Leaving putts short

[dpg1682]

I have had some trouble recently leaving putts short. Even my lag puts are short. Any drills you guys have for solving this problem.
THANKS!

[alf174]

On the practice green, I try to move my target along my line further away from me about the distance I've come up short plus 12"; I then tweak it from there.

[kfowler]

Pelz's says you want your putts to go 17" past the whole. You can try working on making the ball stoop at this point.

[goblue107501]

To state the obvious -- hit the ball a little harder.

[ctw262]

Like the above poster said, try and put the ball about a foot or so past the hole. The reason being, if you leave it short the ball never has a chance to go in. Hitting it a little harder, not only do you give the ball atleast a chance, but if you hit it past the hole, you've already gotten a read and you know the break coming back.

[GaijinGolfer]

Ive found that holding my follow-through helps me to not leave putts short.

[Fat Slice]

I think about taking out some of the break by going harder at the hole. Trying to die it into the hole is what usually leaves me short.

p.s. It helps to practice come-backers!

[HackerD]

One common problem that causes putts to come up short, especially short putts, is to take too long a backswing and then decelerate coming through the ball. Cure is to take a shorter backswing with a firm stroke through the ball. You'll keep it straighter too.

As previous post mentioned, taking a full follow through also helps.

[Shindig]

I'm going to guess you are, at some level, afraid of the ball going past the hole.

1. Practice 3-5 footers if your long putts are coming up short. The good long-range putters can putt aggressively on long putts because they don't fear a 3-footer coming back.

2. Pick a spot along your line *short of the hole* and putt aggressively at that.

[Brakkus]

I think most putting problems are mental,I particulary fear the 1st putt if it's over 20 ft.Read Rotella on putting and it really is leaving the judgement of the speed to your internal computer.Like throwing a piece of paper into a basket,it's surprising how accurate you can be.

Don't care if you miss is the advice and if it goes past then watch the line as goes by you will get a read coming back.
If we are scared of taking more than 2 putts then the likely scenario is 3 putting as we are too careful not to miss,it's having the cohones to go for the hole much like pouncing on a short ball inside the baseline in tennis,if you are careful chances are the ball will go long,if it's hit hard then the topspin will likely dip it into the court for a winner.

In putting this translates to being close to the hole or in,apprehension as sometimes in my case covering only half the distance I kid you not.

[gogolfing]

When I am having trouble with my speed, I put 3 balls down on the same line: a 5 footer to start, and then a 10 and a 15 footer. I'll do this for all types of putts (uphill, downhill etc...) to get a better feel. I warm up before the round like this too and it helps get a feel for the speed needed. Once I have done this, I'll also start from 15, then go back to 25 and 35 feet. I think if you are leaving them short, you need to work on the length of stroke needed for various types of putts from different distances.

[ks8829]

distance control can be made easy by keeping the same tempo putting stroke for a 3 foot putt or a 20 foot putt but change the backswing length and forward stroke length.

next time you are on the putting green you can judge how far you can putt a 3 foot putt by bring your putter back to the inside of your back foot and forward the same distance. 10 foot putt might be 3 inches passed your outside back foot and forward the same distance, so the next time you are faced with a 10 foot you know that the backswing length is that distance and you can duplicate any distance by this putting length technique. of course your distance will vary with other golfer but give you an ideal of a putting distance that you can duplicate on the course after you determine what the green speed for the course you are going to play.

If you are faced with a uphill putt you have to image how much farther the putt needs to traval to compensate for the slope and adjust for the up hill resistance.

[itzzzberny]

learn how to make a firm putt .

[hkphooey00]

I think I heard Nicklaus say once pick a target short of the hole and put aggressively to it.