Want to improve my putting

[dzclarkcpa]

Simple as the title says "I want to improve my putting." I have finally come to the realization that I am the problem, not my putter. It has taken me many different putters, long putter, short putter, belly putter, mallet, blade, etc etc etc. and the one thing that all of the defective putters have in common is ME.

What has been successful for you in improving. I am not one to stand around the putting green for hours on end and bang putts, but I am willing to spend time working on it.

Just need some useful drills or mental help (ok, probably not much mental help here).

[grubby98]

First you will need to have a pendulum motion to get better at putting.  To work on a pendulum motion take a club and place it between each arm up high in the arm pits (I like to use an alignment stick). This will def make you rock your shoulders.  Make sure to keep your hands still and your lower body and head as well as you make a stroke.  And last, accelerate through the ball.  Work on that and hopefully it will help a little.

Last practice 5-8 feet like crazy.  You wont make many 10-20 footers if you cant start the ball on the correct line without being lucky.

[iacas]

Great putters:

1. Hit the ball on the line they want
2. Hit the ball the distance they want
3. Read greens well

So which of those things do you want to improve?

[RayG]

"I am not one to stand around the putting green for hours on end and bang putts, but I am willing to spend time working on it. " Then you won't improve... it IS that simple. You will need to practice. Consistency makes you better. Develop a simple stroke and practice. It may not take hours a day, most people's backs couldn't take that (mine cant). I received a putting matt one Christmas and spent 15-20 minutes a day working on a repeatable, simple stroke. Getting a feel for distance was next. On a 50 footer, think of the hole as being 6 feet across and stopping within that circle. 25 feet, it's a manhole size, inside that it gets to serious makeability range and strive to sink them.

[mchepp]

1. Find an Aimpoint instructor near you

2. Take the class.

3. Practice what you learned in the class

4. Make more putts.

That is my suggestion.

[Finley]

My putting isn't great either, but here are some drills I do. Start close.

Make ten 3 foot putts in row.

Make ten 6 foot putts in a row. Sometimes this one is troublesome for me because my back is like Dude, WTH?

I've noticed these two drills have helped me to start my ball online a lot more. I don't make many long putts, but I have gotten to a point to where 3 putting is rare.

Speed drills. I pick three holes with different distances. First one at least 10 feet away, then 20ish, and 30ish. Hit one ball to the middle hole, then hit one to the first hole, then one to the farthest hole. My objective is to hit all three and have them within a "small" 3 foot circle. After a few goes at it  you'll get a feel for how much it takes to get to each one. How far it took you to bring the putter back to go 10, 20, 30 feet. Take that mental picture to the course.

I've found that if I want to be a good putter, I have to devote time. Daily. I'm not going to read a book and figure it out all of a sudden.

Good luck!

[Smilesy]

I do two drills when I practise and have found they work well for me. Firstly I warm up a bit just putting around to a few holes just to get a bit of feeling. The first drill I do is making 10x6 feet putts, if you miss one go back to zero. Towards the end of the season I normally push it up to 20 if I'm finding 10 easy. I think the 6 foot putt is the most important length to be totally confident over, it takes pressure off the longer putts. After making 10 in a row, I get one ball and work out a course of 18 holes (some long tough ones, some short makeable ones). I then have to go round in under 36 putts, if not I do it again.

[easternut]

I like to find a staight 3 to 5 foot putt, place tee's 1/8 of an inch on both sides of my putter and try to knock down some putts.  It has helped me hit every putt in the center of the club face and getting the ball on line.

[teed off]

Ben Hogan was quoted, "If you want to improve your putting.........hit the ball closer to the hole."

[Jakester23]

I like going to the putting green and practicing putts at a quarter instead of a hole. Nothing to long maybe 15 ft at the longest. Maybe do this for 10-15 mins. Then switch to a hole on the putting green you'll be surprised how huge it looks. For me it just makes me focus on the line and not the hole.

[saevel25]

Originally Posted by teed off

Ben Hogan was quoted, "If you want to improve your putting.........hit the ball closer to the hole."

Sounds like something someone would say if they were struggling with their putting ;)

Erik has it right, figure out what your main problem is. If you're constantly leaving putts at the right distance but your putts are either way too high or way too low, or miss the direction of break all together, you probably need an AimPoint lesson. If you're having problems with distance, you might want to check to see if your putter is balanced correctly. I putted for years, and had distance issues, then I read about counterbalancing. Now I add about 20 grams to the grip end of my putter, and it smoothed out my distance control.

For me, it's repetitions with the same putting stroke. You can't keep changing putting strokes and develop feel, never will happen. Find something that's comfortable for you and then get repetitions. It's pretty much experience. I've putted on so many different greens, that I am pretty good once i get the speed down. To me the most important is being comfortable. I rather see someone find something that looks awkward, yet it feels good to them, then for them to try to conform to something that feels strange while over the ball.

[Cageysmooth]

Originally Posted by dzclarkcpa

Simple as the title says "I want to improve my putting." I have finally come to the realization that I am the problem, not my putter. It has taken me many different putters, long putter, short putter, belly putter, mallet, blade, etc etc etc. and the one thing that all of the defective putters have in common is ME.

What has been successful for you in improving. I am not one to stand around the putting green for hours on end and bang putts, but I am willing to spend time working on it.

Just need some useful drills or mental help (ok, probably not much mental help here).

What does your normal miss look like? (Left of the Hole, Right of the Hole, Short of the Hole, or Past the Hole)

One simple drill, that you can do almost anywhere, is to take a yard stick, place the ball on one end, and putt the ball keeping it on the yardstick for the entire length.

This works real well inside on a flat level surface and doesn't take up much room.

Allows you to see if you pushing or pulling your putts and how fast you are doing so.

[spam]

for a speed drill I set 5 balls down and hit one then try and match the speed the hard part is to not watch the ball or even see were it went at all just try and match the speed I do that for about 20 min. then I will do a series of puts in the 3 ft range and focus on set up and not moving my head. on a three foot putt you should not see it go in just hear it. then I move out 3 feet at a time until I hit say 21 feet then work my way back in. I usually only use a 5 ball system. main part that I have struggled with is moving my head to watch the putt. try and hold your head were the ball was for at least the count of 3 after you putt. hope this helps.