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How do you cope with short putts?


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Hey guys, I just shot my best round of 78 on a Par 67 golf course (63.1/101). This has been my best round yet since I picked up the sport 9 months ago. I had some issues putting today as it was an absolute rollercoaster. On the front 9 holes, I shot +8 with only 2 Pars, and missed basically almost every Par putt I had, and the back 9 holes, I shot +3 with 6 Pars and 3 Bogeys.

Now...My front 9 was a complete disaster as I was missing 3 to 4 foot putts (and in a couple of instances, 2 foot 'tap-ins'! yikes). I don't know if it was nerves to win the hole (playing team matchplay for skins) but I was straight up missing these short putts that definitely should have dropped. My back 9 I hit 4 putts that were outside 10 feet with breaks, dowhill, uphill respectively... longest approximately being 15 feet (had great reads and the putter was absolutely coming alive, even surprised my playing partners). Why is it I can make a 12 footer, but choke on a 2 footer?

I look at my line, do my routine, hit the ball, and even some straight putts didn't drop for me today. I am for sure going to hit up the putting green and practice these short 'gimme-like' putts. I don't know what my deal is, but I've got to work on this and hopefully I can just bang these right in the cup when it counts. How do you guys cope with these short putts in a game situation?

Cheers!
Driver: Nike 9.5° SasQuatch SUMO²
Fairway Woods: Adams 16° Tight Lies 3 Wood
Hybrids: Adams 19° Idea Pro Hybrid
Irons: Callaway X-18 4-AW (Rifle 6.0 Precision)
Wedges: TaylorMade: 56/12 Degree RAC SatinPutter: Odyssey 34" Tri-Ball SRT PutterBall: Callaway HX HOTHome...
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For two-footers and in, I make sure to make an agressive stroke and pretty much take the break out of the equation. I line it up with the cup and accelerate through the ball crisply and confidently.

Three-footers are pretty much the same, though I pay a little more respect to the break. Unless it's a really tricky pin location though, I rarely give the hole away completely. I still make sure I make a confident stroke. At worst, I'll lip it out -- but more often than not, it goes in.

Being tentative about any aspect of the putt inevitably leads to a decelerating stroke, which (in my case) leads to either my hands becoming too active through impact to compensate, or a weak push to the right that won't get the job done.

Just spend time on the practice green. Hammer putt after putt into the back of the cup. Do the same for every hole location on the practice green.

"I played like shit." -Greg Norman after the '96 Masters.

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With short putts your really have to be confident. Anything within 5 feet and i never really give the hole away unless there is severe break. As for speed, i try to putt the ball so that it will go 1 foot past the hole if i were to miss. No being Sally for me. The worst feeling is when you have a 5 foot birdie putt and you leave it a foot short.

Driver: 9.5* SQ Sumo Stiff
3W: 15* SQ Stiff
Irons: 3-PW R7 Stiff Flex
GW: X Tour Vintage 52 11 bounce
SW: X Tour Vintage 56 13 bounceLW: X Tour Vintage 60 8 BouncePutter: Monza CorzaBall: HX Tour 56

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I used to have a problem missing some short putts but the biggest thing is not to think about it. Pick a line look at a spot in front to of the take one practice stroke step up and hit it.

Another tips I saw, I cannot remember where I saw this, but it works great when you practice put the ball 6 to 12 inches in front of the hole and it is just a tap in so tap it in. The funny thing is he said to put the ball 4 feet from the hole and use the same stroke as you would with a tap in and I am telling the ball goes in every time.

Give this a shot it helped me I do not miss many 3 footers anymore.

Keep it on the short grass.

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For two-footers and in, I make sure to make an agressive stroke and pretty much take the break out of the equation. I line it up with the cup and accelerate through the ball crisply and confidently.

Keep your wrists stiff with no hand action at all. Take a short backswing and accecerate through the ball.

Bag: Grom
Driver: HiBore 10.5° Fuji Stiff
3W: V-Steel 15° Graphite Designs YS-6 Stiff
3h-4h: Bobby Jones Stiff
5i-PW: CG4 Steel StiffWedges: 588 DSG RTG 52°, 900 RTG 56° Low bounce, Reg. 588 RTG 60°Putter: Dead CenterBalls: Pro V1 Speed Cart V1Home Courses: Riverdale Dunes / Knolls,...

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For a two footer, just accelerate the club confidently through the ball each time. There's rarely a such thing as break on such a short putt, but if there is, aim for the outside of the hole and strike positively. All you need to get right is the line.
"Shouldn't you be going faster? I mean, you're doing 40 in a 65..."

Driver: Burner TP 9.5*
3 Wood: 906F2 15*
2I: Eye 23I-PW: 3100 I/HWedges: Vokey Spin-Milled 56*06, MP-R 52*07/60*05Putter: Victoria IIBall: Pro V1xCheck out my new blog: Thousand Yard DriveHome Course: Kenton County...
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I always pick a blade of grass on the edgeof the cup. If I think there may be a slight break, I pick the blade on the side of the break. Seems to work well with me.
In my bag:
Driver : 905R 9.5*
3 Wood: Big Bertha Titanium 15*
5 Wood: Big Bertha Titanium 19*
Irons : 755Wedges: Vokey 50* Wedges: 588 DSG 56* Putter: 2 Ball Lined Blade 35Ball : ProV1
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Pick a spot on the back edge of the cup or even a bit beyond the cup, a peice of dirt, a blemish, blade of grass or whatever. Putt to the that spot, you will not leave it short and the ball will go in because you are putting passed the hole and the hole just happeneds to get in the way.

Much like your putter stroke or any golf swing, swing through and passed the ball. Think of it as though the ball just gets in the way of the swing path rather then swinging at the ball.
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hey guys, thanks for the great advice, i'll try some of the things next time i head out to the practice range. I also went to one of the pros at the local golf store I go to, and I was practicing those 3-4 footers. Eerily he said, I bet you missed these putts last time you played. It was scary actually...He said he knew because I was too tense and put a lot of pressure in my grip, he basically told me to adjust my grip and loosen it up a bit. Another anaolgy he said was 'grip your putter like you would a toothpaste tube without any toothpaste coming out'. I will be sure to try a mix of these things, and basically hit these putts. Thanks for the great advice fellas. Cheers
Driver: Nike 9.5° SasQuatch SUMO²
Fairway Woods: Adams 16° Tight Lies 3 Wood
Hybrids: Adams 19° Idea Pro Hybrid
Irons: Callaway X-18 4-AW (Rifle 6.0 Precision)
Wedges: TaylorMade: 56/12 Degree RAC SatinPutter: Odyssey 34" Tri-Ball SRT PutterBall: Callaway HX HOTHome...
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Commit your shot 100%, no hesitation means no yikes. I often kneel down in front of the ball, commit to a line of attack, align & lock the putter face to it, get up, do the putting stand, swing the putter back couple of times to get a sense the strength required.

Hope that helps

Goeff, golf-instruction.com
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just make sure you get a good read, and you are set up correctly ie everthing square and make sure you excellerate through the shot and make sure you hit it with enough pace to hit the back of the hole,

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Pamela Pro (Our Pro) says: if you're shooting that kind of number your technique is probably not the problem. Try this (Tiger and Jim Flick and both recommended it, and when i tried it in my "glory days", i won the next tournament start): Go to a putting green and set yourself a target. Say 50 3 footers to start with. Dont leave until you make 50 without missing. When you get up to 40, 45,46,47..you should start to feel nervous at the thought of starting again - like you do on the course. It gives you huge confidence seeing the ball go in the hole. When you get good, got to 100 - there isnt any better confidence booster than making 100 3 footers in a row. When you get on the course you feel like you cant miss.

Golf is not a game of perfect unless you're playing with me

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Short putts are easy for me as long as I don't start altering my natural rhythm and tempo (which is fairly slow). From there slight forward press, back through and (hopefully) drop.
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I look at it like this.... I'd a heck of a lot rather have a short putt than a long one, so I'm just happy that the ball is where it is and not somewhere farther from the hole.

Rick

"He who has the fastest cart will never have a bad lie."

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I've struggled with the exact same problem, so I know how frustrating it can be. There's a lot of good advice in this post already -- practice and confidence are key -- and here are two other things that have helped me. I have a long, rhythmic putting stroke with a traditional grip which works very well for longer putts. For short putts, I use a variation of the claw/saw grip which completely takes the wrists out of the equation and promotes a crisp straight back, straight through stroke (mine is something like the third picture here ). I also abbreviate my routine: a quick look to make sure I can play it inside the hole, one or no practice stroke and hit it. Takes the mind completely out of the equation :)

Sounds like you're playing well, shortly after taking up the game, so make sure you focus on the good shots (not the bad ones) and enjoy!
Cleveland - HiBore XL (9.5* Fuji Fit-On Gold Stiff)
Bobby Jones/Jesse Ortiz - 3W & 21* H3 (Stock Stiff)
Ben Hogan - Apex FTX 4-FW (Apex 4 shafts)
TaylorMade - rac TP 56.12 satin & 60.6 black
Scotty Cameron - Mil-Spec Newport 2 (33" standard)
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Note: This thread is 6146 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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