Looking for best speed control drills for putting

[cutchemist42]

So lately, according to Gamegolf I've  been losing a decent amount of strokes due to my putting. (Screenshot attached)

What I would say is my problem is not so much starting line as Im hitting the hole quite a bit, but rather speed in the 3ft to 10ft range.

I find that my natural stroke length that feels natural and squares my putter face (Ping Zing, big toe hang) well occurs outside 10ft. Inside of 10ft though, i feel like i have to cut off my backstroke too quickly and than the putter face doesnt square. It feels like I have to stab at the ball and and rush my transition in the backstroke length to hit it slower.

So yeah, basically inside of 10ft, I often hit the hole but its going too fast to go in, or I miss the hole but end up 5-6ft past the hole instead of 2-3ish.

Anyone got any sped drills that worked well for them?

 

[dennyjones]

I've laid  an alignment stick on the ground about 18" behind the hole and tried to putt to the stick.    When I'm practicing speed, I don't worry so much about the bead and read, just speed.   Vary the distances you practice and don't hit the same putt over and over.   Hit them from varying distances.      I've also try to visually imagine that I'm just rolling the ball that distance rolling it like a bowling ball.   

[billchao]

1 hour ago, cutchemist42 said:

Inside of 10ft though, i feel like i have to cut off my backstroke too quickly and than the putter face doesnt square. It feels like I have to stab at the ball and and rush my transition in the backstroke length to hit it slower.

So yeah, basically inside of 10ft, I often hit the hole but its going too fast to go in, or I miss the hole but end up 5-6ft past the hole instead of 2-3ish.

Are you accelerating through the ball? I feel like that's what you're doing if you have to cut off your backswing and you're still hitting it 5-6' past the hole.

 

1 hour ago, cutchemist42 said:

Anyone got any sped drills that worked well for them?

The one drill I know is recommended is to take a really long backswing and try to putt it 3', just to give you the opposite feeling of accelerating through the ball.

The other thing I'd suggest is to play more break and hit the ball shorter. If you're hitting the hole at 5-6' past speed, you're not just hitting it too hard, your line is too low. If you hit that line on the proper speed, you'll always miss the hole low and at some point you probably subconsciously adjusted the speed to match the line you wanted.

[Antneye]

I wouldn't call this a drill, but I can share what I do when it comes to putting.  I am a horrible reader of greens, but my speed control seems to be a strength of mine.

When I putt before a round I spend very little time trying to hole putts. What I do is try to find the flattest section of the putting green and then I simply putt different back-swing lengths.  My default lengths are back to my right instep, about halfway to the instep, and to the back of my right foot.  I take note of the length of each putt and then adjust my distances based on how far/short they are rolling.  Since I try to stick to a pendulum approach (equal distance back and through) this helps me to controls speed.  Once I have a feel for backswing length to distance I try to sink a few putts of varying lengths.

On a typical paced green a backswing to my right instep is around 16-18' for me.  On slower greens it might be 13-15, or 19-22.  I adjust accordingly and pace every putt off.  Seldom do I find myself blowing a ball well past the hole or way short.  Breaking in the proper direction?  That's a whole different story 😞

Your distances will likely vary based on your overall stroke, but I think it is important to baseline these things to help you out on the course.

 

[Shindig]

What does the first insights tab say?  I get mixed answers as to just how bad a putter I am from those two screens.  I'm not sure why and haven't heard from GG about it.

[The Recreational Golfer]

Lay a golf club down on the green at a right angle to the line you want to putt on. Put a ball two feet away and putt the ball so it just touches the shaft. Then move back six inches and just touch the shaft with the ball. Keep moving back by six-inch increments until you get to 10 feet.

[Sean_D]

The way I judge speed and/or distance is I look at the hole and take my practice swing. I memorize the feeling of the practice swing and try to duplicate it.

When I am practicing lag putting, I putt while looking at the hole. This has greatly improved my lag putting and speed in general.