Nothing is more frustrating than hitting two solid shots onto a green that is 400 yards from the tee and then proceed to 3-putt from 20 feet. That's right, two shots travel accurately 400 yards and yet we can't cover the last 20 feet in two or sometimes three shots. It's very frustrating indeed.
Putting accounts for 40-45% of total scoring on the golf course, yet we invariably practice our putting for the least amount of time. We sometimes get so wrapped up in the actual ball-striking that we forget which club could really save shots on the golf course - and that's the putter.
Here are some helpful practice tips that are not necessary meant to alter your putting stroke, but instead improve your approach to putting and hopefully make you more reactive when practicing putting.
1. A simple lag drill. Step off distances of 15, 25, 35 and 45 feet on a practice green. Randomly lag putts to those distances. This drill will help you a great deal in your feel for distance. You don't have to have a hole, just a marked distance.
2. The circle drill. You pick a hole, you take six golf balls, and you circle the hole with them. That will give you six putts from the same distance, but each will have a different speed and break. It's a simple drill to make us much more reactive on the golf course. We see too many people on the golf course putting from the same spot, for the same putt. A trained monkey can eventually make that putt. But that's not the way it is on the golf course, because all putts are different.
3. The thumbtack drill. This one requires a small amount of imagination. Imagine that you have a small thumbtack stuck in the back of your golf ball. Use your putter as though it was a tack hammer, and drive the tack into the ball with your putter during the stroke. You should feel a slight popping sensation during impact. Only drive the tack into the ball with enough force to travel the distance you select. It's a great drill for acceleration and contact in your putting stroke.
4. The six-ball drill. This is where you take six balls, start at approximately three feet from the hole, and line them up in a straight line going back to about 12-13 feet. Start with the closest ball, stroke it into the hole, and work back to the last ball. If you miss one of them, start over. Now this will get your competitive juices flowing; it will let you see several putts going into the hole, and it keeps you competitive a bit while you are putting.
5. Putt to a tee. To get more specific in your practice, instead of putting to a hole, putt to a tee. Just place a tee in the green, and circle around it and putt putts that hit the golf tee. It's a much smaller target, it can narrow your focus and it can be very helpful for people who don't get their concentration up to what it should be when they're putting on the golf course.
Try these drills, and don't be afraid to make up your own. Because putting is, like we said, 40-45%. And our job is to lower that percentage.
