It’s a moment of pure golfing panic. You’re standing over a tricky, short putt and instead of a smooth roll, you make a hesitant, jabby stroke. The ball pops up, bounces off the putter face a second time, and dribbles pathetically a few inches forward. You freeze. Did that just happen? Can you even double hit a putt? This article will clear up the official rule surrounding the double hit so you’re never confused again. More importantly, we’ll go deep into why it happens and talk through practical, on-course fixes to build a smoother, more reliable putting stroke that makes the dreaded double hit a thing of the past.
Let's get right to it. If you accidentally hit your golf ball twice with a single stroke - whether it's on a putt, a chip, or a full shot - there is no penalty. You simply count the one new stroke you made and play the ball from its new resting spot. That’s it. It’s a huge relief for many golfers who grew up with the old, more punishing rule.
This welcome change came with the major Rules of Golf update in 2019. The reason for the change was rooted in fairness and common sense. A double hit is almost always an accident that results from a poor swing or an unfortunate bounce. The player is already "penalized" by the bad shot itself - the ball rarely ends up in a good spot. Adding an extra penalty stroke was seen as kicking a golfer when they're already down.
Rule 10.1a, "Fairly Striking the Ball," states:
If a playing partner has ever tried to issue you a penalty for a double hit, it’s likely because they learned the game before 2019. Under the old rules, an accidental double hit resulted in a one-stroke penalty in addition to counting the stroke itself. This was a brutal two-for-one deal that could turn a simple chip-in attempt into a disaster. The memory of this old rule lingers, but rest assured, you can confidently and politely inform your group that the rule has changed. The penalty is gone.
So, mystery solved. There's no penalty. But the bigger question remains... why did you double hit your putt in the first place?
While legally a non-issue, a double hit on the green is a huge red flag for your putting mechanics. It's a symptom of a larger problem. It very rarely happens with a smooth, committed, pendulum-style putting stroke. Most often, the culprit is a stroke that is tentative, jerky, or controlled by the small muscles of the hands and wrists instead of the large muscles of the shoulders and torso.
Let's look at the most common mechanical flaws that invite a double-hit putt.
This is by far the biggest contributor to double hits. It happens when you become tentative, especially on short, high-pressure putts. Instead of accelerating the putter head *through* the ball, you bring it into the ball and then immediately slow down or stop the putter right at impact.
Think about the physics here. If your putter stops moving forward right after it strikes the ball, but the ball is now moving forward, what happens? For a brief moment, the ball is traveling faster than the putter head that just struck it. If the ball then hits a small imperfection in the green and pops up backward slightly, it can easily bounce back into the motionless or slowly retracting putter face. You get the dreaded "tap-tap."
This goes hand-in-hand with deceleration. A great putting stroke is powered by the gentle rocking of your shoulders, creating a simple 'arc' or 'pendulum' where your arms, hands, and the putter move together as one solid unit. A jabby stroke happens when you try to generate power by flicking or breaking your wrists.
When you flick your wrists at the ball, the putter head moves in a very unstable, scooped path. The follow-through is often cut off immediately because the hands stop moving. The putter head flips past the hands and then stalls out. Again, this creates a scenario where the clubhead is essentially stationary right in the path of the ball, just begging for a rebound.
A good setup for putting creates stability. You want a posture where your arms can hang naturally from your shoulders, allowing that pendulum motion to happen freely. If you stand too upright or too hunched over, you introduce tension and make it harder for your bigger muscles to control the stroke. When people feel uncomfortable, they tend to resort to using their hands for control - which, as we've seen, is the primary source of the problem.
The good news is that preventing a double hit is about installing good fundamentals. The same techniques that eliminate the double hit will also improve your speed control, distance consistency, and overall confidence on the greens. It's a win-win.
Here are some core concepts and drills to work on.
This is the foundation of it all. The goal is to feel the stroke being powered by the big muscles of your back and shoulders. Your arms and hands are just along for the ride, forming a stable triangle with the putter.
To feel this, take your putting stance without a club. Place your hands on opposite shoulders, creating an 'X' across your chest. Now, gently rock your torso back and forth by just rocking your shoulders, keeping your lower body still. That is the feeling you want. Now, let your arms hang and grip a putter. Replicate that exact same feeling. Your lower body stays quiet, and your upper body rocks like a pendulum. This removes the 'liveliness' from your hands and wrists.
A good putting stroke has its most speed just after the ball is gone. Poor strokes slam into the ball and stop. You need to train yourself to feel acceleration.
This is a fantastic drill for feel. Place two coins on the practice green, one directly on top of the other. The goal is to make a stroke that puttsthe top coin away cleanly without disturbing the bottom coin. If you have a slow, decelerating 'tappy' stroke, you will almost always hit both coins. To succeed, you must make a smooth stroke that brushes the top coin as the putter is gently asecending through impact. It forces a gentle acceleration.
A wonderful mental image for solid rhythm and tempo is making your backstroke and follow-through symmetrical in length. If you take the putter back six inches, your follow-through should travel at least six inches forward.
People who decelerate or jab at the ball often have a long backstroke and a very short, abrupt follow-through. Consciously thinking "equal length back, equal length through" is a simple but powerful thought that encourages you to keep the putter moving smoothly through the impact zone.
Excessive grip pressure is a primary cause of tension and a "handsy" stroke. If you're gripping the putter with a death-grip, it's almost impossible to let your larger muscles control the action. You're effectively strangling any chance of a smooth pendulum feel.
On a scale of 1 to 10, where 10 is gripping as hard as you can and 1 is so light the club might fall, your grip pressure should be around a 3 or 4. Just enough to be in full control of the clubface without introducing tension into your forearms and hands. This light pressure is the gateway to letting the bigger muscles take over.
So, can you double hit a putt? Yes, but thankfully the modern rules have your back, so there’s no penaltystroke to worry about. The key takeaway is to see the double hit not as a rules infraction, but as valuable feedback that your putting-stroke mechanics need a tune-up - specifically related to deceleration and a handsy action.
Working on a smoother, more committed putting stroke will not only eliminate the double hit but will also make you a more confident and consistent putter. Understanding what causes these on-course mishaps is the first step, and if you're ever looking for personalized guidance or have a question about your mechanics, our Caddie AI is designed to give you that expert second opinion anytime you need it. You can ask us about specific drills to improve your putting feel or get clear advice on any part of your game, simple as that.
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