Drills for Putting Distance Control?

[saevel25]

So, after about 2 months of bad putting, I think something is wrong. A big part might be that my distance control has just gotten bad. I was wondering if there was any good drills on practicing distance control? 

Off the top of my head, I was thinking of something like this. 

1) Set up two tees to signify the putting stroke length to be made. 
2) Hit putts
3) Try to log the outcome of the putt to memory? 

I feel like distance control is just a memory linking putting stroke to outcome. 

[snapfade]

What I do is I will lay an alignment rod about a foot or so behind the hole to act as a backstop and roll putts from various lengths. If I miss the hole the idea is for the ball to gently bump up to the rod. If I hit the ball to hard it will bounce off the rod enough to let me know it was hit to hard. Plus, it keeps all the balls together and I don't have to spend an extra 10-15 seconds gathering long balls. Another drill is to take 3-4 balls and putt the first one to some distance, doesn't matter. Then on the next ball have it stop about a foot from the first ball, then have the 3rd stop a foot from that one, and so forth. If one doesn't stop at 1 foot, the you have to start over from the beginning. You can reverse the drill by having the ball stop 1 foot past the previous ball. Do this a couple hours a day and it will take 2-3 strokes off your game. Enjoy.

[billchao]

1 hour ago, saevel25 said:

So, after about 2 months of bad putting, I think something is wrong. A big part might be that my distance control has just gotten bad. I was wondering if there was any good drills on practicing distance control? 

There are two different versions of a ladder drill I like.

One is to lay down a club and try to hit putts from various distances as close as you can to it without touching it. You want to get it within 18” of the club at least. Or lay down the club 18” behind a hole on a practice green and you can even hole putts.

The other one is to put some balls down on the same line to a hole every two to three feet, then try to hole them or leave them within 18” past the hole.

1 hour ago, saevel25 said:

Off the top of my head, I was thinking of something like this. 

1) Set up two tees to signify the putting stroke length to be made. 
2) Hit putts
3) Try to log the outcome of the putt to memory? 

I’m not sure I like this approach. So much of speed control is simply feel and touch. This kind of takes the athleticism out of it. I mean if I were to ask you to toss a ball to me, are you thinking about how far back to take your arm to throw it the correct distance?

I don’t even look at the ball anymore. Am I a good putter? Absolutely not. But did I improve my distance control without actually putting any work in it? Yes, I did. I changed my approach to putting away from the mechanical aspect and more onto just simply doing it. And to be fair, my distance control is pretty good these days. I have been having trouble with putting inside of 10’ which is more about bead. Plus I’m kind of lazy about green reading since I struggle with hitting my line anyway. And to be perfectly honest with you, I don’t know if I’m missing putts simply because I’m not reading them properly.

[saevel25]

1 minute ago, billchao said:

So much of speed control is simply feel and touch. This kind of takes the athleticism out of it. I mean if I were to ask you to toss a ball to me, are you thinking about how far back to take your arm to throw it the correct distance?

I get that, but I think you also need to learn how far back you need to take the backswing. What if you just practiced a 2-Ft long backswing for every putt, but varied the tempo on it? Wouldn't that make 5-FT putts difficult to make? You have a lot of time to mess up that putting stroke. 

 

[billchao]

1 minute ago, saevel25 said:

I get that, but I think you also need to learn how far back you need to take the backswing. What if you just practiced a 2-Ft long backswing for every putt, but varied the tempo on it? Wouldn't that make 5-FT putts difficult to make? You have a lot of time to mess up that putting stroke. 

You’ve played enough golf to know how to hit a 5’ putt. It’s not like you’re hitting one short of the hole and hitting the next one 3’ past the hole. But if you’re really struggling with speed control then taking the putter back way too far for a short putt is actually not a bad drill.

[iacas]

Distance control is definitely an issue.

Some favorites of mine:

• Put lines (with elastic string or tees) at 12 and 20' and have six golf balls numbered. Withdraw each from a pocket randomly and put it in its spot so they end up numbered 1-6 or 6-1.
• Putt to the fringe. Get as close as you can without going into the fringe from random spots on the green.
• Putt to a hole. Try to hit it to a foot right of the hole or a foot left of the hole, but the exact distance of the hole. Your goal here is to not make the putt, but to leave yourself a one-footer.

There are others.

[klineka]

9 hours ago, iacas said:

• Putt to the fringe. Get as close as you can without going into the fringe from random spots on the green.

I do this one before most of my rounds, I find that it helps me get the speed of the greens better without worrying about making/missing the actual putt.

Plus at times before tournaments the putting greens can be crowded so I can go off to a side and not worry about finding a hole or something.

[imsys0042]

10 hours ago, billchao said:

There are two different versions of a ladder drill I like.

The other one is to put some balls down on the same line to a hole every two to three feet, then try to hole them or leave them within 18” past the hole.

 

I do this one a lot.   When I work on distance control I don't like to have the same putt twice because I cannot roll a second ball out on the course.   

[ChetlovesMer]

This one isn't too bad for distance control:

This one is the best for distance control (IMO): 

 

[DeadMan]

I have a few drills that I'll use:

• Set up a circle of tees in a circle around the hole. I put the tees a putter length away from the hole, but you can do whatever length you want. Putt 10 balls from a distance - I'll go anywhere between 10-30 steps from the hole, in increments of 5 steps, and keep track of how many balls end up in the circle. It's a way I compete against myself. It should be pretty easy from 10 steps, but it's challenging from 30 steps.
• Set up a series of coins on the green. Start with 4 coins with 2 putter heads between them, and then add one more coin at the end that's 4 putter heads away. You are putting in 1 foot increments starting at 5 feet, ending at 40 feet. For 5-10 foot putts, stop the ball between the 1st and 2nd pennies. For 10-20, stop the ball between the 1st and 3rd pennies. For 20-30, stop the ball between the 1st and 4th pennies. For 30-40, stop the ball between 1st and last pennies. If you miss a ball in one of those increments, start that increment over (you could also start the whole drill over if you want). Set a timer and see how long it takes. Again, competing against myself with that.
• Very simple one: play an 18 hole round of putting. Keep track of your score.
• Another simple one: putt to holes until you have a 3 putt. Keep track of how many holes you go before 3 putting, and try to beat it.
• This one is for distance control on shorter putts. Set up an alignment stick about a foot behind the hole. Putt 2 balls in 6 foot increments starting at 6 feet, up to 30 feet. The ball must stop between the front edge of the hole and the alignment stick. The ball can hit the alignment stick, but it cannot roll over it. If the ball doesn't stop in that area, you have to start the whole drill over. WARNING: this drill is torture. Pro Tip: it's best to just make the putts. If you want to make it less painful, move the alignment stick a little further back.

[Darkfrog]

Not a drill, but maybe there is something to this - at least it has worked for me recently.

I stopped taking practice strokes before a putt. Instead of a practice stroke, I establish a mental target for distance for the putt (e.g., for an uphill putt, I find a spot on the green past the hole) and just let my brain and body do their thing.

[JetFan1983]

I thought this was a great distance control tip from the Chasing Scratch Podcast and Greg Rose from TPI. I've been doing it the last couple months on the practice green (haven't played any rounds yet due to elbow rehab) and my proximity to the hole has improved. Really simple tip. 

 

TLDR: Focus more on your target than your technique, like you would a free throw. I grew up playing basketball so I take this a step further and try to imagine shooting deep threes for lag putts as well. Locating the rim first is a big thing for shooting it well from anywhere. Translates well to putting IMO, but your mileage may vary. 

This helped me so I'm passing it along. 

[ChiTown]

@saevel25 Not necessarily how to practice putting, but when I’m at the course I do a simple warmup drill just to get a sense of speed and distance. I drop 2-3 balls on a flat area of the practice green. Then I bring back my putter to just inside my back foot, and then stroke the ball.  I then aim the next couple of balls at the first one using the same backstroke. I do this again but going back in the direction I started. Now I have a sense of how far the ball will go if I draw the putter back to inside my foot. I do this again at the outside of my foot. Overall it gives me a sense of distance for the day.

My general goal is two putts on a hole. First putt to within 3’ and second putt into the cup. If I one putt that’s great, and it’s been helping me eliminate three putts 

[Ty_Webb]

Find a long flat part of the putting green, then put down a coin. Measure one putter head and a half putter head and put another coin down. Then do the same thing again so you have three coins that are ~6" apart. Then go another three putter heads and put down a fourth coin, then three more putter heads and a last coin. That gives you five coins with six inches between the first three and then a foot to each of the next two. Then from the first coin, measure five feet lengths and put down a tee, then another five feet lengths and put down another tee. Then ten more feet and another tee and ten more again and another tee. You've now got five feet from the first tee to the first coin, ten feet from the second tee to the first coin, twenty feet and thirty feet. Start at 5' and try to get your ball to finish between the first two coins (i.e. in a six inch window). Once you do that, go back one foot and do it again. Keep going back a foot each time you hole it. If you miss one, start again. Once you get back to ten feet, the ten foot tee becomes your start point. Now you get the first coin to the third coin (so a foot total). Roll it in that gap and you move back two feet. If you miss, go back to ten feet. Keep doing that till you get back to 20 feet. From 20 to 30 feet, you get the first coin to the fourth coin (so a two foot window). Once you get back to 30 feet, you get the first coin to the fifth coin. If you manage to do five putts from 30-38 feet, then you're done. 

If it's too hard, you can adjust the coin gaps to give yourself more room. Or don't go back to the start of your current stage when you miss, just stay where you are. If you can make it all the way back without any repeated putts, then you shouldn't have any issues with speed control. 

One of the things I like about this drill is it exposes me to one of my putting issues. I tend to get fixated on the first coin and that ends up subconsciously my target, so I'm prone to finishing short. I do the same thing with the hole where I wind up with the hole being my target.