close, so you can actually hit putts while feeling the

54
00:02:47.930 --> 00:02:53.480
chopstick connection.

55
00:02:53.480 --> 00:02:54.520
Kind of like that.

56
00:02:54.520 --> 00:02:59.920
So it's a good bridge drill that you can do at home for feeling the arms and

57
00:02:59.920 --> 00:03:01.040
the shoulders

58
00:03:01.040 --> 00:03:05.720
working together but you can actually double with it making putts.

59
00:03:05.720 --> 00:03:10.570
It also helps with the visual ideas of what of the shoulder plane and the

60
00:03:10.570 --> 00:03:11.640
shoulder tilt

61
00:03:11.640 --> 00:03:18.810
and how your body is going to actually rotate more on plane instead of getting

62
00:03:18.810 --> 00:03:19.800
any funky

63
00:03:19.800 --> 00:03:23.760
either too much side bend, not enough rotation or rotating at the wrong angle.

64
00:03:23.760 --> 00:03:28.310
So if you're struggling with feeling a little bit too much arms and especially

65
00:03:28.310 --> 00:03:28.960
wrists in

66
00:03:28.960 --> 00:03:34.370
your golf stroke try the Paul Hurian's chopstick drill for improving your put

67
00:03:34.370 --> 00:03:35.400
ter pivot.

Have questions?

Ask Mulligan for help

Unlock everything. Start improving today.

Subscribe to get full access to all videos, courses, and progress tracking.

Related topics
This video hasn't been assigned to any topics yet. Browse all topics in the sidebar.
Tyler Ferrell is the only person in the world named to Golf Digest's list of Best Young Teachers in America AND its list of Best Golf Fitness Professionals in America.

Improve Your Putting Stroke with the Chopstick Drill

After this video, you'll be able to:

  • Feel the proper connection between your arms and shoulders during putting.
  • Avoid common putting mistakes like excessive wrist movement.
  • Develop a stable putting motion by rotating around a fixed axis.

Learn how to enhance your putting stroke by connecting your arms and shoulders using the chopstick drill. This effective exercise helps eliminate excessive wrist movement for a more stable and controlled stroke.

Video Transcript
WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.960
This is the chopstick drill for putting, so one of the big concepts in putting

2
00:00:05.960 --> 00:00:06.280
is kind

3
00:00:06.280 --> 00:00:11.200
of feeling more of the arm connection and basically avoiding putting it with

4
00:00:11.200 --> 00:00:11.680
too much

5
00:00:11.680 --> 00:00:16.040
wrists and putting it more with either your shoulders or your body.

6
00:00:16.040 --> 00:00:20.240
And a good way to feel your shoulders or your upper body involved in the

7
00:00:20.240 --> 00:00:20.800
putting stroke

8
00:00:20.800 --> 00:00:25.880
is I believe the original inventor was Paul Hurian, but you basically take two

9
00:00:25.880 --> 00:00:26.680
alignment

10
00:00:26.680 --> 00:00:33.130
sticks and then you rubber band them together, you know, a foot or so down at

11
00:00:33.130 --> 00:00:34.000
one end.

12
00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:39.160
And then you're going to take the alignment sticks and stick them in your armp

13
00:00:39.160 --> 00:00:39.640
its.

14
00:00:39.640 --> 00:00:44.010
And what this will allow us to do is this is going to allow us to feel some

15
00:00:44.010 --> 00:00:44.860
connection

16
00:00:44.860 --> 00:00:46.320
between my arms.

17
00:00:46.320 --> 00:00:50.680
And now the main version I'll use is you're going to put your hands on the

18
00:00:50.680 --> 00:00:52.120
outside here,

19
00:00:52.120 --> 00:00:56.400
but you can also do it with your hands a little bit more on the inside,

20
00:00:56.400 --> 00:00:57.360
depending on what

21
00:00:57.360 --> 00:01:03.250
you like to feel in your arms, more of a kind of a pushing activation or more

22
00:01:03.250 --> 00:01:03.880
of a pulling

23
00:01:03.880 --> 00:01:06.920
activation or more of a pushing activation.

24
00:01:06.920 --> 00:01:13.740
Now I like to have an alignment stick here, so if I get the club in my armpits

25
00:01:13.740 --> 00:01:14.520
and I find

26
00:01:14.520 --> 00:01:19.830
kind of a good comfortable length of arm bend, so not too straight and not

27
00:01:19.830 --> 00:01:21.320
behind my body,

28
00:01:21.320 --> 00:01:25.620
comfortable length of arm bend, and then I bend and point this down at the

29
00:01:25.620 --> 00:01:26.360
alignment

30
00:01:26.360 --> 00:01:32.150
stick, this will just make sure that I can see kind of a symmetrical amount of

31
00:01:32.150 --> 00:01:32.880
curve.

32
00:01:32.880 --> 00:01:38.870
And this will allow me to feel what it's like to rotate my body on more of a

33
00:01:38.870 --> 00:01:39.560
stable

34
00:01:39.560 --> 00:01:43.480
axis pointing down at the golf ball.

35
00:01:43.480 --> 00:01:50.020
All common problems would be doing more of a lateral movement like this or

36
00:01:50.020 --> 00:01:50.960
doing too

37
00:01:50.960 --> 00:01:56.660
much rotation, basically almost rotating around a vertical axis instead of my

38
00:01:56.660 --> 00:01:57.360
spine.

39
00:01:57.360 --> 00:02:03.120
So if I'm rotating my shoulders more around my spine or rotating my upper body

40
00:02:03.120 --> 00:02:03.720
around

41
00:02:03.720 --> 00:02:08.040
my spine, it will tend to have a symmetric slight curve compared to this stick

42
00:02:08.040 --> 00:02:08.480
on the

43
00:02:08.480 --> 00:02:17.110
ground, or basically if I had a laser projecting out of this, that would follow

44
00:02:17.110 --> 00:02:17.840
the stick.

45
00:02:17.840 --> 00:02:22.770
And so the two short ends of the chopstick are arcing just slightly similar to

46
00:02:22.770 --> 00:02:23.240
how the

47
00:02:23.240 --> 00:02:30.420
putter face will arc if I just make a stroke that is on plane or close to on

48
00:02:30.420 --> 00:02:31.520
plane.

49
00:02:31.520 --> 00:02:34.450
So once I have a feeling here, the neat thing about if you've got them rubber

50
00:02:34.450 --> 00:02:34.960
band together

51
00:02:34.960 --> 00:02:40.660
instead of holding them together is you can actually hit putts while feeling,

52
00:02:40.660 --> 00:02:41.480
hopefully

53
00:02:41.480 --> 00:02:47.930
this is aiming pretty close, so you can actually hit putts while feeling the

54
00:02:47.930 --> 00:02:53.480
chopstick connection.

55
00:02:53.480 --> 00:02:54.520
Kind of like that.

56
00:02:54.520 --> 00:02:59.920
So it's a good bridge drill that you can do at home for feeling the arms and

57
00:02:59.920 --> 00:03:01.040
the shoulders

58
00:03:01.040 --> 00:03:05.720
working together but you can actually double with it making putts.

59
00:03:05.720 --> 00:03:10.570
It also helps with the visual ideas of what of the shoulder plane and the

60
00:03:10.570 --> 00:03:11.640
shoulder tilt

61
00:03:11.640 --> 00:03:18.810
and how your body is going to actually rotate more on plane instead of getting

62
00:03:18.810 --> 00:03:19.800
any funky

63
00:03:19.800 --> 00:03:23.760
either too much side bend, not enough rotation or rotating at the wrong angle.

64
00:03:23.760 --> 00:03:28.310
So if you're struggling with feeling a little bit too much arms and especially

65
00:03:28.310 --> 00:03:28.960
wrists in

66
00:03:28.960 --> 00:03:34.370
your golf stroke try the Paul Hurian's chopstick drill for improving your put

67
00:03:34.370 --> 00:03:35.400
ter pivot.

Have questions about this video?

Ask Mulligan for personalized guidance on technique, drills, or how to apply what you've learned.

Ask Mulligan
Related topics
This video hasn't been assigned to any topics yet. Browse all topics in the sidebar.
Subscribe now for full access to our video library. Subscribe now