Putting Question

[Cole]

I need some opinions on improving my putting.

I played today, and broke 30 putts for the first time. I had 29 putts.

My question is this....

How in the world do I get myself in position to be able to drain more long putts? Like 10~20 footers. Just practice them everyday? Get better at green reading?

The pros make alot more long putts on average. How does someone get to this level?

Thanks.

[Jcp907]

I need some opinions on improving my putting.

It is my opinion that once you have a grip and motion that is consistent, you should practice two putting. Practice lagging the ball within tap in distance. Practice from tap in distance. Make the goal of that first shot to get within tap in distance, not necessarily draining it. I believe this will help you to consistently break 30. Once you are consistently hitting that tap in distance, then try draining them.

I read an idea (think it was Golf Magazine) that will allow you to measure the results of your practice. Take 11 balls. From a single area of a green, putt to a cup. Remove the 5 furthest balls. Remove the five closest balls. This is your median distance for those 11 balls, measure and record it. You now have a metric other than number of putts that you can work on.

[ks8829]

I had a round a couple of weeks ago with 24 putts. This includes putts from the fringe that were not considered putts because I was not on the green, but what I noticed during that round was that my short game or up and down from around the green was on and I had many one putts. If you want to improve your putting under 30 your short game needs to put you position to have many one putts to save par.

What was your final score? what was your up and down from around the green percentage?

[klaymon]

I have done the exact drill in JCP's post. I practice my lag putting. I go to the practice green at my local range and setup at least 10' away from the hole and eventually work my way uyp to 40'+. Naturally, I want to make the putt, but I focus more on getting the speed correct so, if I miss, the ball stops right by the hole for a tap in.

[imtomtomim]

The whole lag putting thing definitely is important to practice, but if you're talking about making the puts, you gotta put it at the hole. I was reading some statistics and looking at some patterns of amateurs vs professionals. When looking at the hole after a bunch of puts are made by an amateur from a distance, about 50% of the missed balls are past the hole, and the other 50% (or more) never get to the hole. The pro's maybe leave 10% short of the hole. Remember, you gotta get the ball there for it to drop in the hole. If you're trying to be safe, go ahead and lag it up and try to get it close. But if you want that putt to drain, you gotta put it there.

Also, make more room for break. another pro vs amateur thing I read was that pro's play for more break and miss most putts high and judge for too much break where amateurs usually miss low. Remember, gotta get the ball to the hole to have a chance. If it's too low, it will never have a chance. When it's high, it still has a chance to turn in. The ball will never turn uphill so don't take yourself out of the shot and give yourself the best chances.

[MiniMoe]

The difference between a 10 footer and a 20 footer is more than just 10 feet. On 10 footers the correct line is the most important factor. You have to choose the correct line for the speed you want to play... faster speed = less break/ slower speed = more break, but you don't have to be concerned with hitting it 6 feet past the hole, so you can be more aggressive.

On 20 footers, speed is the most important factor. You now have to be aware of the speed of the putt so you don't knock it 6 feet past the hole. Once you get a feel for speed, then you can read how much break the putt will have. Play more break than you read, especially on faster putts. Most people don't play near enough break. Don't worry about leaving a few short. If short is a trend, then make a little adjustment. It takes practice and imagination to get a feel for speed.

One more thought... The "never up, never in" idea is horrible. I would rather tap in a 6" putt than have to make a 4 footer because I don't want to leave one short. A putt hit firm enough to go 4 feet past the hole must hit the hole dead center to have a chance to go in. If it does not hit dead center, the ball will lip out almost every time. You are then left with the thought that bad luck kept the ball from going in when in reality is was just bad speed.

Now if you really want to get your putts under 30, just miss more greens. If you miss every green, but only get up/down half of the time, you will only have 27 putts.

[jmurdock]

I had a round a couple of weeks ago with 24 putts. This includes putts from the fringe that were not considered putts because I was not on the green, but what I noticed during that round was that my short game or up and down from around the green was on and I had many one putts. If you want to improve your putting under 30 your short game needs to put you position to have many one putts to save par.

That logic would not apply if the golfer was a good ball striker. It sounds like you only hit a couple of GIR, were as a good ball striker might hit 13 or 14 GIR, thus not having a chance to "have your short game put you in a position to have a one putt." I average about 29-30 putts a round, but I hit an average of 68% GIR.

I would practice a lot of 10-15 foot putts. I think that anytime you hit it that close, you really feel like that is a makable putt. Anything over that distance, try to pu it within 2 ft of the cup. Some you will make, the others are tap-ins.

[Nyper]

This is just my two cents...

When you're playing, pick a spot on the green where you want to hit the putt and then see whether or not you hit it. If you consistently hit your spot but still missed the putt, you need to work on your ability to read the greens. If you're missing your spot and missing the putt, you're probably reading it just fine and need to work on the consistency of your stroke and hitting your spots with the correct speed.

Of course the latter is the most likely scenario..

[Quinn07]

I would suggest working on your short game so you don't have as many 10-20 foot putts to have to worry about. When you see guys only having to make 24-27 putts it's not normally because they make more of the longer putts, it's because they get the ball with in the "Golden 8" as Pelz calls it. I suggest working on your pitching and chipping to bring down the number of putts. JM2C!!

[GaijinGolfer]

On long putts, you need to read the break the entire way, not just around the hole. I think a lot of us make the mistake of only looking 5 or 10 feet ahead of the hole and miss the rest of the break, which causes us to miss putts.
Also, your goal should be a 2-putt. By that, I mean that you should try to get your first putt within a few inches of the hole, so that you are left with a tap-in at most. Sometimes your first putt will drop, sometimes it wont, but at least then you wont be left with a 4' second putt that leaves the potential for the dreaded 3-putt.
Beyond that, I say practice, practice, practice. The shortest putts that I practice are 10'. That way, anything shorter than that seems like a tap-in and anything longer than than still seems very makeable.
IMO, putting is all about confidence and that comes with practice.

[imtomtomim]

One more thought... The "never up, never in" idea is horrible. I would rather tap in a 6" putt than have to make a 4 footer because I don't want to leave one short. A putt hit firm enough to go 4 feet past the hole must hit the hole dead center to have a chance to go in. If it does not hit dead center, the ball will lip out almost every time. You are then left with the thought that bad luck kept the ball from going in when in reality is was just bad speed.

I'm pretty sure he asked how to make a 20 foot putt, not how to set up for a second shot. Yeah, I'd like a real short second putt but that's not what he's asking for is it. 20 feet, 1 stroke, all the marbles

[jmurdock]

I would suggest working on your short game so you don't have as many 10-20 foot putts to have to worry about. When you see guys only having to make 24-27 putts it's not normally because they make more of the longer putts, it's because they get the ball with in the "Golden 8" as Pelz calls it. I suggest working on your pitching and chipping to bring down the number of putts. JM2C!!

Again, he's not asking how to have less putts/round, it's how to make more putts from 10-20 feet. If he hits every GIR, then it doesnt matter how great his short game is.

[wachesawgolfer]

In realty 10 foot plus putts are beyond the makeable range no matter how hard you practice. In truth your goal is to get the ball just over and beyond the hole so the next putt is a tap in. As they are above the hole some will on occasion go in. The key to putting to me is to be able to make the make able putts which Peltz says is 8 feet in, it may be a little shorter who knows, and hit the long ones close and you are well on your way to fewer putts. In realty, however, the tour pros consistently take the green out of play by hitting the ball closer to the hole, time and time again. They hit to their power zone and nail the ball tight from there.

[Lefty22]

In realty 10 foot plus putts are beyond the makeable range no matter how hard you practice...

You state this as fact, but that's totally your opinion...

An opinion I have to respectfully disagree with. In my opinion anyone who thinks 10ft+ are "beyond makeable range no matter how hard you practice" has an issue with the way they approach these putts (mentally) and should consider that before giving others advice on how to practice these strokes. Proper practice and a repeatable stroke will leave 10+ still in "makeable" range...

[MiniMoe]

If I'm not supposed to be able to make a 10'+ putt, then I must get really lucky a lot. I guess all these years I have just been hitting and hoping with just good guessing and luck on my side. With these odds, I should close my eyes on the short ones and see if luck helps me there too.

[DavidFehertysBike]

Ive found its mindset. The way you approach the putt from a mental point of view. From my POV, any reletivley flat or uphill 20 foot putt is makeable. I dont view it as a long putt and i dont try to lag - I try to make them. Speed is a feel thing, i cant really give you advice there, but I ganuretee if you mentally tell yourself youre going to to knock those 20 footers in your PPR will stay around 28-30.

[wachesawgolfer]

You state this as fact, but that's totally your opinion...

I would suggest Peltz's Putting Bible to you. He talks about the magic 8 feet which is the Pro's make able range. He is talking 99 per 100 go in. Beyond 10 feet, too many factors enter into consideration, which he lists, which make absolute perfection beyond 10 feet difficult. A high percentage going in at twenty feet, due to high putting skill, is not the same thing as being in your make able range whatever it is, where you never, never miss, except on rare occasion, like to win the Bristich Open as Doug Sanders can relate to.

[rwise44]

Cole, what kind of pattern are you seeing in your putts? are you missing left,right? are you accelerating/decelerating through impact? do you struggle more on varied slopes and angled greens? you may want to have your swing analyzed by professionals, whether in person or on the web at the 10thgreen. I recently went to a sternum putter and it has helped my short putting. I found that I just needed to practice varied distances, which helped my longer putts. 10thgreen also has HD videos on line to address various putting distance issues.