Lag Putting

[SCfanatic35]

I consider myself a very good putter.  Maybe 3 putt once every 2-3 rounds.  I do have a problem lag putting though, which is where most of my 3-putts and occasional 4-putts come from.  I practice lag putting everytime I am on a putting green, but it seems like I am just guessing about how hard to hit, where to hit, etc...

I was wondering if anyone has any tips, drills or suggestions about improving lag putting?

[Golfingdad]

Practice, practice, practice?  That's all I got.  I don't lag putt particularly well either, but I assume it's a mostly due to my lack of practice.

I do know of one drill though to practice speed of shorter putts ...

Find a spot on your practice green that is a straight putt, 15' long and mark it with a string or ball mark or whatever, and just go back and forth trying to hit the string.  Uphill, downhill, uphill, on and on, just getting good at nailing 15'.

I have to imagine that getting speed control for that distance could not hurt you on longer distances as well.

[TimG3394]

Make yourself 2 putt from 50 ft or whatever distance you want say 5 times in a row to start. If you don't you restart. You can make the number higher once you get better and this will make the pressure build so you don't have to restart.

[boogielicious]

Another drill is a practice game I call "one ball".  Using one ball, work around the practice green from hole to hole.  The holes are usually pretty far apart.  The object is to not three putt.  Use it is conjunction with the other drills above.

[SCfanatic35]

I will try doing some of those. Here is my mindset on a lag putt.  Examples, for say a 50 foot putt, I am trying to hit the ball say 45 feet.  For some reason that helps me not blow it 15-20 feet past the hole.  I know it's different for everyone and you do what works for you, but is their something else that I should be thinking/focusing on?

[dennyjones]

I echo the OP.  It is a guessing game for distance on a long lag putt.

I've seen people use a hula hoop for a visual aide.

[TimG3394]

Originally Posted by SCfanatic35

I will try doing some of those. Here is my mindset on a lag putt.  Examples, for say a 50 foot putt, I am trying to hit the ball say 45 feet.  For some reason that helps me not blow it 15-20 feet past the hole.  I know it's different for everyone and you do what works for you, but is their something else that I should be thinking/focusing on?

I always imagine a three foot circle around the hole. You can put ball markers in a circle thats 3 feet from the hole and try to putt inside the circle

[Golfingdad]

How is your chipping/pitching/partial wedge game right now?  I was thinking about it more and realize lag putting falls into this category.  The "touch" or "feel" category, if you will.  You can stop playing for 10 years (like you did) and when you start playing again your swing won't be that much different.  The full swing is (sort of) like riding a bicycle.  You don't really have to think much after you choose the club, just take a full swing.

But the short game relies on your judgment during the swing, and that is where touch comes into play.  So, in addition to all of the drills mentioned above, I'm guessing that now that you have a membership, if you continue to play/practice as often as you are doing, your "touch" will definitely improve.

[SCfanatic35]

My chipping/wedge game is very good.  Shot an 89 today and all was good, wedge, chipping, putting and lag putting.  There just seems to be so many drills for everything else I was hoping there would be some for lag putting.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TimG3394

I always imagine a three foot circle around the hole. You can put ball markers in a circle thats 3 feet from the hole and try to putt inside the circle

I like this idea Tim, I will try it.

[VegasRenegade]

I am a pretty good lag putter. One practice game I like to play is lag for break kinda of like pool.  You try to get your pall as need to the far edge of the green as you can without going off. This is great to develop fell  for pace.

[saevel25]

Here's my steps to lag putting

1) Walk the entire distance of your putt, get a feel for if its uphill or downhill. You'd be shocked at how many times you let a putt get away from you, because you didn't realize that the 2nd half of the putt is slightly downhill

2) Practice putting just looking at the hole, get some depth perception working.

3) Smooth out your stroke, make it one even pace, don't try to hit the putt hard because you think its long, just swing a smoother longer length putting stroke. Though some distances do need an little extra oomph, but its pretty rare, like a 50' severe uphill putt, or up a tier in a green.

4) practice, practice, practice

honestly, i don't think 5' circle, i want to make ever putt. As the line in the movie, "The Patriot," aim small miss small. Really helps out, for something like a putter, i try to miss like every putt, 6-10" past the hole.