Three Drills to Help You Putt Better Under Pressure

There are few feelings in golf quite as satisfying as making a putt under pressure.

When you see the ball fall into the cup on a big putt, you’ll get a rush of adrenaline, and you may even let out a little fist pump on your way to retrieve it.

Of course, every golfer is familiar with the opposite of this feeling, as well.  

When you miss a putt under pressure – especially one that you expected to make – it can be quite disappointing. Even worse, that pressure miss may eat away at your confidence, leaving you less likely to make the next one.

For some people, pressure putting can become a major cause of anxiety on the course, and it could eventually make the game less enjoyable.

Let’s not let it get that far!

In this article, we’d like to present three drills that should help you perform better on the greens when the pressure is on. Sure, you’ll still miss a few from time to time – everyone does – but hopefully you’ll see plenty of them fall in, as well.

Each of these three drills is simple to add to your practice routine and none of them require any special equipment.

Drill #1 – Build a Streak

One of the big problems with traditional practice putting is that it misses the sense of urgency that you will feel when you go out onto the course.

When you miss a putt during a round of golf, there is no getting that stroke back – it goes onto your scorecard and there is nothing you can do about it.

In practice, though, it’s different.

When you miss a putt on the practice green, you can simply line up another ball and give it another try. This is great for fine tuning your technique, but it doesn’t do anything for teaching you how to deal with pressure.

There is no pressure when you can always just try again.

So, to get around this issue, we are going to build some pressure into your practice putting routines. This drill is about as simple as it gets, but it will quickly teach you how to make a quality stroke while feeling some nerves. It goes like this:

• Find a relatively flat spot on the practice green and place five golf balls down in front of you.
• Place a tee roughly three feet from the hole – this will serve as your starting point for each putt.
• Hit the first putt toward the hole. If it goes in, line up another ball and make another stroke. The goal of the drill is to make a set number of putts in a row before you are done.

It’s up to you to set a target number of putts that you want to make in a row before you consider the drill finished. If you are a relative beginner and not confident with your putting, even 5 or 10 putts could be enough. For an experienced player, that number might be more like 50 if the putt is straight and flat.

Start out with a modest goal and keep moving it up each time you are able to successfully finish the drill.

You might be surprised to find how nervous you feel as you approach your target number. For example, if you are trying to make 25 in a row, you won’t feel much of anything on the first 10 putts. As you get closer, however, nerves will start to creep in just like they do on the course.

If you are able to knock that 25^th putt into the back of the hole while feeling the pressure, you will have taken a big stride toward putting better on the course.

Drill #2 – A Friendly Game

This drill is going to require another person to compete with on the putting green.

Just like trying to make a certain number of putts in a row can build your ability to deal with pressure, so too can competing against someone else during a practice session.

The game here is pretty simple, and it goes as follows:

• Each player will need one golf ball and a putter, and the game lasts for 18 “holes.”
• To start, one player picks the first target hole (anywhere on the practice green) and hits their putt. The other player then putts, and play continues until both balls are in and the scores are counted.
• Alternate which player selects the target hole and keep track of the scores all the way through 18 holes.
• With a par of 2 for each hole, a score of 36 would be considered even par for this drill. The winner, of course, is the player with the lowest score when all holes have been played.

Just like the putting streak drill, you are going to start to feel the pressure as the end of this drill draws near. Also, the fact that your opponent gets to pick half of the target holes means you will likely face some putts that make you uncomfortable – and that’s exactly the point!

Drill #3 – A Smaller Target

Most of the trouble that you are likely to encounter with pressure putting comes on short putts. This is where most people really feel the nerves, and even the pros will sometimes miss a surprisingly short putt when a tournament is on the line.

To improve your perspective on the course, try shrinking the target during your practice sessions.

When working on three-foot putts, use something to make the hole effectively smaller. There are a few ways to do this, but the simplest is to just use a couple of tees to form a “gate” at the front of the hole. Put a tee in front of the hole on each side, slightly in from the edge. This way, the ball will have to pass through the tees to go it – if it’s headed for either edge of the cup, the tees will get in the way.

After hitting plenty of practice putts like this, the hole will look much bigger when you get out onto the course.

So go out and give these drills a try during your next practice session. You may just be surprised how well “pressure putt” training translates to better scores on the golf course.