Putting Bar by David Leadbetter

Putting looks simple until it isn’t. You can read the line, choose the speed, and still watch a short putt leak wide because the face didn’t return where you thought it would. Most of the time, this miss isn’t the green. It’s the stroke. Hands get busy. Forearms steer. The shoulders stop running the motion. The putter starts doing something different every time you stand over the ball.

The Putting Bar by David Leadbetter is designed to remove those variables from your stroke. It targets excess hand and arm action and replaces it with a more connected, repeatable motion, one that’s driven by the larger muscles instead of a last-second “hit” at the ball. The end goal is practical: better face control, a cleaner roll, and a start line you can trust.

Many missed putts share the same pattern. The wrists get too involved. The putter swings back and through, but the face opens and closes as the hands manipulate it. The path starts wandering. Speed becomes inconsistent because impact isn’t stable. Then, on the course, you start trying to “guide” the putter through the ball, exactly when you need to be the most relaxed.

This training aid works because the concept is simple. It connects your arms to your chest, allowing your body to control the stroke. The Putting Bar is ergonomically shaped and slides under your arms, allowing you to feel the connection between your triceps and chest. With that connection in place, it becomes easier to let the shoulders and torso move the putter as a unit, rather than letting the hands take over.

That change sounds small, but it’s the foundation of consistent putting. Great putting looks “quiet” because it is. The hands stay passive. The shoulders rock the stroke. The face stays calmer because it isn’t being opened or closed. When the larger muscles control the motion, you don’t need perfect timing to square the face. You need a repeatable motion that returns the ball to the same place.

The Putting Bar gives you immediate feedback without requiring a complicated setup. Slide it under your arms, take your normal stance, and make a stroke. If your arms separate from your torso, you’ll feel it. If your hands get too active, you’ll feel the bar shift and lose that connection. If you stay connected, you’ll feel the stroke stabilize. That “truth” is what makes practice productive, because you’re no longer rehearsing a motion that only works when everything feels perfect.

It lines up with what most players are actually trying to improve: coordination, stability, start line, and speed control. The Putting Bar is designed to help golfers of all abilities by improving coordination between the arms and body, training a rocking motion with the larger muscles, enhancing stability in the putter’s path and face, and helping you develop a consistent feel.

Those points matter because putting really comes down to two things: the face and the speed. If the face is pointed even slightly offline at impact, the ball won’t start rolling where you intended. If the speed is inconsistent, you’ll miss high-side, low-side, or bring three-putt into play. The Putting Bar supports both by reducing the random, hand-driven energy that changes impact from stroke to stroke. A more stable rocking motion tends to smooth out tempo. A smoother tempo tends to tighten distance control. That’s not a theory, it’s the practical reason good putters look the same on a three-footer and a 30-footer.

You’ll usually notice the change quickly in practice. Your strike starts sounding more consistent. The ball starts coming off the face with the same kind of roll. And your misses stop feeling “mysterious.” Instead of a putt that jumps left for no clear reason, you get a miss you can diagnose: you broke the connection, you steered it, you got handsy. That’s a useful miss because it points you right back to the fix.

This isn’t only for beginners, either. New golfers can use it to learn the right motion early, connected arms and torso, quiet hands, and a repeatable rhythm. Better players use it to keep fundamentals sharp when their stroke starts drifting. Competitive golfers use it as a reset tool because it gives them a quick way to clean up the motion without adding more thoughts. It is meant to work across skill levels, not just as a “fix my putting” gadget.

One of the more useful details is that the Putting Bar can also be used around the green. It is perfect for players who don’t use their torso and have uncontrollable hand and wrist motion. That makes sense: chipping breaks down for the same reason putting does, hands trying to create the motion while the body stops moving. If you struggle with short chips that get flippy, the same connection concept can help you feel the torso supporting the strike, not the wrists manufacturing it.

It’s also built to be something you’ll actually use. The device is small enough to store in your golf bag and pull out whenever you need it. That matters because the best training aids aren’t the ones that look clever; they’re the ones that fit into real routines. Five minutes before a round. Ten minutes on a putting mat at home. A quick session to get your shoulders rocking and your hands quiet before you start keeping score.

The Putting Bar doesn’t ask you to memorize positions or rebuild your stroke from scratch. It gives you one job: stay connected and let the larger muscles move the putter. When you do that, the rest gets simpler. The face behaves. The path steadies. Speed control becomes less volatile. And putting becomes “boring” in the best way, because you start the ball on line more often and you stop needing a perfect save at impact.