Erik's Random Ladder Drill (Putting)

[ChetlovesMer]

2 hours ago, StuM said:

I do not recall you walking that fast last time we golfed.  Looks a little like an old Charlie Chaplin movie.  Is that part of the drill? 😜

Ha ha, oh Stu. That's funny. 
Naw, I filmed it on time-lapse mode. The drill is a bit of a challenge and I wasn't sure how long it would take me to complete the challenge so I set my phone to time-lapse and filmed away. 

Here's the challenge. (I was given this by @iacas so if you use it, you need to send him a check for like 20 bucks or something. 😁)

• You put 6 balls, numbered 1 through 6 in your pocket.
• Then you need to set up a target area.
  • In my example there's a line on the floor and then 6 feet from there I put an alignment stick. For the left/right portion of the target area I just use the width of the alignment stick. 
  • You could use two pieces of string to create your target area. Or 4 golf tees if you are on an actual green. Basically you need to create an approximately 4' x 6' rectangle target. 
• Then 8 feet from the target area is where you putt. You have to hit each putt from the same spot. 
• Now the fun begins.
• Pull a ball out of your pocket. Look at the number. Putt that ball into the target area. 
• The goal is to putt the ball with the 6 on it farther than the ball with the 5 on it. Putt the ball with the 5 on it farther than the ball with the 4 on it and so on...
• All balls must come to rest inside the target area.
• Balls are hit in a random order. Which ever ball you pull out of your pocket you must putt.
• If a ball leaves the target area or doesn't reach the target area you start over.
• If a lower numbered ball is hit past a higher number ball, you start over. 
• Keep going until you get all the balls in order from the number 1 ball in the front of the target area to the number 6 ball at the back of the target area. 
• The number of putts it took you to achieve that goal is your score. The lowest score you can get is 6, the highest is infinity. 
• You are allowed to bump a ball with another ball. Either to use it as a backstop or to create a bit more room in the target area. Warning: this can be risky. 

In the example I filmed I got a score of 14. The lower the score the better your speed control was. That was literally my first attempt this morning. The next attempt I was able to get a score of 6. I did it twice more, getting scores of 12 and 9. 
You can do this putting uphill and it's a little easier. You can do it putting downhill and its a little more difficult. You can do it from closer to the target area and its also easier. Farther away... well, you get the idea. 

[StuM]

4 minutes ago, ChetlovesMer said:

Ha ha, oh Stu. That's funny. 
Naw, I filmed it on time-lapse mode. The drill is a bit of a challenge and I wasn't sure how long it would take me to complete the challenge so I set my phone to time-lapse and filmed away. 

Here's the challenge. (I was given this by @iacas so if you use it, you need to send him a check for like 20 bucks or something. 😁)

• You put 6 balls, numbered 1 through 6 in your pocket.
• Then you need to set up a target area.
  • In my example there's a line on the floor and then 6 feet from there I put an alignment stick. For the left/right portion of the target area I just use the width of the alignment stick. 
  • You could use two pieces of string to create your target area. Or 4 golf tees if you are on an actual green. Basically you need to create an approximately 4' x 6' rectangle target. 
• Then 8 feet from the target area is where you putt. You have to hit each putt from the same spot. 
• Now the fun begins.
• Pull a ball out of your pocket. Look at the number. Putt that ball into the target area. 
• The goal is to putt the ball with the 6 on it farther than the ball with the 5 on it. Putt the ball with the 5 on it farther than the ball with the 4 on it and so on...
• All balls must come to rest inside the target area.
• Balls are hit in a random order. Which ever ball you pull out of your pocket you must putt.
• If a ball leaves the target area or doesn't reach the target area you start over.
• If a lower numbered ball is hit past a higher number ball, you start over. 
• Keep going until you get all the balls in order from the number 1 ball in the front of the target area to the number 6 ball at the back of the target area. 
• The number of putts it took you to achieve that goal is your score. The lowest score you can get is 6, the highest is infinity. 
• You are allowed to bump a ball with another ball. Either to use it as a backstop or to create a bit more room in the target area. Warning: this can be risky. 

In the example I filmed I got a score of 14. The lower the score the better your speed control was. That was literally my first attempt this morning. The next attempt I was able to get a score of 6. I did it twice more, getting scores of 12 and 9. 
You can do this putting uphill and it's a little easier. You can do it putting downhill and its a little more difficult. You can do it from closer to the target area and its also easier. Farther away... well, you get the idea. 

I may have to pen that check.  I like the idea of randomizing how far you need to putt each ball.  I have always practiced trying to get all of my putts @ the same place relative to the target.  Naturally that became easier as all I had to do was adjust the next putt based on the prior putt to fine tune the result.  If I understand correctly, with this drill you actually have 6 different targets ranging from the front of the 4x6 area to the back.  Definitely will be harder then trying to hit several identical putts in succession.

[ChetlovesMer]

9 minutes ago, StuM said:

If I understand correctly, with this drill you actually have 6 different targets ranging from the front of the 4x6 area to the back.  Definitely will be harder then trying to hit several identical putts in succession.

You are correct, sir. 

Sometimes you'll hit the number 5 a little too far and then you have to be really precise when you pull the number 6 from your pocket. Or you'll hit the number 3 a little past the first line, then you know you gotta get 2 balls (numbers 1 and 2) between the number 3 and the line. 

It really makes you focus on trying to stop each putt on an exact spot. Yoda encouraged me to make sure I pick exact spots where I'm trying to stop the ball and NOT to just try to hit this one a little harder than the last one or what ever. 

[iacas]

I moved this out of the 5 Minutes Daily topic.

Thanks, @ChetlovesMer.

[ChetlovesMer]

Okay I did this again this morning. 
I actually got it on the very first try. So, my score would be 6! In fairness, however, I've been practicing all week on this surface so I'm getting a good feel for the speed. 

I used 8 feet from the target area and my target area was 6 feet by 4ish feet (the length of an alignment stick). 

After that, I shortened my target area to 5 feet. It took me a couple tries to get that.
Then I shortened it to 4 feet and that took a couple of tries.

Finally, I shortened my target area to 3 feet. .... That took a while. ... I'm not sure what my score was on that, but it was pretty big. 

But eventually I got it:

[ChetlovesMer]

This drill is great. If you haven't tried it, you should.

Today I did the drill from 12 feet putting into a 6x4 foot square. Took me a while to get it. I lost count. But after I got it once I was able to repeat it with only 7 balls. Which is the second best score you can get. 

I'm trying to decide if I can do this drill or some version of it to warm up before an important round. Especially one played on an unfamiliar course. It really helps you mast the speed control of the particular surface you are putting upon. 

[woodzie264]

Sounds like a great drill for me…I am prob one of the worst lag putters in the history of the game. Thanks for posting!

[iacas]

Just now, woodzie264 said:

Sounds like a great drill for me…I am prob one of the worst lag putters in the history of the game. Thanks for posting!

Well, it's not really for lag putting.

For that, putt to the fringe or something from 25-40' away trying to stop the ball as close to the fringe as possible without going into it.

Hit 12 balls (3 each from 25, 30, 35, 40) in a random order and count your score as the number of inches from the fringe, with any ball that goes into the fringe counting as 100.

Or something like that. I just made that up.

[ChetlovesMer]

13 hours ago, woodzie264 said:

Sounds like a great drill for me…I am prob one of the worst lag putters in the history of the game. Thanks for posting!

I've been doing this drill on and off for about a month now. Here's my suggestions. 

Start with something easy. I'd suggest hitting a 6 footer into a 6 x 4 foot area on a flat or close to flat surface. The first time you do it (if you are like me you'll score something in the high teens or twenties.) You will quickly adapt however, and then be able to achieve the 6 footer into the 6' x 4' area and get a perfect score of 6 or at least something under 10 pretty quickly. 

After a short time the 6 footers into a 6' x 4' square will get easy. (That's a good thing.) So, then work on 6 or 8 footers into a much smaller area. I've been able to get it done in a 3'x3' area. You can also take the drill out farther. 12 foot and 15 foot seem to about as far as is reasonable. (Remember its a speed control drill and NOT a lag putting drill.) For a real challenge try it on downhill putts. 

Here are my two additional tips for this drill (Try the drill and tell me if you think these tips help.)

• Hit each putt as it's own putt. Don't hit your putts using the "a bit more" or "a bit less" principle.
  • Hit each putt aiming for a point on the floor, or a point on the green where you want the ball to come to rest. 
  • Don't hit your putt thinking "Okay this is number 4 so I'll just hit it a little harder than the number 3 putt etc..." Don't do that. 
  • Make each putt a unique event with its own specific target landing spot. 
• Keep going even if its unlikely you will get the balls in order. Don't give up on any set of putts until you actually hit one out of order. 
  • Even if the first ball you pull out is the number 1 or 2 and your putting into a 6 foot deep area. If you it that number 1 or 2 five feet past the first line and close to the last line. Don't give up on the set.
  • As long as there is any space between the ball and the end of the zone, or between one ball and another ball, it can be done. Don't give up on it. Don't just rake the balls back and start over. 
  • When you surprise yourself and you get the number 3 between the number 2 and the number 4 even though it's only like a inch or two, it's a pretty great feeling of accomplishment. 

[iacas]

7 hours ago, ChetlovesMer said:

As long as there is any space between the ball and the end of the zone, or between one ball and another ball, it can be done. Don't give up on it. Don't just rake the balls back and start over. 

I've seen it done when there's no space… because the ball that must fit between taps a ball and nudges it just back, creating more space. 😉

[ChetlovesMer]

I did this drill a couple of times this morning. The final time I did it from 15 feet into a 4'x4' square. 

To complete it I had to sneak the number 3 just between the 2 and the 4. I had about 3 inches to work with. I got it done and even though nobody was around, I actually gave a fist pump. ... Then I realized I still had to get the number 1 ball in front of the number 2. Luckily I had plenty of room. Success from 15 feet! In the picture it kind of looks like the 3 and 4 balls are touching, but the weren't quite.

 

[ChetlovesMer]

Did this drill a couple more times this morning. I've seemed to settle into using a 4'x4' square for my target area. 
Today the drill was from 12 to 16 feet. 

I think this drill will pay dividends on "makeable" putts.