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Do you putt....scared?

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“JP”
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I’ve heard that Brad Faxon once said that “you have to putt like you don’t care.” While I agree with that, the problem is WE DO CARE! I’ve missed so many short putts just because I wanted it so badly and the pressure was there to have a good score for the round. How do you guys beat the pressure and make those 3 to 5 footers???
 
Don't worry about having to make the one coming back.
 
I have thought about this question in one form or another a few times. They idea of putting in hoping to not miss your next putt vs trying to make this one. It is a hard thing to get over. Especially on certain types of putt. Like down hill left to righters. You stand over it thinking "better be careful not to blow this by too far"..

The next question is how do you get to the not caring mentality?
 
I am a mediocre putter at best. I think and worry too much about putts. No doubt. And the results suffer as a consequence. I have made solid routine, setup, and grip/stroke changes but won't improve until I change my mindset. It is funny, but give me crazy challenging tee shots, for example, and I am fearless. But roll the itty bitty ball short distances toward a hole that can look the size of a pinhead to me, and I am a nervous wreck. :poop:
 
Make the hole look big in your mind and feel the tension release in your hands....

 
I putt confidently and great at lag putting, however I'm terrible at reading greens and has been a focus of mine lately. I feel like I do exactly what I want with my putts consistently. With that said I need to see more 5-8 footers drop.
 
I spent and still do spend a ton of time working these putts on the practice green. Learning how to get confident with my line and speed on these putts is one of the most important parts of my game.
 
I have often putted scared, recently this has changed for 2 reasons. First one I got fit for a putter (SeeMore Si2) which gave me confidence that I had the right bit of equipment in my hand, Second I compared my putting stats on Arccos and am gaining strokes on my chosen scratch handicap. Both of these things have given me the confidence to not worry about my putting in the same way as I now have a benchmark to measure against and it is definitely helping me.
 
Scared is a good word for it. I wish I were good enough with my approaches to position myself in the best spots relative to the pin location on any given hole. As a result of not being able to do that, on my home course I end up leaving myself with severely breaking sidehill or slick downhill putts. So, to avoid 3-putts I do exactly that, putt scared. The only reason I get my fair share of birdies is because I can get the ball into great position a couple of times per round, either getting it really close or leaving myself with a relatively straight uphill putt. There are no "flat" greens on my course. Those tend to be more luck than actually executing the shot I was planning. :)
 
For those 3-6 footers I really just try to get my line and then hit it firm so it doesn't break much. I find I miss more when I hit it soft because it breaks more or hits bumps that knock it off line. I try to hit all my putts on these to go 2 ft by the hole. Occasionally I'll miss and go a little further past but I bet I make more of those comebackers than the amount I miss hitting the first putt soft.

I would recommend hitting the putting green and try drilling some of those short putts into the hole. For me it really starts to build confidence for those short putts and I think it rolls into some of the medium range putts.
 
I focus on getting two putts every time. Never upset missing a birdie and leaving a tap in par.

I'm a little worried when the greens are really fast, as that roll out hurts sometimes
 
USAF Ret in Wis said:
I focus on getting two putts every time. Never upset missing a birdie and leaving a tap in par.

I'm a little worried when the greens are really fast, as that roll out hurts sometimes
Click to expand...

I will only be upset if I leave a birdie putt short. Don't mind having tap ins.
 
Nope not any more. I won't be happy if I miss that short putt (inside 6 feet) but it happens. No reason to worry about a putt going by, the comeback putt is easier.
You putt with confidence and you will start making more putts.
 
Visualize the ball rolling on the judged path and into the hole. Expect to make every putt.
 
Pros spend hours practicing 3’ and 6’ putts. I can’t remember the exact numbers but tour pro make 99% at 3’ and 85% at 6’. 3’ is the 2nd putt. Pros expect to get their chip shots within 6’.

Moral of the story for weekend warriors….practice the short putts. It will help remove/reduce the fear factor.
 
I have become too self conscious over short putts because I miss so many of them. Those negative thoughts are hard to drown out when I am standing over a 3 to 5 footer.
 
From a significant distance I'm just trying to knock it within 3 feet so that I won't be "scared" of my next putt. In the rare case I knock it in from a good distance, awesome! In the case I don't, I'm at least close to have a fairly easy putt.
 
I’m not sure if it’s a I don’t care attitude or what not, but for me I am for sure doing my best when I can get behind the ball or even just standing over the ball and I can visually see a line taking a path that gets me to the hole. Maybe I’m wired differently, but I always see like a false impression of a ball rolling and breaking. Once I see a line my brain will marry up the speed most of the time. I’m not thinking about the next part or the dreaded “if I miss… “

thenstep up, one breath, get comfy and let my body take over
 
Days where I am confident tend to go better, but the trick is how to gain that confidence. On a bad day, I will leave everything short and lose confidence. I need to spend more time on the putting green to get a feel for speed before the rounds.

I did see 2 drills to work on speed;
-putt from some distance (20 feet or so) and try to putt as many balls between a specific spot and the hole as you can, each putt has to go a little further than the previous one
-Line up 10 balls or so, a few feet apart in a line and putt them to the hole.

My 20-30 foot putts have been a struggle this year.
 
I just practiced on my putting mat at home A LOT of straight putts. It caused me to believe I will start my putt on line just about every time. Now(until my brain says differently) I feel like I am going to make everything coming back(I definitely do not make everything coming back)

Rambled a bit, but just get confident you can start the ball on line and everything else doesn’t matter.
 
I definitely battle some fear when standing over crucial putts and it can wreak havoc on my focus.

For my best putting round from recent memory, I was putting really well on the practice green beforehand. It gave me a ton of confidence to just step up and hit the ball in / near the cup during the round. So as others have mentioned, I think confidence is a big component and figuring out whatever you can do to muster some up. Less over-thinking, more trusting/confident to roll the ball.
 
Putting is better for me than full swings, and it's definitely a confidence/care thing. I think as I get better off the tee and fairways I'll actually have a harder time putting because my score will be more reliant on how well I am putting.

That never occurred to me before, I am already dreading that phase of my golf journey 😅
 
I do not putt scared, but I do miss with quite a bit of confidence.
 
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