Practice Stroke During Your Putting Pre-Shot Routine

[boogielicious]

Do you take a practice stroke?  Explain your reasoning either way.

[Patch]

I take one, or two, and sometimes even three. Distance control, and control of the putter head are my reasons.

For distance control, I will take the practice stroke while looking at my target.

Putter head control is for feel, and to make sure my grip is correct, which allows the putter face to send the ball on my chosen line of play.

[newtogolf]

I haven't taken a practice stroke since I read Stockton's book.  I was actually getting the yips because I was trying to focus so much on the right practice stroke that I was tensing up too much.  Now I just read the putt, find my line, line up the putter and putt the ball.  Much less stress and better results.

[isukgolf]

I do not ... I feel they do not add value for me. I better off worrying about my line

[Golfingdad]

I take one, but I don't think about it too much.  Just one smooth and loose stroke, step forward a couple inches, hit the putt.  Also just wanted to vote the first answer so I could sound like a pirate.

[jamo]

I do take some practice strokes, but I'm really just trying to keep loose.

[vangator]

I always take a practice stroke or two for the feel of the putt. I tend to swing too fast if I don't.

[Ernest Jones]

I used to take two while standing behind the ball and looking at the target and then two while addressing the ball. Now I have a putter that fits me much better so I no longer need the practice strokes to get my distance correct. I just get my line and go.

[boogielicious]

I read Stockton's book then did an experiment on the practice green to see whether practice strokes help my distance control.  I spent about an hour with different length putts and alternated.  I did not do the same putt twice in a row.  What I found was my distance control was no better with the practice stroke and in fact a bit worse. So I stopped doing a practice stroke in pre-shot. I will do strokes away from my putt to stay loose on occasion, but never when it is my turn.

[David in FL]

Yep. Always.

[billchao]

Always. Does it help me? I'm not sure, my putting is awful. It's just part of my preshot routine.

[saevel25]

Yep, I have a practice stroke in the preshot routine when I putt. Mostly to gain the feel of the putting stroke, and maybe some for distance control. I really don't care about the mechanics. Just trying to get a feel for the weight of the club.

[brice]

I do it to help visualize the putt I want to hit and it helps me concentrate. I do the same preshot routine before any shot I hit because it helps me get comfortable and lets me get rid of unnecessary thoughts I might be having at the time

[bste]

Always, on every stroke, helps me feel the weight of the club, reduce tension in my swing. Groove a good stroke.

Actually wanted to vote 23 but with my stml (short term memory loss ) I forgot.

[Zeph]

I can't answer the poll since the option: "No" is not available.

I don't do a practice stroke since I've never found it useful.

[Mulligan Jeff]

I read Stockton's book then did an experiment on the practice green to see whether practice strokes help my distance control.  I spent about an hour with different length putts and alternated.  I did not do the same putt twice in a row.  What I found was my distance control was no better with the practice stroke and in fact a bit worse. So I stopped doing a practice stroke in pre-shot. I will do strokes away from my putt to stay loose on occasion, but never when it is my turn.

What is thinking behind doing a practice stroke behind the ball rather than in address position? I like Stockton and he's done wonders for Rory and others - I'm ready for a change.

[Ernest Jones]

What is thinking behind doing a practice stroke behind the ball rather than in address position? I like Stockton and he's done wonders for Rory and others - I'm ready for a change.

I can only speak for myself, but when I was still doing practice strokes the purpose of doing them behind the ball was to isolate what I was doing. It was all about gauging speed and at that point in my process I didn't want to be thinking line, only speed. Then when I'd address the ball I would be thinking only line, once I had that line I do another for speed and then go. My old routine was way too long and mechanical. My new routine is much faster, more athletic and instinctual and seemingly more successful. The changes I made were to stop using an alignment line and ditching all practice swings. Like @boogielicious , I will still on occasion, while waiting for my turn, make practice strokes away from my ball, but these strokes aren't at all related to my actual putt, just staying limber. There is certainly nothing wrong with doing practice strokes, it's individual preference. I would recommend trying without just to see if you like it but there's no real concrete reason to choosing one method over the other.

[newtogolf]

On a related note, I also changed the way I practice putting.  I used to drop a few (2-4) golf balls on the green and just start putting the balls towards holes.

Today, I just drop one ball on the practice green and practice every putt as if I would if I was putting during a round.  I step back, read the putt, determine my line, address the ball and putt.  Not only has it helped me establish a repeatable putting routine, it forces me to focus on holing every putt versus my old practice method which was, if you miss, you just put another ball in its place and hit it.