Putting practice

[Gurra]

So my last 3-4 rounds has been horrible when it comes to my putting.. with averages around 2,2-2,6 putts per hole this has hurt my total score very much. Missing a lot of short 3-6 footers.. Last season I considered my putting to be one of my strengths and during the winter I used a putting mat every other day or so. But now that the season has started for real here in Sweden the putting practice has gone down. So time to grab a hold of that. I will try a few drills I found online but here comes my question that has no clear answer I guess but looking for your thoughts.

I read everywhere that a good preshoot routine is key before every shoot including putting, when on a course I always start with marking my ball, stepping back to read the green, I pick my line, focusing on a spot a few inches in front of my marker and line my ball to that spot. Now that I have my line I go up to the ball, getting in position and then make my putt. The line on the ball does not wobble usually so that is not a problem part for me, the read is usually ok I think but the speed is often wrong witch in turn changes how it follows the line or not. So speed is what I need to practice starting with 2-6 foot with the clockdrill for example. So if I steep out to the practice green, how much of my routine should I do before every putt? For example lining the ball upp every putt if I plan to putt around 50-100 putts every session would be very time consuming, and if I do the whole thing I guess it will take so much time that the number of putts will suffer. 

 

What are your thoughts on this? How do you practice your putting?

[cnosil]

I’d start by asking if your expectations are realistic. How many do you expect to make from each distance? Here are some numbers to see how you compare

https://www.scottsackett.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Putting-Probability.jpg


If you are missing 2-3 footers you have face control issues ir serious speed issues. As you start moving outward the you start to combine speed controls and face control. Outside of 10 feet is speed starts to take over. Anything that doesn’t go in should be within 3 feet of the hole because that starts to become the automatic distance.

Rolling through appropriately spaced gates is a good way to work on face control. You can google search to find out how wide the gates need to be and how far from the ball. A narrow yardstick is also another way.

I haven’t found a good training aid for speed control. That is just getting out on the course and hitting putts from say 20 feet and out to get the ball to roll into the 6’ diameter circle.

[BMart519]

For putts 8-10 feet and shorter, your focus should be on face control. Buy a 3-4 foot long metal ruler with a hole at one end and practice putting the ball straight off the ruler. I have a Putt Out mat and hole at home and made either 60 or 90 putts in a row from 4 feet. It took me 2-3 weeks before I could roll 10 in a row off the 3 foot metal ruler I bought during the COVID-19 isolation. Turns out that a lot of putting mats develop grooves or channels which keep the ball moving straight and can lead you to think you are much better at short putts than reality. After using the ruler, I wish I didn't waste the money on the Putt Out system. The mat is only useful for helping alignment for setup and providing a surface if you have no carpet in your house. 

Speed control is not causing you to miss 10' putts unless: you never get the ball to the hole, or are hitting it 3 feet or more past the hole.

If you want to improve speed control, put a mark down at 30' and 50' away from you on a putting green. See how many balls you can fit in between marks with each putt being shorter than the previous ball. If you hit it past a previous ball the game is over and you tally your score, anything over 7 balls means you can control your speed within 3 feet which is really good. Another drill is to put a club down 3' behind the hole, start putting from 20, 25, 30, 35 feet in order. Every ball needs to end up even or past the hole but not touch the club behind the hole. See how far you can do this while moving back 5' each putt. 

Hoping to shave 2-3 putts/round this season with these drills along with additional practice chipping which can have a large effect on your putts/round depending on how many greens in regulation you hit. 

[higherplane]

Saw this on the internet, so passing it on.   For me stuck in living room on 12 foot rug,  first put to a tennis ball not a cup as if you hit tennis ball get a feeling of how hard you are putting and more difficult than cup.  One simple but hard drill is to put 3-4 balls,  first one goes distance say 8-10 feet, then next is to be 6 inches behind and then next is 6 inches behind, etc.   Extremely hard to do but teaches both line and speed.   Good luck.  Putting is the key to lower scores              

[GolfSpy AFG]

On ‎5‎/‎4‎/‎2020 at 5:01 AM, Gurra said:

I read everywhere that a good preshoot routine is key before every shoot including putting, when on a course I always start with marking my ball, stepping back to read the green, I pick my line, focusing on a spot a few inches in front of my marker and line my ball to that spot. Now that I have my line I go up to the ball, getting in position and then make my putt.

 

I'm no pro, but it occurs to me that in your description of your routine you never once described actually looking at the hole once you've picked your line and set up to the ball.  For me, once I set my line (and I use a spot a couple inches in front like you), I take a good look at the hole, and then...if this makes sense...I try to keep that picture in my mind's eye when I roll the ball.

Put more simply, the putting routine you've described strikes me as very focused on line and not enough on speed.  

I'd also offer Dave Stockton's Unconscious Putting is a good and helpful read, largely because of how much it focuses on the mental aspects and less on the mechanical.

[Gurra]

Thank you for all your input! I think you all have valid points. Yesterday I had a putting practice with a pro at my club that told me I open my shoulders a lot compared to my feet and hips and suggested I try to close the shoulders a bit to be more on line. I also tried one of those eye putting plates where you scrape the putter along a metal surface to feel the stroke, this also showed me that I often push my putter out away from me in my follow trough. When I then removed the metal thingy and only used an alignment stick and thought about those 2 things I drained putt after putt. Sure some of it was probably because I putted the same putt a ton of times but it felt a lot better. Will for sure work on those 2 things on my own with alignment sticks.

[heavygolffeels]

When you create your line, really focus on the last few feet or so of the putt when the ball is slowing down and any break is at is maximum. What does that line look like? Where is the ball entering the cup from? We don't always aim at the front center lip. Now how hard do you have to hit to get it on, or outside that line? It's fine to pick a spot in front of you to start your putt, but before you hit you need to be looking at the last couple feet of the putt. You want to find that break line where the ball starts dying off and make sure your putt is hit hard enough to stay outside or ideally on the breakline. Once it is inside you have no chance to make the putt. 0 chance. It must stay outside, so you must hit it with enough pace to do so. Recognizing the hole is 20 feet away and picking a nearby start point is not enough because the putt might have 25 feet of movement, and with your line you may be putting more into the hill, making it play 30 feet. So find the breakpoint, the slowdown point. Its the star in this picture and hit the putt with enough speed to ride that line. Any miss on the high side is tolerable. 

[PMookie]

So my last 3-4 rounds has been horrible when it comes to my putting.. with averages around 2,2-2,6 putts per hole this has hurt my total score very much. Missing a lot of short 3-6 footers.. Last season I considered my putting to be one of my strengths and during the winter I used a putting mat every other day or so. But now that the season has started for real here in Sweden the putting practice has gone down. So time to grab a hold of that. I will try a few drills I found online but here comes my question that has no clear answer I guess but looking for your thoughts.
I read everywhere that a good preshoot routine is key before every shoot including putting, when on a course I always start with marking my ball, stepping back to read the green, I pick my line, focusing on a spot a few inches in front of my marker and line my ball to that spot. Now that I have my line I go up to the ball, getting in position and then make my putt. The line on the ball does not wobble usually so that is not a problem part for me, the read is usually ok I think but the speed is often wrong witch in turn changes how it follows the line or not. So speed is what I need to practice starting with 2-6 foot with the clockdrill for example. So if I steep out to the practice green, how much of my routine should I do before every putt? For example lining the ball upp every putt if I plan to putt around 50-100 putts every session would be very time consuming, and if I do the whole thing I guess it will take so much time that the number of putts will suffer. 
 
What are your thoughts on this? How do you practice your putting?

There’s a GREAT resource on SeeMore’s site where you can buy 20+ videos for $10 and the videos are done by Pat O’Brien from Ft Worth, TX. His “lessons” have helped me greatly, and he’s worth reaching-out to as well. Since I started following his lead a month ago or so my putting has been much better, leading to 4 birdies two rounds ago!!!! Well worth the $10.