Anyone have any tips for shorter putts?

[artfulgolfer]

I've always struggled with short putts too... I posted an entry on my blog a while back asking for help and received a lot of good feedback, similar to the replies on this thread:

The Art of Sinking Short Putts

I had my first sub-70 round recently, thanks mostly to making short putts. I started placing a lot more weight on my front foot, make sure to follow through down my target line -- then try really hard not to watch the ball go to the hole.

[ks8829]

slight forward press and use the pendulum motion for your short putts and long putts and let the putter move up but still stay down the line like Paddy putts.

[Watcher2000]

Best tip I ever heard for shorter putts is this, from Daniel Chopra:

I agree, a great tip

[pshizz]

I agree, a great tip

i also think thats a great tip, but i also believe that most people tend to peak, or pick their heads up while putting. This bad habbit can caused missed putts, and for me personally causes me to push the ball. In other words, "keep your head still until you hear the ball in the cup......or the croud cheer

"

[uttexas]

Use an alignment aid (logo, or drawn line)
Commit to the line and more importantly commit to the speed of the putt.
Visualize the ball going in the relative center of the cup (this changes depending on break)
Focus on one dimple on the back of the ball
Make a comitted stroke holding the clubface looking down the line
Don't look up until you hear the ball go in the cup

[RC]

This may of no use to you... but I have noticed something about very good lag putters who use longer type putting strokes.

Excellent lag putters sometimes have great tempo and nice longish backswings, with very smooth follow-throughs. However, when faced with a three foot putt, that same longish backswing is an invitation to decelerate and pull left through impact (or to open the putter face to compensate.)

I would practice hundreds of 2 and 3 foot putts in which you really shorten your backswing and get a true feel of rolling a ball 3 or 4 feet with a small version of your lag putt. The shorter back swing does not mean making a quicker transition from backswing to forward swing, quite the contrary, use your same tempo and focus on solid contact just like Eric says. Use the short backswing to limit distance so all you have to worry about is solid contact and line, with no deceleration. Try it... you may be surprised to see how short and smoothly you can putt a ball and have it travel several feet. The king of the big backswing putters was Crenshaw, and on the short ones, his routine never varied... only the size of his stroke. Short and sweet, but never quick with deceleration.

[Phnert]

I too had the "YIPS" on short putts until...
I went to the CLAW grip (left hand normal...right hand claw)(right handed golfer)
All I can say is the claw fixed the problem
Of course all the other cures are true too...no deceleration...don't look up too early...
This is the stuff that gives GOLF DIGEST material to write about for 50 years

[Fourputt]

This is the stuff that gives GOLF DIGEST material to write about for 50 years

Over and over and over and over ad nauseum......

That's why I don't subscribe any more. I just have to re-read my 20 year old copies to get the same tips. All they do is rephrase and reprint them with different photos.

[GolfingNewbie]

i was speaking to one of the older pros at my golf club and he was saying that a good way of getting good alignment on short puts is to take ur putting stance next to a wall and lean ur head against the wall whilst stroking the putter against (parrallel) to that wall. This way your eye line will be always online with your putting stroke.

[wachesawgolfer]

Practice these by hitting one ball into another ball on the green from a few feet. Your goal is to hit the second ball solidly in the middle so it rolls perfectly straight up and over. If you mishit the first ball the second will veer off and not roll perfectly straight. A second ball dead center is a much smaller target than a golf hole.

Send the putter blade square to the hole on the line of the putt. Start from 6 inches and work your way out. Short backstroke and then straight through to the hole. Whenever I miss short putts, I forget to do this.

Practice accelerating through the ball by hitting short putts into the hole without a backstroke. Not as easy as you may think at first.

As Erik said focus on solid contact, forget about the hole once you commit to the line and speed, just hit the ball so it rolls perfectly vertically with no side spin or wobble. Put a circular line around the ball to see its rolls perfectly straight. A ball with side spin no matter at little will tend to pick up the break and miss the hole or lip out as its forward track is impaired by the side spin.

Before you play knock twenty or so short ones into the cup and then after you play do the same thing. Of course, you can do it all day anywhere on a flat fine pile carpet with two balls or a glass. Leave a putter in the office and one in the living room.

Work on not turning or lifting to see the ball drop. Probably, the toughest bad habit to break, bar none, but it causes so many short putts to miss. I sometimes position myself so I can see the hole without moving.

Last, open your stance and take a wide footing to give yourself a chance to swing straight on to the hole. I find a narrow stance square to the line to the hole can cause a weak putt under pressure, even though it it may work great in practice.

[TourSpoon]

I did a search and resurrected this thread out of desperation.  Today I worked on extending my normal routine into my short putts.  It definitely helped along with feeling the putterhead follow the ball to the hole and not peeking.

[mattshaver]

Look at my handicap before you take any of this too seriously, but with the short putts < 3 ft or so, I just ram them into the back of the hole.  By that, I mean I hit it maybe 20% harder than I think I should.  Takes the break out of the putt, and I don't slow down through my putting stroke.  :shrugs:  works for me.

[Colding]

Studies have shown that almost every amature golfer leaves their puts short.

In the short puts i had succes by giving it more speed and therefore degreesing the importatance of slopes.

I heard someone say that you should always aim around 15 cm after the hole for the biggest % of succes.

[ghalfaire]

I have never (personally) found any tips related to mechanics to help with short putts.  I had a lot of trouble inside of about 5 feet until I quit thinking mechanics.  I just decide on the speed and line, then hit the putt only thinking "watch the ball until it leaves"  (I concede that some will call that a mechanic).  Seems if I have a single other thought when I begin moving the putter I'll have a 90% chance of missing the putt.  For some of us right brain folks mechanics just don't work well.  So you might try to just "see" (envision if you prefer that word) the ball going into the hole, then make it happen.   Works pretty well for me and I don't leave many 10 feet or shorter putts short.

[The Recreational Golfer]

I have found it useful for my short putt problems to put a water bottle in the hole in the practice green and practice hitting the water bottle.

Because you're aiming at an object that is actually there, instead of at a place where there isn't anything, you can't miss. It's so easy.

Also, you never see the ball roll past an empty hole. That tricks your mind in a positive way, too.

After a while you will find it easy to imagine there's a bottle in the hole, almost see it there, when facing a short putt on the course. You'll think, "hit the bottle," instead of "in the hole."

Making short putts is about performing with confidence. This is how I get mine back when I start to miss those little guys.

[sean_miller]

Near the end of last season I made more short putts. I did the following before improving.

1.) I considered mindset on pitches and chips, where I felt more confident.

2.) I looked at my grip, posture, takeaway, and pretty much all the static physical things and came up with a best practice for me - not what I'd read in a magazine. I switched to being very right hand dominant which is more natural for me. I changed my grip. I repositioned myself more over the ball with the ball more back in my stance.

3.) I tried to treat short par and birdie putts more like casual tap ins for double bogey.

4.) I stopped grounding my putter at address. I choke down on short ones and hover the putter on line. I couldn't believe how many times I was very slightly stubbing the blade into the ground and taking it off line.

5.) I faced the fact that some times a great putt doesn't go in. Just move on.

[TourSpoon]

Originally Posted by sean_miller

Near the end of last season I made more short putts. I did the following before improving.

1.) I considered mindset on pitches and chips, where I felt more confident.

2.) I looked at my grip, posture, takeaway, and pretty much all the static physical things and came up with a best practice for me - not what I'd read in a magazine.  I switched to being very right hand dominant which is more natural for me. I changed my grip. I repositioned myself more over the ball with the ball more back in my stance.

3.) I tried to treat short par and birdie putts more like casual tap ins for double bogey.

4.) I stopped grounding my putter at address. I choke down on short ones and hover the putter on line. I couldn't believe how many times I was very slightly stubbing the blade into the ground and taking it off line.

5.) I faced the fact that some times a great putt doesn't go in. Just move on.

Ok, I can relate...right hand dominant, choke down and hover (worked on this yesterday) and know that great putts don't always go in.  I thought about moving the ball back slightly...where exactly is it positioned?  With it too far forward the shoulder can open and then cause a slicing effect.  It's funny that if I hit a good putt and it misses I at least feel good that it was a sound putt and maybe I misread, but hitting a bad putt, you just have to move on.

[zeg]

Originally Posted by sean_miller

3.) I tried to treat short par and birdie putts more like casual tap ins for double bogey.

This one resonates with me... I can pretty much sink any putt necessary to "save" a triple bogey every time, but that rare short birdie putt always comes up 10 feet from the hole.

This month's Golf Digest had a decent hint (I try to avoid reading these in general, but I was bored).  They suggested practicing with emphasis on letting your follow-through follow the line of the putt rather than pulling inside after impact (in their words, make sure the putter head goes over the hole).  I was a bit wary of playing with the stroke, but for 2-3 foot putts, this did seem to help smooth out contact and keep things on the line.