Whats your favorite putting tip?

[ScottyCameron]

Ok. I'll start off.

I like to place 2 tees in between the putterhead and try to make my putting stroke without hitting the tees. If I hit the tees, it tells me if I have stroke it poorly. Eventually this drill will create more and more consistency in your putting stroke and hitting your putts pure

Whats your favorite putting drill or tip?

[Dub]

This is the part of my game that I've been working on lately....putting. These are the things that I'm doing now and getting results from.....pick any one and have at it:


1) Grip the putter in your palms with the pads of your fingers touching the grip on the opposing side.

2) Grip the putter soley in your right hand (palm) as you step up to the ball...address with the right hand as the club is grounded.

3) Let your left arm hang down straight and naturally contact the putter grip...arm almost extend.

4) Very little grip pressure throughout the stroke....feel the contact in the pads of your fingers which are on the sides of the grip.


5) Keep head steady.....let eyes follow the ball.


6) Get ready to pump your fist....Tiger style.

[Blades4me]

Keep your eyes down and your head still until you hear the ball go in the cup.

[photoballmarker]

Ok. I'll start off.

Use one of our photo ball markers for good luck. I have not heard of a user missing a putt since they started using their photo ball markers. Of course, I haven't asked any of them if they have missed a putt.

Here is a serious one, my son Kelly showed me this and it works great. On short putts, look at the back of the hole, as deep as you can into the cup. Focus on hitting that spot with the ball. You will find it is much easier to stroke the putt if you laim at the back and down at the hole. Not the front of the hole. Try it, you will like the result.

[ks8829]

Excellent article in Golf Digest, Oct 2005 issue on putting.

grip it in your palm
Don't grip the putter in your fingers as you do in the full swing. This type of grip pormotes wrist hinge, which you don't want when you putt. Set the grip through the palm of your left hand or at the crease, with the butt end at the inside of your wrist.

Set up , tilt forward from your hips and let your arms hand, so they can swing freely. For most golfers, ball position shoudl be slightly ahead of center. The shaft should be perpendicular to the ground, with the grip pointing just forward of your sternum. Stand so you feel stacked, your hips over your heels and your weight on the middle of each foot.


Swing longer,not faster
The length of your stroke should change based on the distance to the hole, but your tempo should stay the same. Strive for smooth acceleration through impact. To hit putts of different lengths, many golfers alter their tempo instead of the length of the storke. Focus on swinging back and through the same amount, lengthening your stroke as the putts get longer.

[sonicblue]

Listen, think of it this way. Get over a straight 6' putt and think about it. Is there really anything physically limiting you from making that putt? All you're doing is touching the putterhead to the ball, pushing it on a line to go in the hole. No slicing, hooking, chunking, blading, clubhead speed, etc... There's actually quite a margin of error on line (the hole is what, about three balls wide?), and it can sneak over the front edge or nail the back of the cup. So why do (most of) us amateurs routinely miss these?

It's in your head! Be honest, I admit it, too. We start the putter back, then suddenly wonder if we're aligned properly, or if we've read it properly, or that maybe we'll hit it too hard or soft. So, as we come through, we close or open the face, we de- or overaccelerate. Putting is, physically, THE SIMPLEST action you'll perform on a golf course. So many putting tips that talk about the grip, the stance, the shoulders, blah, blah, make me nervous. You just need to address the ball, hold the club and make a stroke such that the putter blade returns to impact square. Simple as that.

All the rest comes down, 100%, to just believing your read and your speed. It's not complex, it's simple, but it's damn hard, and worth spending much more of your practice time on than too many physical details.

[DavidFehertysBike]

ehh i dont know too much about putting tips... But i know for me i have a habit of hinging my wrists with the putter like im taking a full swing..I try to keep my wrists set, palms facing one an other so i dont rotate my forearms, and swing from my shoulders. The weight of the putter will do the rest. If i do all of that so that im just concentrating on speed im usually ok.

[case31]

One little thing I do when I putt is extend my right index finger down the shaft of the putter. This is a David Ledbetter tip that is supposed to help prevent breaking your wrists.
If I'm on the practice green working on my reads and distances, I will take two pencils, tie a string to each one, and putt with a ball directly under the string. This will help determine if you are taking the putter straight back and straight through. On a flat green, your ball should hit the pencil at the other end. You can also putt towards a cup but extending your line past the hole, and adjusting your line for the break.

[uttexas]

The key is correct distance (speed). Putting is 95% mental/5% technique.

Our minds and eyes are really good at mental triangulation. After reading the putt from the lowest point around the hole and from behind the ball, mentally picture the line. Line up your putt and trust this line. Be positive. Mentally picture the ball rolling into the middle of the cup several times. Stroke the putt. Look up when you hear the ball fall in the cup (OK, that is ridiculous on putts >20 feet or so)

[Crafty]

Listen for the ball to go in the hole instead of looking

[PEZGolf]

Ok. I'll start off.

Your drill is a good one. Here is what I do: 1. Never ground the putter, just like you should not ground any club, including the driver (per the advice of one Jack Nicklaus---and he is right). 2. Concentrate on swinging the putter head back straight and low, and rolling the ball so that the name rolls without a wobble. 3. After developing a smooth stroke, focus on distance. You will almost never 3 putt because you will become a "die putter" like Ben Crenshaw. 3 putting is a mortal sin, and any time I do that, I get furious with myself.

[1dayIllBaPro]

I turn my arms, wrists, hands, into a stone (so it works in one piece) and use my shoulder only.

My putting drill start from straight 3' putt (10 in a roll) --> straight 6' putt ( 5 in a roll ) ---> straight 10' putt (2 in a roll). If I miss one I start over. For exmaple, if I made 6' putt 4 in a roll, and miss the fifth one, I would start 6' putt again.

Then I'll start to find some breaks.

Sometimes I learn the line from just hitting the ball and watch it goes. Didn't aim at anything, just hit it and look at the ball breaks.

Putting is a combination of hitting the ball straight, and read the break right. (off course, also with the right speed)

[uttexas]

Another good putting drill. place two rubber bands on the face of the putter approximately one inch apart bordering the sweet spot. Practice putting as you normally do. Can even practice with the tee drill as described above.

If you don't hit the sweet spot, you will know. The ball will hit one of the rubber bands resulting in a very poor putt.

[uttexas]

Another drill. Popularized by that Mickelson commercial. Place twenty balls 3ft all the wasy around a hole (flat areas) Make all the putts. then place all the balls 5ft away (all flat putts). Try making all the putts (you probably won't). Keep practicing.

[PEZGolf]

One last tip--spend 60% of your practice time on the short game, including putting, chipping, sand blasts, and pitching. Those are the shots that you score with. "Up and in" are the best words to hear in golf.

[hamletsdead]

On 3-4 foot putts look at the hole, not the ball. Works a charm for me. I used to pull my short putts about 50% of the time, and now rarely miss one under 5 feet.

[I KyotE I]

"Don't look for the ball to fall, listen for it. Then you know that your head stayed down"

[KwSipp]

What works for me the best is to just stay on practice green for about 3 hours and pay attention to what works and what is causing problems.... eliminate the problems and stick with what works for you and polish it everytime you go to hit balls