Thank you for your question.
Trouble lining up and sinking the 3-5 foot putt is what can separate a truly great player from an average one. Being able to read the green, calculate speed and line up from such a short distance is not as easy at appears. That is one of the big troubles; it#%92s so close that we automatically think we should make this putt every time, so we pile on the pressure even before we begin to go through our routine about making the putt.
Brad Faxon, one of the best putters on the PGA Tour for years has worked on and off with Dr. Bob Rotella. The one major thought process for this outstanding putter is that Brad never cared if he made a putt. This would help take pressure off him to make the best possible action during his stroke. Now, we all know Brad wants to make putts, but a little thought misdirection helped him divert his concentration from “I gotta make this putt” to his focusing on his routine and process.
The process is fairly simple and I know you have heard a lot of this before, so this will be a refresher for a good player like yourself.
First, when faced with the 3-5 foot putt, let#%92s take the doctors advice and take the pressure off. I mean let#%92s face our weekend games are not life and death or putting food on the table, so let#%92s have fun and drop at least some of the care of making the putt if we can.
Now we are free and relaxed and able to concentrate on the process.
Being a 10 handicap I trust you read greens fairly well and have good speed control, plus getting you aligned is what we really are after here.
Many of the pros nowadays like to use a simple line of some color across some of the golf ball lettering. Just take a Sharpie and draw a nice alignment line on the ball. There are even plastic guides sold at golf retailers that can help you with this. http://www.tgw.com/customer/category/product.jsp?SUBCATEGORY_ID=6449
When you set the ball back in front of your coin use the line on the ball to aim at your desired target line, then stand back and make sure you have the point in question in your sights. If it doesn#%92t look right go back and adjust the ball, so the line on the ball is where you want the ball to roll. This will give a better perspective then just guessing standing over the putt, losing your line and focus.
Also, remember to leave the coin in back of the ball until you are fully certain of the alignment, then you can remove it from the green.
Now you have a nicely set line with your ball, the next step is to line up the putter and make your best possible stoke on that line.
A fairly simple process but takes some getting use to and you have to be persistent using the technique. Always work it out on the practice green before you take to the course. Make it a part of your routine and you will always line up where you want that ball to go, as long as you are reading the greens right, but that#%92s another discussion.
Always, if you have further questions about this please feel free to drop us another post in the forum.