My putting might be my weakest link...

[Bogeysaurus]

I shot a 47 today on 9 holes...with 21 putts.

I only had one bad iron shot, and two bad drives...

So, what are some tips for putting drills?

Thanks

[trackster]

You have to realize that the better you ball strike the more putts you are going to take.  If you are getting lots of Greens in Regulations chances are you are going to have a lot of putts.  If you are chipping for your third shot or even fourth shot close to the green, chances are you will get this closer than iron approach shots and put less.  The best drill you can use is just hitting puts for distance control.  Learn how hard you need to hit for various distances and chances are you will get a lot more tap in 2 putts.

[Bogeysaurus]

I found an article that had three drills:

Ladder for distance control, clock for aiming and swinging between laid down clubs to make sure the swing is straight.  I probably could use doing all three.  Part of the problem on this last round was I was so excited by how well I was playing (off the green) that I wasn't focused and was rushing my putts.  It was already like a victory once the ball landed on the green in regulation or one shot after regulation.  I missed several 3-4 footers that I obviously shouldn't have.

I have to take the putting seriously, and get in some good practice.  I didn't think about it but what you say is probably true.  I typically have to chip onto the green giving me much easier putts than now that I'm landing the green from 100+ yards out regularly.

Thanks

[Ernest Jones]

It sounds cliché but visualization can really make a difference in your putting. Dave Stockton wrote a book about it which I've never read but from what I've heard it is essentially what I do. Stand behind the ball, stance perpendicular to the target line and stare at the hole. Make some easy back and forth swings as you "see" the ball travel to the hole and "hear" the ball make its distinctive plunking sound as it drops. I'll usually do two gentle swings while doing this and I'll have the "movie" locked in in HD after the second one. Keep your eyes on the hole while stepping around to address the ball. It's important that your eyes are level at address so that when you turn your head to take a last look at the hole your eyes track the proper line. I've never verified with a camera but it "feels" like my eyes are directly over the ball, head hanging down. Make sure you can still see the "movie" from address position. Look back at the ball, play the movie and stroke the ball. During the visualization process your brain is calculating the correct speed for your line. Trust it and let it happen. Vast majority of my putts drop on what would be the last revolution, sure I leave the occasional putt an inch short but they are automatic tap ins, most of my misses are tap ins so I think I come out ahead anyway. I also have a lot of 1 putts from 10' and in. This season my average is just a hair under 30 putts per round. Yesterday was 15 putts for 9 holes and I had a 3 putt on one where the hole was just on the edge of a shelf and my miss had too much speed and dropped to the lower tier but then I 1 putted the 6,7,8 and 9th holes. Try it out YMMV depending on how strong a visualizer you are but I can guarantee you it won't make you worse. Another note, when you're unsure of the direction of the break use your feet to feel it. I generally try to be the one who pulls the flag as it gives me an opportunity to survey the area right around the hole with my feet. Heard great things about aimpoint but it's not readily available in my area. Plus I already make everything :-P

[Bogeysaurus]

I'll try that out.  I try to keep a routine in how I look at the lie and address but never go as far as visualizing the putt.

Thanks for the idea!

[saevel25]

Originally Posted by Ernest Jones

It sounds cliché but visualization can really make a difference in your putting. Dave Stockton wrote a book about it which I've never read but from what I've heard it is essentially what I do.

Stand behind the ball, stance perpendicular to the target line and stare at the hole. Make some easy back and forth swings as you "see" the ball travel to the hole and "hear" the ball make its distinctive plunking sound as it drops. I'll usually do two gentle swings while doing this and I'll have the "movie" locked in in HD after the second one. Keep your eyes on the hole while stepping around to address the ball. It's important that your eyes are level at address so that when you turn your head to take a last look at the hole your eyes track the proper line. I've never verified with a camera but it "feels" like my eyes are directly over the ball, head hanging down. Make sure you can still see the "movie" from address position. Look back at the ball, play the movie and stroke the ball.

During the visualization process your brain is calculating the correct speed for your line. Trust it and let it happen. Vast majority of my putts drop on what would be the last revolution, sure I leave the occasional putt an inch short but they are automatic tap ins, most of my misses are tap ins so I think I come out ahead anyway. I also have a lot of 1 putts from 10' and in. This season my average is just a hair under 30 putts per round. Yesterday was 15 putts for 9 holes and I had a 3 putt on one where the hole was just on the edge of a shelf and my miss had too much speed and dropped to the lower tier but then I 1 putted the 6,7,8 and 9th holes.

Try it out YMMV depending on how strong a visualizer you are but I can guarantee you it won't make you worse.

Another note, when you're unsure of the direction of the break use your feet to feel it. I generally try to be the one who pulls the flag as it gives me an opportunity to survey the area right around the hole with my feet.

Heard great things about aimpoint but it's not readily available in my area.

Plus I already make everything

Of course then there's Stockton who doesn't advocate a practice stroke at all :p

There's only one path to becoming a good putter. Commit to it. If your constantly changing your stroke, your grip, your putter, you will never be a good putter. If you change something give it some time to see if it works out. If you change things every month, your doomed to failure

[Ernest Jones]

Originally Posted by saevel25

Of course then there's Stockton who doesn't advocate a practice stroke at all :p

There's only one path to becoming a good putter. Commit to it. If your constantly changing your stroke, your grip, your putter, you will never be a good putter. If you change something give it some time to see if it works out. If you change things every month, your doomed to failure

You probably could skip the practice strokes, it's just a part of my routine and they don't really resemble a true stroke but it's part of my image to brain to body calibration so to speak. It's where I get a feel for the weight of the stroke.

Totally agree on your second point about committing, also someone else said you need to believe you're a good putter which I think is also true.

[boogielicious]

Bogeysaurus,

What are your misses in putting?  Are you misreading the break or are you just long/short and having trouble with speed or start direction.  If it is misreads, the consider taking an Aimpoint class.  For speed drills, the ladder drill is excellent.  I also use a game I call one-ball where I chip or pitch on the green and try to only one putt.  This game works both chipping/pitching and putting.

If you are having trouble with getting the putt to start on line, it could be your setup or your fit to your putter.  Have you ever been fit for your putter?  Try finding a perfectly flat putt of 3, 6 and 10 feet.  Set a ball 3 feet away and putt another ball to hit the set ball.  At three feet, you should hit it the other ball every time almost dead center.  At six, you should hit the ball every time.  At 10 feet on a perfectly flat putt 8 of 10 or better.  If you are missing at three feet, then your aim may be off.  This could be from how you set up or the putter itself.

[dave s]

Tom Watson on a Golf Channel short-game show.  He only practices lag putts and short putts.

As someone else mentioned, when we're hitting greens we leave ourselves longer and low percentage to make putts.  TW's theory is that if you are a good lag putter (read: good distance control) you won't miss much more than 3' left or right, provided your distance control on long putts is good.  Then, it's all about making that second putt which means you really need to woodshed on a green from 5' and in to make sure that second putt goes in.

Lag putt for proper distance, make the short ones.  This saves 3-putt greens will lower your score.

dave

[Bogeysaurus]

boogielicious,

Its a little of everything with my putting.  Sometimes I misread the break or second guess it.  Sometimes I get the distance way wrong, occasionally over shoot but mostly leave it short.  I like the one-ball game idea.  That combined with the ladder and clock drill should offer some improvement compared to where I am now.

I have not been fit on any clubs, they are hand me downs that I just make work.  I eventually will start replacing things but right now I feel like I need to focus mostly on mechanics.  I figure with new clubs things will change a little but where I was two weeks ago new clubs wouldn't have mattered.  I will give all these tips a shot next time at range, I need to spend more time on the putting green anyway.

dave s,

Thanks for the insight.  I will get on ladder drills for distance control asap.

[hendog]

Stopping trying to make putts. Start focusing on making a good stroke. If you do that and your line and read is true then the hole will get in the way.

Sometimes the harder you try the worse you get.

[PirateJim]

Stopping trying to make putts. Start focusing on making a good stroke. If you do that and your line and read is true then the hole will get in the way. Sometimes the harder you try the worse you get.

This. There is another piece to the puzzle though. There seem to be two basic schools of thought with regard to putting strokes. One suggests the stroke should be straight back and then straight through along the target line. The other suggests the stroke should follow an arc, similar to that of all other golf shots. I believe both probably work, though one may suit some individuals better than the other. I was taught the straight back and through stroke years ago, and many people use it very successfully it seems. For me, however, it seems very difficult to perform that stroke without some fine manipulation of the club head along the path. This caused me a lot of grief trying to be consistant and wanting to watch the putter head during the stroke. Recently I downloaded the Ping iPing app and bought the craddle for it. Try as I might, I couldn't actually make a truly 'straight' stroke! So... I've switched camps and gave up worrying about keeping the face square through the stroke and putting has started to feel more relaxed. My point, though, is that you have to decide which putting style you want to pursue because you'll get advice from people who assume you are in their camp that may not work for you. Some clubs are also more suited to one style than the other. And, if you seek professional coaching you will want to find out what style that pro teaches and make sure it matches your desired direction.

[Ernest Jones]

Originally Posted by PirateJim

This.

There is another piece to the puzzle though. There seem to be two basic schools of thought with regard to putting strokes. One suggests the stroke should be straight back and then straight through along the target line. The other suggests the stroke should follow an arc, similar to that of all other golf shots. I believe both probably work, though one may suit some individuals better than the other.

I was taught the straight back and through stroke years ago, and many people use it very successfully it seems. For me, however, it seems very difficult to perform that stroke without some fine manipulation of the club head along the path. This caused me a lot of grief trying to be consistant and wanting to watch the putter head during the stroke.

Recently I downloaded the Ping iPing app and bought the craddle for it. Try as I might, I couldn't actually make a truly 'straight' stroke! So... I've switched camps and gave up worrying about keeping the face square through the stroke and putting has started to feel more relaxed.

My point, though, is that you have to decide which putting style you want to pursue because you'll get advice from people who assume you are in their camp that may not work for you. Some clubs are also more suited to one style than the other. And, if you seek professional coaching you will want to find out what style that pro teaches and make sure it matches your desired direction.

I arc but more than anything else, I DON'T THINK ABOUT THE STROKE. Think about the putt dropping and ONLY the putt dropping. If you're thinking about anything else then you aren't focusing. Let your subconcious do all the "figuring out".

[Forsythe04]

As goofy as it is to admit, I caught a putting special on the golf fix with michael breed and literally had my putter standing in front of the tv doing the drills he mentioned. Ive putted better than I ever have.

[nemauen]

Get a friend, pref. someone who is better than you.

Practise putting, by doing putting contests.

I do this with a buddy of mine, and putting is by far the strongest in my game. Our routine is as follows:

1. Rock/paper/scissor, best of 1, the winner decides who starts.

2. The one who is selected to start, get to chose which hole we shoot for, from where.

3. The one furthest away putts next.

4. If draw, the one who lost rock/paper/scissor decides which hole we shoot for next (we always start by the hole we just ended at), and start again.

5. If there's a winner and a loser, the winner goes 1 hole up, and now the loser starts next hole, by deciding which hole.

6. We usually play a set number of holes, that could be 5, or 7, or 9, or even 18.

The reason a putting contest is good, is because there's something on the line, which will keep you focused, and make it good practise for the course - good luck!

[tomvk77]

I put a superstroke mid 3.0 on my putter, made a hell of a difference to my putting. i now make 28-32 putts in a round, it's allot easier to score when putting well.

[Bogeysaurus]

Thanks for the suggestions, I like the putting contest idea too.  I have lots to try going forward!