The best tip I can give to any golfer who wants lower scores is to work on their putting. Approximately 40% of the shots played by a professional golfer are putts. I would venture to guess this is probably the case with most golfers as well.
If a pro golfer shoots a score of 70, then about 28 of those shots will be putts. That means they’ve made at least eight one-putts during a typical round of golf.
With this in mind, a bad golfer who shoots about 100 will have about 40 putts. That means they may not have any one-putts, and they’ll have at least four three-putts.
One incredible stat I learned when I was attending a Hank Haney teaching seminar years ago was that Tiger Woods’ won about 80% of his golf tournaments when he three putted one time or less in an entire 72 hole golf tournament.
A typical 3 to 5 handicap golfer will average about 32 putts in a round of golf. So, if you are a bad golfer, but you can putt at least as good as a single digit handicapper, you can drop at least eight shots off your score without improving any other part of your game!
Putting is also the easiest part of your game to improve, because you don’t have to go to the driving range or to the golf course to work on your putting. It also doesn’t require any special physical ability to execute a good putting stroke.
If you spend just 10 minutes everyday on your putting, imagine how much you’ll improve.
With this in mind, I’ve got a few tips to help you improve your putting indoors.
Putting training aids
First of all, I highly recommend you pick up a couple key training aids that you can use indoors.
First, Get the Big Moss Augusta Putting Green – 4 x 12 Feet
They are designed to be stored in the box they come in as well. You just roll it up, put it in the box, and roll it our when you need it again and there are no creases or bumps. The greens come with a couple pieces of foam…one to use as a sort of guard rail, and the other that can be placed under the green so you can work on breaking putts.
The Big Moss Putting Green also comes with a small chipping mat, a couple of indoor use golf balls, and an insert for the hole to make it smaller when you practice those short putts to gain more confidence.
The second putting aid I recommend is the Edge Rail System from Eyeline Golf. The Eyeline Golf Edge Putting System is one of my most highly recommended training aids. If you want to significantly improve your putting, this is the ticket. I particuarly like to use this at home to groove my stroke. The system comes with the putting rail and a mirror to assist with alignment.
Edge Rail and Putting Mirror
To groove your stroke, you set the heel of your putter against the rail. The rail then forces you to swing the putter with an arcing stroke that opens and closes the clubface through the stroke. That is my recommended way to putt, because it does not require any manipulation, unlike the straight back and through method.
The alignment mirror that comes with the Edge Rail System also helps you to get aligned properly with your eyes over the ball and shoulders square to the target line. Get Edge Putting System here.
My favorite putting drill
I am going to share with you how I use the Big Moss Putting Green and Edge Rail Putting System to groove my putting stroke and build confidence in my putting.
What I like to do is set up the Edge Rail on the Big Moss about three feet from the hole, with the device aligned directly into the middle of the hole.
Without a ball, I make ten practice strokes using the Edge Rail. Then I put a ball down, and using the Edge Rail, I stroke the putt. I’ll do this five times.
Next, I will move the Edge Rail a couple feet over on the Big Moss. I will make five practice strokes on the Edge Rail, and then I will put a ball down three feet from the hole, where I had the Edge Rail set up originally, and hit the putt. It’s virtually guaranteed that I make the putt, because I’ve been grooving my stroke.
I repeat this step ten times, and then I will try to make ten putts in a row from this distance without any use of the Edge Rail in between putts.
I then repeat this entire process from six feet, nine feet, and then twelve feet, assuming I have time. This entire process may take about a half hour. You can certainly shorten the process once you’ve really grooved your stroke and you are making putt after putt.
Final Thoughts
Developing a consistent, repeatable putting stroke is how you will be able to gain confidence on the greens. The beauty of this drill is that you can do it at home or at the office.
Once you’ve developed that consistent, repeatable putting stroke, you just need a few minutes of maintenance each day to keep it grooved.
The bottom line is that there is no excuse for being a bad putter, because it requires so little effort to become a good putter.
Now, get to work!
