Better Putting 2

Three other pointers for better putting.

1) Mark your ball.

Mark a line on the ball about 1/2 inch long.  Then when you have worded out the line of your putt you can put the ball down with this line pointing along your line.  This will give you confidence when putting as you know the ball is lined up correctly and your putter should be square with the line.

2) Your forward stroke should be longer than your back stroke.

No matter how long the putt your forward stroke should always be longer than your back stroke, this means you have accelerated through the ball.

3) Work out your distances.

When I have a putt that is shorter than six feet I have my feet closer together and I only take my putter back to the big toe on my back foot.  For putts between six and twelve feet I will take my putter back until it is outside of my back foot.  Anything longer than twelve feet it's down to feel.  For the longer putts I will also have my feet further apart than on the short putts.  A good drill is to put a ball down, put your putter down about three inches behind the ball and than push the putter forwards, this eliminates the back stroke and you get used to pushing the ball towards the hole.

I hope these help

Russ

There is a great book entitled 'Putting Outside Your Mind' by a golf Psychologist Dr Bob Rotella  (He's been involved with Nick Price and a few others)

A couple of his drills:

To get distance/weight of the putt, aim at trying to stop the ball as close to the edge of the putting green without touching the first cut.

The second tip is to practice putting looking at the hole rather than the ball when making your putting stroke  (Obviously lining the ball up first).  His reasoning for this is that with other types of ball sports you look at the target and not at the ball.  Your eye and brain make the adjustments to get the accuracy and distance right.

It's improved my putting no end, it's just a shame that with the rest of my game especially my tee shots.  Not only don't I know how far I'm going to hit it from one shot to the next, I'm not that sure as to which direction it's going to go

The first drill will only give you the feel for the drill you are carrying out. This will do nothing to aid you when you are faced with a fifty footer on the first green.

The second tip is not carried out by any of the Pros playing the circuit, they all look at the ball when striking it.

Putting is all feel and one either has it or one doesn't.

John ,the second one is a practice drill not employed during a round.   Brad Faxon use this technique on the practice green ,I've tried it was'nt for me I would rather ingrain something I am going to actually do.

I  like Bob Rotella to........

I agree with John Pettit, it's allabout feel and confidence, which comes from good feel. I'm envious of those that never three put. However for us mortals there are tips and drills which you can dip into when you're going through a bad patch though I'm not sure about taking your eyes off the ball (there is a dril where you line up and then close your eyes but that's a distence thing).

 I have two drills which have served me well:

First one you can do in the living room. Take two balls and place one 1/2 inch from the toe and the heel of your putter, do your normal putt five times. Balls still there? move them closer and so on. I think this enables a square strike. Apologies if you've heard these before.

 The second is on the practice green and it brings put the tiger in you. How many times have you missed that two/ three footer due to a timid strike which consequently lipped or, God forbid missed completely? This one's for you but don't start with the severe downhill left to righters.

 Put a tee peg behind the hole and aim for that. It was a real eyeopener for me when I realised how hard you can hit the ball (thus keeping it on line) and it will still drop. The only battle then is having the balls to do it on the course.

Good drills patrick, like the second one allot i will give that one a try, nothing better than solidly stricking in the 3 footers.

Apart from those who just cannot read agreen it is imperative that the putter head accelerates through the ball just like any other shot.

I have to agree about how hard you can hit a golf ball and it will still go in the hole, mind you it has to hit the hole right in the center otherwise it will just spin around the hole and move away from the hole.

John, again is correct, no matter how short the putt you should still try to accelerate the putter head through the ball.

Russ

Mark, once that stops working for you replace your putter with a snooker cue!  lol

It might look odd but you won't miss as many three footers.

Russ

 With regards to where you place a tee peg behind the hole: a centimetere/half an inch will do. Ensure thet you are are in line. This is not a distance thing (having reviewed all the replies I cant agree with the practice of coming up short to the first cut. Why would you want to do that? Never up never in). This exercise is simply to build up confidence in striking the ball. It's a given that you have the line right and the green is in reasonable condition.