You know the old saying… drive for show, putt for dough. For 99% of the golfers out there, improved putting skills will result in significantly lower scores. Here’s how to be a better putter.
Improve your alignment
Probably the most common error among amateur golfers is that they rarely align themselves properly to their target line. As a result, they automatically diminish their chances for making putts from just about any distance.
Proper alignment at the very least involves getting your shoulders square to the target line. A good putting stroke is driven by the shoulders, with quiet hands.
To make it a bit easier to get your shoulders square to the target line, get your feet, knees and hips square to the target line.
If you have typically putted with any of these parts out of alignment, it may feel uncomfortable at first, but with some practice, your body will adapt.
It is also critical that you line up with your eyes directly over the ball. This will help you see the target line better as you set up to the putt.
A great device to help you with your alignment is the Classic Eyeline Putting Mirror.
Improve your putting stroke
Most golfers don’t have a reliable, repetitive putting stroke. As a result, even if they are aligned properly, they’ll still hit putts offline.
Some excellent putters in the history of the game have had unusual putting strokes. Ben Crenshaw comes to mind, as he had a stroke that looped to the inside, and then attacked the ball from outside in.
However, most golfers obviously don’t have Crenshaw’s skill, so it’s critical to develop a reliable putting stroke.
In my opinion, the best way to do this is with the Eyeline Edge Putting Rail. This may be attached to the Eyeline Putting Mirror.
The Edge Putting Rail allows you to build a natural feeling putting stroke that swings the putter on a slight arc. Because we are standing beside the ball, and turning our shoulders slightly to hit the putt, the putter should naturally swing on a slight arc.
The Edge Putting Rail will help you develop that natural putting stroke by practicing for just 10 or 15 minutes per day.
Work on your lag putting skills
You can lower your scores significantly by improving your lag putting skills. This requires getting used to the speed of the greens when you are practicing, and before every round you play.
By improving your lag putting skills, you’ll be left with shorter second putts, and you might make a few more long putts.
Eliminating three putts is absolutely crucial to lowering your scores. Most bad golfers tend to three putt more than one putt. Three putts are just wasted shots.
Tiger Woods’ former caddie Steve Williams kept detailed statistics of Tiger’s game. One of the most glaring statistics was that, when Tiger three putted no more than once in a 72 hole tournament, he would win 80% of the time.
Here is a post with video I put up awhile back that provides you with a couple tips to improve your lag putting.
As I said earlier, drive for show, putt for dough!
Master your short putts
Short putting is where many golfers struggle. This is mainly a confidence issue, and really can only be remedied with practice.
One of the best drills for developing confidence with the short putts is the gate drill made famous by Tiger Woods.
Pick a spot on the putting green where you have a nice, straight, three foot putt.
Set your putter on the ground, square to the hole. Place a tee 1/4 inch from each side of the putter as seen in the image.
Set a ball just in front of the putter and now hit the putt. If you have good alignment and set up with the putter square to the line, you should be able make this putt. If you hit a tee, you obviously have issues with your stroke.
However, if you continue hitting putts with this set up, you’ll eventually start making putts as your stroke will adapt.
Shoot for an initial goal of making ten putts in a row with the gate drill.
As you improve, go for Tiger’s goal… he would finish his sessions by making 100 in a row with the gate drill.
Learn to read the greens better
Reading greens is most important with the longer putts. This is a skill that is developed over time, but here are some tips from one of the best caddies to ever walk between the ropes, Bones Mackay.
Basically, you’ll learn to identify a clear slope direction in your position on the green. It’s then a matter of gauging how much break will occur, which is dependent upon the speed of the putt.
You’ll learn how to gauge that speed and break with practice and experience.
Final Thoughts – How to be a better putter
Ultimately, if you want to become a better putter, you need to practice. Putting should be the focus of at least 40% of your practice, because that is how many strokes you’ll use up on the greens.
Before every round of golf, put in at least 15 minutes on the practicing green, starting with long putts to get a feel of the speed, and then finishing off with the gate drill to get your confidence up ahead of the round.
And, while you are at home, try and get in some work on your putting stroke. Building that solid, repeatable putting stroke will go a long long way toward making you a better putter.
Now, get to work!
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