Putting Practice Balls

[fixyurdivot]

Ever wonder how grabbing 3 golf balls for pre-round putting practice became the norm?  Yea, I think of such things .  After having spent an hour practicing chipping with my shag bag, I moved over to the putting green and watched for a few minutes.  Except for one lady, all others were using 3 balls. When and why did this start?  No doubt for most, just learned behaviour... monkey see, monkey do.  But the origin?  

Is it because balls come in sleeves of 3?  Is it because 3 fits in the hand most easily?  Perhaps this was a informal etiquette rule from way back? Then I thought "maybe it's because more than 3 in the cup creates a problem with the pin extractor .  So, being the contrarian I am, I grabbed 4 balls and did my putting practice.  Interestingly, 4 balls is the maximum number that will seat on the pin extractor without stacking and falling off when pulled. 

So, from this day forward, I will now use 4 balls for my pre round putting practice... it just makes more sense to me .

[BallsLeon]

Haha I’ve always done three, cause that just fits in my hand easily. Four… and Im like this guy:

[That’s Mr. Dirt]

3 gets a bit cumbersome; 2 is my limit.  Quick and easy practice. Then again, my putting does suck.

[cnosil]

2 hours ago, fixyurdivot said:

pre round putting practice.

Pre round is warm up and not practice and you should use 1 ball.     

 

[fixyurdivot]

33 minutes ago, cnosil said:

Pre round is warm up and not practice and you should use 1 ball.     

 

I see what you did there .

[pbclub]

Its probably because of the three sleeve pack, but also its a good number to practice with. Keeps things moving. And also because everyone else does it lol. I use Yellow ProV1x that are marked loudly to avoid mix ups. 

 

[luchin]

I use only two balls for my practise.

[RohanVster]

I use 3 balls for the following reason, the first one, 9 out of 10 times miss, the second one drops and the third one just to check if the second one wasn't a fluke 

[Northern Monkey]

I always use 3, don’t have a clue why just seems right

[Bobbers]

I use three so I don't get into the driving range "syndrome" of grooving a stroke for a particular putt. 

And I place them at least 2 feet apart either vertically or horizontally so each putt is at least somewhat different from the last.  Again, I don't  want to be too repetitive in my practice.

[jolter1]

I use three balls just to warm up with for a minute or two then just use one,  just to get myself use to try and making a realistic putt as my tee time is approaching. Like to hear that sound when the ball goes in the hole right before I tee off.

[Tom the Golf Nut]

I use three just to get the speed of the greens right then go to one ball. But I don't putt to a pin / cup. I find a spot on the green and put a tee in the green. If I can hit an 1/8" tee, then I feel much better at getting in a 4-1/4" cup.  Doing this also allows me to put the Tee in harder locations (uphill, downhill, side slope).  

[Bobbers]

8 minutes ago, Tom the Golf Nut said:

I use three just to get the speed of the greens right then go to one ball. But I don't putt to a pin / cup. I find a spot on the green and put a tee in the green. If I can hit an 1/8" tee, then I feel much better at getting in a 4-1/4" cup.  Doing this also allows me to put the Tee in harder locations (uphill, downhill, side slope).  

I tried that among other targets.  I finally settled on a dinner plate, seems to make me a much better  putter as I can hit it at least 7 out of 10 putts...

[silver & black]

I always grab two for putting practice. No particular reason.