Steven Sweeny, one of the most sought-after putting coaches in the world, reveals what 14,000+ 3D-tracked putts have taught him about what separates elite putters from everyone else. The answer isn't what most golfers think.
Working out of Platform Golf's state-of-the-art studio in Jupiter, FL — equipped with Gears 3D motion capture, Quintic Ball Roll, SAM PuttLab, and a 19-foot adjustable Platform with TrueSlope technology — Sweeney has collected data on the world's best putters and discovered a critical metric: face-to-arc efficiency.
The top 50 putters in strokes gained on the PGA Tour keep their putter face square to the arc (within 1°) for at least 78% of the stroke. The next 50? Just 52%. Below top 100? Numbers as low as 6-7%. This single metric explains more about start-line consistency than anything else Sweeney has measured.
Sweeny debunks the longstanding myth that the putter should "open and close" during the stroke — a misunderstanding born from 2D camera systems that couldn't distinguish between face rotation and in-plane arc movement. In 3D, the best putters have minimal face rotation relative to the arc they swing on.
The talk includes stunning case studies: Joaquin Niemann going from struggling putter to winning 5 of 9 events after training with the ArcMaster, and Collin Morikawa going an entire two seasons without missing a putt inside 3-4 feet while reducing his arc from 18° to 11.5°.