Five Feet to Glory – From Knee-Knocker to Sure Thing (Part 2)

In the first part of this three-part series, I attempted to describe how an Indiana boy growing up cheated at fantasy baseball.  Of course, that wasn’t the main idea behind the story – but it got a lot off my chest and according to my psychiatrist will serve me well as I grow into my inner feelings in the coming years.

No, the main idea behind the story was how we should be adjusting our practice sessions to see some quick improvement and shave a couple of strokes off each round.  I analyzed some of the voluminous stats found on the PGA TOUR web site and determined that the most bang for the buck would be to target the shot most attempted during a normal round – the “Under 5 Foot Putt.”  It’s a knee-knocker for some and a sure thing for others, but if you master this putt I can guarantee you that you will quickly chop 1-2 shots off your round every single time out.  That wouldn’t be a bad thing, would it?  My psychiatrist told me to ask that question for the acceptance of my peers and strengthening my inner self.

In the second part of the trilogy, we’ll take a look at two of the techniques that I’ve come across for quickly getting you comfortable with this distance of putt.  Whether it’s a round that you are playing with your drunken friends, or a high-pressure league match against the biggest jerk at your company (your boss Elmer), using these techniques once a week will smack the nervousness right out of you.

What is the best part of these drills?  These are fantastic activities to take your kids to help you with (and for them to do) to get them interested in golf.  Don’t haul them to the driving range where they will hit one of out of every five balls semi-correctly.  Take them to the putting green and challenge them to compete with you on these drills.  You’ll quickly find that in addition to spending some quality time teaching putting techniques, you will also find that the competition gives you that extra bit of pressure that you need to practice better.

Drill 1 – The Ladder of Death

OK, let’s clear things up. This drill isn’t a ladder.  And it’s certainly not life or death.  But it got your attention – just like that 3 footer you HAVE to make with Elmer leering over your shoulder.  So here’s the drill.

Step 1: Find a nice level portion of the practice green and line five tees up – one every foot like in the below picture.

Step 2: Take three balls and put them at the one foot mark.

Step 3: The drill is deceptively simple.  If you make all three putts, move the three balls back to the two foot mark.  Make those three putts and move back to the three foot mark.

Step 4: If you miss a putt, game over.  Start back with all three balls at the one foot mark.

Step 5: Sounds easy, right?  Make 15 putts in a row from within five feet and you’re done.  However, things are not quite as easy when you are putting from the five feet mark.

You’ve sweated and fretted over all these putts and now suddenly you have to make THREE five footers in a row?  Trust me – you WILL feel the pressure.  This is a great drill to do on any practice green instead of pounding out 45-footers willy-nilly.  Throw in a speed competition against your child while he/she is putting from the OTHER side of the hole and you have all sorts of new pressure.

Drill 2 – The Cross of Doom

This is very much like the ‘Ladder of Death’ drill but throws in some break and speed issues – hence the ‘doom’ part of the title.

Step 1: Put a ball two feet from the hole in all four main directions.  They don’t have to be exact – we’re not rocket scientists here.

Step 2: Make all four putts. Move back one foot.  Lather, rinse, repeat.

That’s it. You can set this one up however you like – the number of balls in each direction, the distance back to five feet – all of this is your choice.  However, I encourage you to make the last round at exactly five feet so that you can feel that same pressure.

I promise you that if you do these two drills at least once a week, you WILL get that stroke or two gain that I mentioned earlier.  Who knows – you may also get your child interested in a game that they had never shown any interest in previously.

The next and final part of this trilogy will show you the results of doing these drills weekly for the last few weeks.  You will be shocked and amazed by what I have discovered about my mind, my short game, and my slimy boss Elmer.

Click here to read Part 3!

Cover photo by Pierre M on Flickr