Practice green routine/drills

[d373rm1ned]

I have told myself I am really going to buckle down and work on my short game this summer. Just wondering what everyone's normal pitch/chip/putt routine was on the practice green? Any little drills to keep things fun but still learn from? Thanks in advance.

[alcorn]

As far as putting goes I practice two things. The first is lag putting. If your fair away from the hole and on the green you need to be able to get that ball in close enough so that you can make your second putt.
The second goes right along from there. Take 8 or 10 balls and place them equal distance from the hole. I start around 2 to 3 feet from the hole. You make 8 or better and move back a foot. I try and do this all the way out to 10 feet or more. Do it on different parts of the practice green that may have different breaks. The goal is to constantly be aware of what your doing in your stroke so that you can gain better control over distance and aim.

As far as iron play around the green, I more or less do the same thing I do with the putter. I pick a shot and I hit 8 to 10 balls and my goal is to get them within the distance I'll need to make my putt. Practice chips, bump n runs, flops, and any other shot you would like. Your goal is the same as putting: control and accuracy.

[iWALK18]

For putting, if there is space, I find 2 holes about 20-30 feet apart and I try to 2 putt all the balls from one hole to the other, and back again (meaning 18 consecutive 2 putts).

I'll also hit lag putts looking at the hole.

I'll try to get all 9 balls up and down from different positions which let me use a 7i, sw, and lw.

[Laxplayer201092]

A friend.


Thats what you need, its horrible to be on the putting green all day alone.

I have concrete in my basement, so i took some astro turf stuff (like at GS) and laid it in there so that i can putt at home when the weather isnt so good. Then you can compete with your kids, family, etc etc, whenever you feel like it. its not real putting, but the stroke is the same regardless.

[Dub]

My problem used to be that I'd rush to the course at the last minute and not warm up properly. It showed up in my scores, pain, frustration, post round soreness, lost balls, etc.

Now my routine is different. I show up early...at least an hour or more prior to tee time.

• stretch a good bit while getting my clubs out and shoes on.....stretching in between each task...lazy, slow stretches...nothing aggressive
• ease over to the practice range and get a small bucket (~30 balls)....continue stretching
• start out with some easy wedges and work up to mid irons....swinging practice swings between shots....focusing on smooth tempo and balance
• Finish up with a couple of hybrids and drives.
• ease over to the practice greens and chip for a few minutes...starting with the longer chips....work up to the short ones
• Ease over to the putting green and work through a rotation of all the holes....putting two balls and holing each out...and stretching some in between. After a complete circuit I'll reverse the direction and go at them again. I'll generally keep doing this until everyone is ready to tee off.
• Once we are at the first tee and before anyone takes the box, I'm taking easy practice swings off to the side...just staying loose all over.

My old habits of slinging sticks in the car.....hauling arse to the course.....rushing to pay up and get in with the group....laugh and joke around a bit........are gone.

It's so much more pleasant to show up early and check in then relax....slowly ease around your routine and keep on relaxing....getting downright lazy about it....after all, I just spent the workweek rushing...now it's "my" time.....slow down and enjoy it.

Good luck.

[pjsnyc]

As far as putting goes on the practice green - I usually start by knocking in about 10 3-footers just to get a sense of visualizing the ball into the hole (some of them one-handed). After that I don't even really try to hole putts out - I mainly try to get a feel for the speed of the greens .

Since the beginning of this year I've incorporated one extra drill into my 'speed of the greens' drill - closing my eyes. It really does work wonders and I suggest everybody to try it.

[right handed phil mickelson]

what I do sometimes is put an aiming stick or a club 2-3 feet or so behind a hole I'm going to. What I do is try and get the ball past the hole but not past the stick. This helps tremendously with speed. You can do this with chipping and putting.

Also, I'll work on long putts and short putts. Work on 40 footers and 4 footers. 20-30 footers are easy. But if you can get a 40 footer inside of 4 feet, then you have an easy two putt.

If you have a friend with you, play some stymies. Stymies is a game where you putt 2 balls in the hole in as little shots as possible. On the first hole, each players throws their ball towards the hole, and the closest goes first. If you hit someone else's ball, or it rolls off the green, its a 1 strokes penalty. Throwing the ball counts as a stroke also. Only throw the ball on the first hole, and on the rest just put both balls down and play. Have fun!

[mountaineer maniac0823]

I'm the same way, I plan on practicing my short game a lot this year. As far as chipping/pitching, I like to do a ladder drill. I place 4 clubs down on the ground about 3 feet apart. Pitch the first ball between the first two clubs then work my way up the ladder and then back. I give myself two misses and after I miss twice, I start over. I use this drill with 3 different clubs; 60* wedge, 54* wedge and PW. After this I also work on some bump and runs with 7 iron just trying to get it within 3', no real drill for bump and runs. As for putting I also place a club 3' behind the hole and try to go either in the hole, or past the hole but not hit the club. After I work on this for a while and get the speed of the green I take two balls and just putt around to the different hole locations, also working on lag putts. One thing I always make sure I do is go thru my putting routine every putt.