Best Advice/Quotes in regards to putting

[GHIN0011458]

I need some serious help with putting- Shot 71 on Saturday with only one birdie and two bogeys(Par 70). Tee to green was great. I could have went deep though, missing 5 putts from 12-18 feet, the two bogeys were a 4 fter and 6 fter to get up and down, and missed two others around 4-5 feet for birdie. I am burning the edges but mentally cant get the ball in the hole.. any advice? First Tourney of the year is next Monday.

[Hardballs]

Practise you putting! 6 footers!

[GHIN0011458]

Practise you putting! 6 footers!

lol- thanks. I do. just not getting them into the hole during the round.

[phillyk]

Keep your hands soft and keep the stroke slower than you'd like but smooth.  At least that's what I try to tell myself...

[saevel25]

I need some serious help with putting- Shot 71 on Saturday with only one birdie and two bogeys(Par 70). Tee to green was great. I could have went deep though, missing 5 putts from 12-18 feet, the two bogeys were a 4 fter and 6 fter to get up and down, and missed two others around 4-5 feet for birdie. I am burning the edges but mentally cant get the ball in the hole.. any advice? First Tourney of the year is next Monday.

Putters do three things well

1) Read putts well

2) Start putts on their intended target line

3) Have distance control.

Now which ones were you missing? I will note, that if you are missing number 1, it can look like number 2 & 3. If you miss-read a putt by reading it to break too little, you might end up hitting it harder to keep it on the line and end up blowing past the hole. Though instead of thinking you miss-read it you might think you just hit it too hard.

Really, for me there are only a few ways to confirm this. One is to really have a good reading ability. This would mean knowing the greens very very well, or invest in a system like Aimpoint. From there you can tell if you are hitting your lines or not, because you know what the break is.

As for starting putts on their intended line. I like to set up gate drills, putting through a small openings. Helps me really focus on starting the ball on the line I want. You can do this at home. Find a straight area on the carpet, and place two balls about 3 inches apart, and set up a ball about 3 feet away. I would just putt through the gate. I would set up an alignment rod to help your body and putter as well.

Distance control, I would lay down a club or an alignment stick and just practice hitting putts to that stick from 10, 15, and 20 foot increments. All putts should be close to that stick.

If your still having trouble, check to make sure your putter is fitted for you. Some putters can throw off your aim by how they look, and what lines they have on them.

[cfritchie]

Read Dave Stockton's book "Unconscious Putting" I read it two weeks ago... after 5-6 rounds not a single 3 putt and have averaged 3 birdies per round...with one round I had 5. My normal average birdies is 1.25 per round.

You can read it in 3-4 days..it is an easy read.