Your best putting tips?

[kehanra99]

I have finally gotten pretty good consistency out of my driving and irons...but my putting still sucks.  I can go to the putting green and spend an hour draining puts or getting within a few inches pretty regularly but then I'm still bad when I play.

I have literally hit the green in two shots, been 15 feet from the hole, and 4-putted.

What is the best advice you have for putting well?

[1par2win]

My "tip" if it's worth anything is to try and re-create the situations you face when on the course. I usually use only 1 ball on the practice green and I go through my routine, alignment, and stroke as I would on the course. It's surprising at times how the pressure can build when you leave a 20 footer 6 feet short!

I am of the opinion that unless your faced with some pressure like you would on the course your just practicing your practice routine.

My only advice would be to find a way that works for you to simulate course conditions when practicing putting. Also, one advantage of using only 1 ball is that it saves the strain on your back from stooping over and hitting 10 putts in a row.

Just my $.02

[LankyLefty]

I putt well when the last thing on my mind is putting.

[BallStriker]

Here is one of the best putting tips for short putts that I have ever read/heard......

On putts 4 feet (or so) and in, use your tap-in stroke........if you drop a ball on the putting green and hit it with your tap-in stroke you will be amazed as to how far it actually goes....bottom line is that golfers miss a lot of short putts because they take the putter too far back in the backswing and then decel through the ball.....take it back an inch, maybe two and just "pop it" into the hole.....it works well for me.

[rossvanwyk]

I totally agree with ballstriker. For lenghty putts I assume you are struggling with lag and getting your distances right?

I first stand over the putt and while looking at the hole, just take a few swings with 1 hand. Then all I worry about is my follow through. Just follow thru, thats what gets your putts there. Small backstroke, and follow through. That's all I do and its amazing the results.

The human brain is amazing and can work things out that you don't even realise or understand. I highly suggest trying a very short backswing then making sure you follow through on the ball, getting that good clean forward roll.

I hope it comes right for you.

[Vermeer]

Originally Posted by LankyLefty

I putt well when the last thing on my mind is putting.

Absolutely agree, if anyone's having trouble  with lag putting try reading Putting out of your Mind by Dr Bob Rotella. In a nutshell what he's saying is look at the putt your about to take then let your subconscious take over and putt for you. It's a weird feeling and you will feel out of control but will be surprised when the ball on a long putt cosies up to the hole. The trick is not to think!

[mobosecomin]

Originally Posted by Vermeer

Absolutely agree, if anyone's having trouble  with lag putting try reading Putting out of your Mind by Dr Bob Rotella. In a nutshell what he's saying is look at the putt your about to take then let your subconscious take over and putt for you. It's a weird feeling and you will feel out of control but will be surprised when the ball on a long putt cosies up to the hole. The trick is not to think!

I agree with that 100% especially for the long putts. It's really important to take a real good look at your line and how you think it's going to break but once you see it you can just hit it..! Sometimes my playing partners look at me funny because they think I am not taking as much care with my putts as I am but the truth is I have hit a 1000s of long putts probably more than any other shot in golf.

My aim is to land it within 3 ft of the hole that makes the hole 6 ft wide ..!!! How can I miss ?? I always practice 3 ft putts before a round maybe 15 or 20 of them just to get the confidence up.

When I get into makeable range I use a hybrid stockton/something else style.

- read putt concentrating especially on last third of the putt since this is where the break will effect the ball more as it is moving more slowly

- aim line on ball to putt line(this may not be final line adjustments can be made while addressing the ball but it ensures you have a certain point of reference)

- practice swing behind ball looking forward towards the hole, concentrating only on the weight of the putter and not the putting stroke itself

- address ball, turn head from address position looking fully along the intended line until reach the hole(use imagination to see the ball rolling over this line)

- look at the ball and then one final look at the hole. I take a mental picture of the hole as reference in my mind.(Tiger Woods advice)

- intensely fix my eyes on the ball, relax grip, make my stroke

This sound like a lot of work to make a putt but in fact I do this in a matter of seconds. If I was going to sum this putting method up I would use the words .. visualization and imagination .. Thats the key to good putting IMO.

[imtomtomim]

take your time on the read, be quick over the ball

Make sure you see the whole putt roll when figuring it out, the speed it travels, where it slows down, how fast it is going in, and how hard it's going to bend and where.  Once you have that flash of a vision, step to it and do it.  Think less and just hit it.

[NI4NI]

There's some great advice being dispensed in this thread.  Good job helping the OP - here's a beverage of your choice.

[brightonrock]

This is the greatest advice I ever had:

1) Take your time to examine the green and consider the speed. If its wet it will break less, and later. If you have an alignment aid/mark on your ball, choose this moment to point it exactly where you want to hit the ball.

2) Before you step up to address the ball, split the putt into two or three "sections", say 2 for a 5-10ft putt and 3 for a longer putt. This is not about the read of the green, but the physical power you will exert on the putt.

3) Play some practice strokes. These must be done in fairly quick succession as your muscle memory will still be fresh when you step up the ball.

a) Practice the stroke for a putt a third of the length of what you are faced with (or half for a medium putt). This should be a fairly short one and your mind will never forget how hard to putt something a couple of feet, its a short we're faced with so often you will already have this information.

b) Now practice for a putt two thirds of what you have. With the memory of the first practice fresh, this is just proportionally ramping up the power.

c) Now practice for the full weight, again ramping up the power you will put into the putt.

4) Step up to the ball. Take your stance and grip. As you have already lined up your putt by reading the green in (1), you don't need to think again about the direction you're stroking it. The muscle memory of (3c), the full length putt, is fresh in your mind. Keep your head still and play the stroke down the line you have marked, not letting your head lift until a full second after the ball has travelled out of your peripheral vision.

I found practicing with my eyes closed to learn the feel of a certain length putt is a good practice. With your vision removed you concentrate only on the feel of a putt being too hard or too soft, and encourages you on the course to keep your head still and not look up at the hole as you hit it, thus increasing the risk of snatching at it.

Lastly, lower your targets a little. I found aiming to two-putt every green and walk off with 36 putts actually made me putt a lot better, and my current average is 31 (which is more than decent enough for a hacker like myself - if only I could get GIR I'd be a much better golfer!). If you're putting pressure on yourself to one-putt from 6ft+ you will inevitably leave long ones short and then choke clutch putts that lead to three-putts. Whatever distance your first putt is from (with the exception of short putts obviously), aim not to get it in, but to get it within a foot, two feet, three feet, whatever you feel comfortable you can sink as your personal 'gimme' length. You'll find that actually by learning to get it close and within tap-in range, more will drop as you'll be giving it closer to the perfect weight, rather than over-thinking the break and then over or under-hitting the shot.

[LankyLefty]

Originally Posted by imtomtomim

take your time on the read, be quick over the ball

This is exactly what I mean by having the last thing on your mind be putting. I take some time to figure out where Id like the putt to go, which way I think it will break ect. ect. I pick a mental line.

However after I do that I don't think about it at all. I just walk up to the ball and hit it.

No second guessing, no adjustments, and no thinking about where I think its gonna go.

After its rolling Is when I do all my second guessing

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by LankyLefty

I putt well when the last thing on my mind is putting.

Ditto. It takes a bit of practice and experience to get to that level though.

[LankyLefty]

Originally Posted by sean_miller

Ditto. It takes a bit of practice and experience to get to that level though.

This is true. If your not putting well at all and ESPECIALLY if your changing your grip/stroke from putt to putt you've got some real work to do.

The first thing you have to do is develop a grip and stroke that feels comfy, is repeatable, and provides a square roll.

After that you just need to putt enough time that you can get a feel for reading greens and judging speed.

During a round If it is not to busy I will hole my first ball and then go back and putt 3 or 4 more from the same spot. I also tried for a while to match the time spent at the driving range with the practice green.

I really feel that putting is almost entirely what people like to call "feel" but in reality is doing things in your mind and body without consciously thinking about them.

My game overall is a bit of a mess but when I get to the green that confidence that I can save some shots there is a really nice carry over for the next hole.

I doubt I'm actually playing to a 22 hcp anymore but even when I was I would rarely take more then 38 putts in a round. I figured that putting is half my score and its looks a lot easier then swinging a club 100MPH so why not learn that first.

[airic31]

may be just in my head, but if i start to pull a couple putts, i make sure i play my next putt with the ball closer to my feet, this is a quick remedy but it ALWAYS seems to work for me.

[kehanra99]

I'm hitting a 9 hole exec course after work, I'll let you know how it goes.

[Beached]

Originally Posted by airic31

may be just in my head, but if i start to pull a couple putts, i make sure i play my next putt with the ball closer to my feet, this is a quick remedy but it ALWAYS seems to work for me.

which points directly to my feeling that the best tip one can give on putting is

Get your eye OVER the ball and on line.

not getting your eye over the ball can distort things a lot IMO.

[dsc123]

Aim Point

[The Recreational Golfer]

One thing you could try for approach putts is to practice rolling the ball up to the hole with your hand. Using your hand instead of the putter at first gives you direct feedback as to how much force is needed to send the ball 25 feet, say, across the green. It's not too hard to translate that into how hard you have to swing a putter.

I tried this out with my grandson (9) on an executive course on a day we weren't being pushed, and after about four holes he began to catch and his approach putting got scary good.