Effective Putting Practice – 3 Favorite Techniques

We talk on The Golf Podcast how crucial putting is with regards to scoring on the golf course.  We can all agree that putting is the most important part of your game but yet not many will actually put the effort into practicing putting—at least not the right way.

Dropping a few balls on the practice green fifteen minutes before your round is not putting practice—it’s just a way to get in the golf mindset before stepping onto the first tee.  Practice should come with a plan of attack, a schedule, an objective, and you should focus on trying to repeat it over and over until you see results.

How you feel when your putting is on point. Photo via Giphy.

I find fairways and greens in regulation about 80% of the time.  So why I am not a 3 handicap?  The answer is quite simple, I am a lousy putter.

Just imagine if I shaved 5-7 putting strokes off my game and put it all together.  I know it’s easier said than done because greens come in all shapes, sizes, contours, undulations, speeds, terrains, and grass length.

When I really wanted to learn how to play this game I put all of my time and energy into my range practice and not enough into the short game because I truly didn’t know how to practice that part of my game.  Think about your own golf practice routines and what they consist of.  I asked ten average golfers in my office how they practice golf and eight of them said “driving range” and two others jokingly said “they don’t.”  No one mentioned putting at all!

Since I was able to determine how to practice putting in an effective way, I began to notice very quickly my scores getting lower and lower.  Try it for yourself by ignoring the driving range for a week or two, or perhaps only getting a small bucket of balls just to keep your rhythm intact.  Hit 5-10 balls out of that 35 ball bucket and take the rest over the practice green for a solid 30 minute practice session.

That said, I want to share with you three putting techniques that I have implemented into my practice routine that will only take you 30 minutes to complete.

Let’s assume its 9:00am at the beginning of your practice; this is a sample schedule of what you should expect to do out there to be effective on the course:

9:00 – 9:05: The Gate Drill

This drill is commonly used by PGA TOUR players as a way to warm up your putting stroke.  The idea of this drill is too maintain a consistent putting stroke and straight wrist movement.

You simply take two tees and place them on the putting surface just outside the heel and toe of your putter.  The idea here is to stand three feet from the hole and hit as many balls into the hole as possible all while keeping your putter within the tee “gate.”  Tiger Woods has used this simple putting drill throughout his career and he has many accolades to show for it.

In five minutes you can easily sink 40-50 putts before moving on to the next part of your practice.

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9:05-9:15: Play Games

Sometimes playing a few games on the practice green can be fun and very effective at the same time.  There are numerous games you can play and heck, you can even make them up as you go.

For about ten minutes, play a putting game that forces you to complete a task before you can move on.  One particular game that I made up is called Two-Putt Practice.  Here’s how it’s done:

Take ten balls out and line them up in a straight line (this drill forces each putt to have a little difference break since it’s coming in at a slightly different angle).  Hit all ten balls to the hole and then try to complete the two putt until you reach 100% success.  Obviously balls hitting the bottom of the cup on the first try won’t require a second putt, but you’ll need to finish the remaining balls on the next try.  What this drill does is forces you to get the ball close to the hole so that you learn how to properly judge speed and break.

For more of a challenge you can try starting with the first set of balls 30 feet for further from the hole.

9:15-9:30: Putting Challenge

You’ve come to the last leg of your practice and this is where you want to focus on all types of putting scenarios.

Take a small pad of paper and simply write down 1 through 18 in the left column and in the next column label it “Score.”  The idea is to move around the practice green and set up different shots to simulate a round of golf that requires only putting.  Let’s say your “made up” course par is 36, in that case you want to finish at even or under par by the end of the round.

Start at one hole and perhaps set up a seven foot downhill putt.  Complete the hole, record your score (number of putts) and then move on to the next location.  Next, maybe Hole 2 is a 25 foot uphill putt, do the same and continue on until you’re done with all 18 holes.

This drill should take about 15 minutes.  If you find yourself consistently going “over par” because of too many 3-putts, you begin to identify your weaknesses.  Eventually, you should be a scratch Putting Challenge golfer.

Of course you can play whatever games you’d like on the practice green but the concept is to focus more time and energy on putting and perhaps less time on the things you’re really good at.  It’s self-gratifying to hit 50 perfect shots off of a turf mat, but it won’t help you score well unless you know how to close out the hole.

Try this practice schedule at least once per week (or more if possible) and I’m, confident you’ll see better scores.

A Bit of Extra Credit

If you want to dissect your putting stroke in more detail, I suggest picking up the Ping Putter App Cradle Case for around $40 bucks on Amazon and download corresponding the smartphone app.  You’ll learn a lot about your putting stroke and understand why you’re perhaps pushing putts or coming up short.

Here’s how it works:

Introducing the iPING Putter App

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Now get out there and start sinking those putts!

Cover Photo by Flash and Mel on Flickr