How to practise to become a better putter ?

[Gerald]

I kept detailed scores for over a period of 3 months now, I am a great driver and hit most fairways, I am a great iron player and hit most greens in regulation, but I can make 42 putts with ease..... I went from hc 45 tot 13.8 in only a few months, but puttttttttingggggg ..... pffffff.

I know it is all about practice and I practice really a LOT on drives, on my irons and on my approaches, there is also no sand in the Practice Bunker left, since I worked on my sand play.....

And I pratice also hour after hour on the putting green, butt I keep making 3 putts .... I even took lessons in putting, but I still need to break 36 putts ..... when I manage to do so .... I am sure playing schratch soon.

Please tell me how to practise putting ......

[Leftygolfer]

The only way I know how to become a great putter is playing a ton. Good/great putter play at least 3 to 4 times a week and often the same courses all the time so they know the greens.

Drills, I do two or three all from Dave Pelz. The names are 3 foot drill, 20 foot drill, and lag drill. Buy the putting bible maybe. He has some insight into reading greens, becoming better at speed, all the stuff that matters. Or just go to his website. I am sure he has the drills on there. I can't explain them as well as he can.

One thing I do that helps me is I take my short putts seriously. I am a pretty horrid midrange putter but a good short putter so I save alot of shots by making 3 to 4 footers after a bad first one. It also gives confidence to you knowing you can make the come backer.

[ks8829]

Do you miss putts because of your distance control and/or because you can not make a 3 foot putt?

Learn to judge your distance control
1) distance is more important than line
2) distance can easily be judge by keeping your same tempo while putting on all putts and varying the distance by the lenght of your backswing and equal forward swing while putting.
3) An easy way to judge distance is using your foot as a guage for different distances


Learn to make a 3 foot putt
1) all putt are a straight putt and simply learning to hit a straight putt
2) putting is easy and simple if you keep your wrist out the putt
3) keep the triangle between your shoulder and arms forming a V and do not let it break down while putting and also stay relaxed and not too stiff
4) practice straight putt of 1,2,3,4,5 feet putts
5) goal is to make putting within 3 feet so that you can lag all your long putts within a 3 foot circle
6) practice and practice until you feel confident that you can make all putts
7) have a pre-putt routine and stick with it during the round
8) spend everyday putting and make it one of the strongest part of your game
9) watch helpful videos below:

[SpoiledRotten]

I know the feeling. I call my putting the "Model A" technique.... putt, putt, putt,putt...

I'm looking forward to picking up some great tips on this site.

[RobS]

Keep your head down through impact! Let the ball roll a few feet before you look up.

Maintain light grip pressure.

[Dflynn95]

Gerald,

Used to have the same feeling, then it occured to me, I never think about how hard to throw a ball to get it where I what, just throw it.

So for me, I find my putting line, line the ball stripe to this, align the putter to square this line as well as my feet, knees, hips, shoulders. Then simply look at the hole or mark and ask myself "if I want it there, then how big is the stroke, relax breathe and feel it". I also have a firm belielf it will work, it has before so it will again. I love putting, and 1 putts feel better than a fairway many times.

Rarely three putt, and have a 1.9 average, maybe not the best, but always improving.

[Ole_Tom_Morris]

"Practise" is a Briticism. Britain is a lot closer to Holland than the USA.

Here are some old fashioned living room rug practice [practise] tips.

1. Decide what method of putting to use. Putter type and length, stance, putting stroke. Putting and putters vary far more than golf swings and the other clubs. Putting is a whole other game from the rest of golf. The triangle-shoulder movement method is ascendant right now, but you don't have to use it. You can be a wrist-popper, a bent-over shoulder pendulum putter, whatever. I use an arms-only method kind of like what Leo Diegle used, locking the wrists, trying to keep the clubface always square to the line of the putt, hooding the face and sweeping (not striking) the ball with an upward motion in an attempt to make the ball roll, not bounce, forward. I use this only because it is a method I devised and I am proud of it. Got the idea from sweeping with a broom to minimize dust. :) You also may want to try to develop a distinctive putting motion. In putting, there is plenty of room for invention. You can put standing on one leg, ball forward, ball back, whatever. You DO want a putting motion that won't fail when you are tired or shaky, though.

2. Use a coin or small bottle or colored golf ball as a target. If a coin, practise rolling the ball just over the coin. This works on your aim but not distance control since the turf on a green is totally unlike carpet. A 4.5" cup-size target is way too big and will mess you up. The cup, btw, is itself too big a target on the green unless you are a long way off. Pick a point on or near the cup as a target instead. On the green, you may want to pick a spot (like spot bowling, if you know the sport of bowling) for aiming and not aim at some imaginary place to one side of the cup.

3. Concentrate on making ball contact on the sweet spot of the putter face and keeping the face square to the aimed line of the putt. I like Pelz's use of two 2X4s set just over blade length as a guide for swinging the putter in a grooved line.

[kfowler]

Putting is something I'm certainly working at. I think one of the issues is people generally don't "think" about putting. It tends to be an after thought of the full swing. I think they tell themselves that there's not much to it so why practice. For those of us who are really trying to get better, we know this is not true.

First, I'd recommend reading Dave Pelz Putting Bible. It's 400+ pages of putting. It can feel like a giant advertisement for his products at some points but I think it does a good job of making you think about putting in a logical manner. Even if you decide not to use any of his techniques, I think it's worth the read.

Second, I'd recommend creating a written practice plan and always have a purpose when you practice. Just like the full swing, it'll keep you from mindlessly hitting putt after putt.

[Ole_Tom_Morris]

Butch Hancock wrote--and I think Ernie Els said this too--that the putting stroke is exactly like a shortened golf swing. An arc, where the club face opens as you take the putter back, squares up at impact, and closes in the follow through. I disagree completely.

The arc part is why I don't like the rigid-triangle, shoulder movement only putting stroke that most use today.

[GaijinGolfer]

Set 10 balls up in a circle around the hole on the practice green. If you can get to the point where you can make 6 out of 10, youre a pretty decent putter.

[starchuk]

I agree with you Tom.

There are so many different putting strokes where they all work and they all have a few things in common.

For the OP with 40+ putts per round, work on the tempo of your stroke and learn how it relates to how fast your ball rolls on the grass. This should take away 8-10 putts per round at least.

If an issue is green reading, work on your speed control and you will start to see a better line. If you aren't getting the ball started online and the face is coming in at an odd angle, working on controlling the tempo of your stroke will help you square the face to your line.

[jamo]

Getting over the first putting hump is all about distance control. That makes lag putts easier and cuts down on 3 putts. Then you need to make 5 footers automatic. And last you need to learn how to make 10 footers. That's my theory at least, I haven't passed step 2.

[saevel25]

I find a good thing to do is lay a club behind the hole about 15-18 inches away from the hole. If you don't make the putt from any distance you want it to end up just tapping the club. this will help you make sure that all putts end up behind the hole.

[martytilma]

Getting over the first putting hump is all about distance control.

I totally agree with this!!

I played a round with a fella once that no matter where he was on the green, he would 1 or 2 putt. He would always pace off how far is putt was and would look at a little piece of paper that he would pull from his pocket. At the end of the round I asked him what that was. What he told me was a tip a club pro gave him one time to help with distance control. This was about 5 years ago and I have used this technique ever since and consider myself a good putter. I also don't practice putting near as much as I should!! Here is the technique: 1. Pace off your putt to get the distance in feet. 2. Compare that to this chart: For a 3 foot putt you take your putter back 3 inches. For every 3 more feet you add an inch. So for example a 6 foot putt would be 4 inches, a 9 foot putt would be 5 inches etc. Make a little chart all the way up to 60 ft. Now granted this only works for flat lies so obviosly you have to adjust for up and down hill putts, and slow or fast greens. It takes a little practice to get the feel for it, but once you do I'll bet you cut down on those 3 putts!! Anyone else ever try this technique for distance control??