Fulton: Laird's putting setup keys victory at Bay Hill

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Martin Laird had much to celebrate Sunday as he rebounded from early hardships to win at Bay Hill.

What a crazy finish on Sunday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational as a handful of players had a chance to win "The King's" tournament. If someone would've told Martin Laird Sunday morning he would shoot 75 on the final day and still win, I don't think he would've believed it. However, after an up-and-down day for so many, Laird held off a handful of players to win the title.

It seems we are entering a time where the longer putters are making a more consistent impact. With a lot of guys continuing to look for that answer on the greens, players have gotten creative with not only the length of the putter but where it attaches to the body, grip types, etc. Recently, we've seen players like Vijay Singh, JB Holmes to even now Adam Scott have success with the long flat stick. This Sunday at Bay Hill in the final group - both Martin Laird and Spencer Levin were using the long belly putter.

Martin Laird has certainly found some renewed confidence since going to his belly putter as there was no club more important to his 2nd PGA TOUR win. When I watch Laird putt what I really like the most about his technique is his grip and elbow positions at address. Laird is another good example of a player who positions the angle of his forearms on the same plane angle of the putter shaft. In order for the forearms and the putter shaft to be on the same plane, you must learn to grip the putter more towards the palms and soften both elbows.

Lead Hand Grip:

A good full swing grip will see the grip rest just under the pad that sits in-line and below the pinky of the lead hand. Although this grip sits at an angle across the lead hand, it favors the fingers so a player can cock the lead wrist and allow for some club face rotation in both directions.

A good putting grip will see the grip rest not under this same pad but rather through it and much closer to the life-line of the lead hand. This grip restricts the ability for the lead wrist to cock and decreases the amount of club face rotation which are both good qualities to have in putting.

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Trail Hand Grip:

One of the most common errors we see at the TOUR Academies is the trail hand grip for putting. What happens is the trail hand will sit too much on top of the grip where the trail forearm becomes much higher than the lead. This dynamic leads to a putter head path that works too much from out-to-in causing an inconsistent impact and roll.

The key to the trail hand is to be positioned more underneath the grip where the top of the life line of the trail hand applies pressure approximately to the middle knuckle of the middle finger of the lead hand. This grip softens the position of the trail forearm so it becomes more consistent with the putter shaft and lead forearm.

Elbows:

A key component at address for putting is the elbows. Not only does Martin Laird demonstrate the grip defined above, he also does a great job of allowing his elbows to be slightly bent and rolled in towards the side of his body.

It is not recommended to allow the elbows to roll out away from the body as this has a tendency to rock the shoulders too much up-and-down; where if the elbows are rolled in towards the ribs, the shoulders can pivot naturally around the center of the spine.

This grip and elbow position can be used for a belly putter or a standard size putter. Regardless of the length, the key objective once again is to get the angle of the forearms on the same plane as the putter shaft. This single plane between the forearms and putter shaft allows the hands to become more passive and for the putter head to move on its natural arc. As a result, a more consistent impact will be achieved leading to a more consistent roll.

Just Because

Alright, how can the NCAA get it so right with the basketball tournament but yet so wrong with football? How about this year's Men's Basketball tournament with a 3-seed, a 4, 8 and an 11 making the Final Four? It's simply the way it should be as teams like Virginia Commonwealth and Butler have the same opportunity at the beginning of the year as teams like Connecticut and Kentucky. And let me tell you, like so many others I had Kansas winning it all in my bracket and was cheering like crazy for VCU to pull off the major upset.

The tournament is just so dynamic and exciting and with the overall athlete just continuing to improve and the talent getting more spread out, one would think that we will continue to see the mid-majors do well in all sports. So the time has now come for football to take this step. I want the top 16 schools to play it off every December and January. Come on NCAA and BCS -- we can do this.