Putting drills/games

Zolon

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Does anyone who has an indoor putting green have any putting drills. Also if you have putting drills for practice greens at your local course could you please share them.
 
When I first got my Betti and made my birdie ball for the basement I would just roll putt after putt after putt. But then one day I went down and just worked on my stroke. Threw a bunch of balls down and hit one after the other not watching where they were going just making sure my take away and follow thru were good. I had a buddy come over today and we had a little competition which made it fun. Other than that I have been focuing on a certain length but just moving the line around. And set up. I could use some drills for sure! I will definitely be checking back in on this one.
 
I have the 13 foot Tour Links Training Aid green in my basement. Using a tape measure and an "L" square I measured in 1 foot increments and then using white-out I put hash marks on the plastic side. I basically start putting at one of the increments - say 5 feet away and have to stay there until I make 5 putts from that distance. I then move on to another random distance until making 5 from that distance. I repeat this until I've covered every distance. I write down how many putts it takes to complete each stage. My goal is to take as few putts over the whole rotation. What I like about this is I start to feel pressure at each distance as I want to make the putts to move on and towards the end I notice the pressure as I want to constantly take fewer putts over the whole rotation. It takes about 45 minutes to go through the whole thing. With the 13 foot length I get putts from 1-11 feet which is where a lot of strokes can be saved or wasted in a round of golf. This seems to be working as last year I made more putts from the 5-10 foot range than ever before. I noticed how mentally I became much more confident and aggressive on the course and really expected to make every putt.
 
Here are two drills that the Seemore Pro recommended to me.

Push Drill- You need to setup normal and don't take a backswing. Just push the ball off the face to the cup. This will help you get through the ball and finish out towards the cup.

Pullback Drill- If you are short of the cup, you need to move the ball back one club length. (This sucks for the belly and broom stick guys. HAHA) This helps you put the ball past the cup.
 
Here are two drills that the Seemore Pro recommended to me.

Pullback Drill- If you are short of the cup, you need to move the ball back one club length. (This sucks for the belly and broom stick guys. HAHA) This helps you put the ball past the cup.

DMB can you explain this one more? Is that after you miss?

My favorite on the practice green is to putt around from each cup to the next, usually 9 holes, and I have to make it around in 18 strokes or less before I can leave the course. I've ran out of daylight once.
 
There is a drill I like to do at the course if I am out of sync with my putting

Gate drill: find a straight putt about 1' from the hole and put your putter head there. Take two tees and place them just outside the heel and toe. Place a ball and swing thru the "gate" without hitting a tee. If you still have trouble making putts put another tee about 2" towards the hole on the toe side or 2" away from the hole and about a 1/2 toward you on the heel side.

This should help roll the ball straighter without getting to far inside/outside.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S II using Tapatalk
 
DMB can you explain this one more? Is that after you miss?

My favorite on the practice green is to putt around from each cup to the next, usually 9 holes, and I have to make it around in 18 strokes or less before I can leave the course. I've ran out of daylight once.

I'm not DMB, but I'll chime in. What he means by the pullback drill is that on every putt that you miss, you move the ball away from the hole the distance of your putter. Most standard-length putters are 33-35 inches, so you're adding just under 3 feet to every putt. It forces you to get better in the 3-6 foot range, and is a great thing to do on a practice green.
 
I'm only doing one drill this winter, making sure I'm rolling it straight. I color half the ball and then it's easy to see if I'm rolling it well. Rolling it straight means you only have to worry about read and speed.
 
I'm only doing one drill this winter, making sure I'm rolling it straight. I color half the ball and then it's easy to see if I'm rolling it well. Rolling it straight means you only have to worry about read and speed.

Love the half colored ball. I stole this tip from you on your chipping video, and your right, it works great as a putting aid as well. So much easier to tell if you are rolling it straight as opposed to just having an alignment line drawn on the ball.
 
I'm not DMB, but I'll chime in. What he means by the pullback drill is that on every putt that you miss, you move the ball away from the hole the distance of your putter. Most standard-length putters are 33-35 inches, so you're adding just under 3 feet to every putt. It forces you to get better in the 3-6 foot range, and is a great thing to do on a practice green.

My high school golf coach made us do this during practice. When we would play nine holes we had to do that on all greens. You played until you shot par for that nine. If you were on number 8 and hit your 3rd shot and it was the 35th, you were done. Whoever made it the farthest on the nine didn't have to run the full amount the next day.
 
This months issue of Golf had an interesting tip for squaring up your putter face. They suggest laying down a yardstick and placing your ball on the 18" mark and then putting to the end of the stick. If your ball falls off prior to reaching the end, you are not squaring your putter face.
 
I'm only doing one drill this winter, making sure I'm rolling it straight. I color half the ball and then it's easy to see if I'm rolling it well. Rolling it straight means you only have to worry about read and speed.

I really like this idea also. Just colored half a ball and will practice with it today. Thanks!
 
I'm not DMB, but I'll chime in. What he means by the pullback drill is that on every putt that you miss, you move the ball away from the hole the distance of your putter. Most standard-length putters are 33-35 inches, so you're adding just under 3 feet to every putt. It forces you to get better in the 3-6 foot range, and is a great thing to do on a practice green.

That is correct. Thanks Ary.
 
My high school golf coach made us do this during practice. When we would play nine holes we had to do that on all greens. You played until you shot par for that nine. If you were on number 8 and hit your 3rd shot and it was the 35th, you were done. Whoever made it the farthest on the nine didn't have to run the full amount the next day.

Run at golf practice! That is why I played high school golf.
 
Run at golf practice! That is why I played high school golf.

Our coach was big into being in shape. We would meet at the school around 6:30am and run before school and practice golf after school. His theory (which actually made sense to me) was walking 36 holes in one day while carrying clubs in 80*+ days can be tiring. He wanted all of us in shape so that was one less thing to worry about. He wanted our full concentration to be on golf. It worked out pretty well for us.
 
After some reading, I started a new drill. One ball and get it in the hole - hopefully in one putt. I'm looking to clear my mind, not think about my stroke, and just focus on the target.
 
After some reading, I started a new drill. One ball and get it in the hole - hopefully in one putt. I'm looking to clear my mind, not think about my stroke, and just focus on the target.

Awesome dude. Cant wait to hear that works. I do that with chipping. One ball. And then putt it in the hole.
 
Awesome dude. Cant wait to hear that works. I do that with chipping. One ball. And then putt it in the hole.

So far, it's much more enjoyable and seems to work pretty well. I don't need to sit there and analyze my stroke.
 
These are all some very good drills but they serve different purposes. Using all these drills will accomplish everything it seems but may not be possible to do (time-consuming)

I compare putting to taking foul shots in basketball and here is my approach: if the player I am coaching has terrible form, I have him do drills that will create some muscle memory and get him in the proper form everytime without thinking. If his form is good but his percentage is low leading to no confidence, I simply have him take a ton of foul shots in practice; if he can't perform under pressure, I create some pressure.

I think the first step is to assess what you are trying accomplish with the putting drills? Are you not getting putts to the hole, are you pushing/pulling putts, is your distance control bad (not leaving tap-ins) or are you just trying to increase your confidence when you putt. Once you identify your goal from the assessment, then you can focus on what drills to use. In my case using every drill every time I practice doesn't work (not enough time) so I use the majority of my practice time on 1 or 2 of the drills above.
 
Putting drills/games

I looked for this, but couldn't find anything, so if anyone knows a thread, feel free to point me in the right direction.

Does anyone have any putting games or drills that they use?

I've been working on my consistency on my Birdieball green and just hitting 11ft putts for the past 3 weeks. I measured and marked up to 12ft and have been working from 1ft all the way through to 12 ft, and make 2 in a row, move on. If I miss more than 2 in a row I go back to the start. If I make 2 in a row, I go back 1 ft. So I get 3 total chances from each distance. If I miss any from 6ft in, I start over. Once I get back to 12ft, I work my way back down.

Any other fun games to make putting more fun?
 
You can play stymies; take 4 balls and putt to one hole. The object is to get the ball in the hole in one or two strokes. Each ball must be hit from starting point. Once all four are hit you can proceed to second putts. But her is the rub. You have to make them in order in which they were out to begin. You can't hit any other ball when putting the others. Hence the name stymies. You first ball may be blocked by the second putt. That would mean you would have to putt around the ball. If you touch another ball you add a stroke. You do this til each ball is holes out. After the 1st has been holed you proceed to the 2nd and so on and so forth. Better with multiple people but it will work by yourself
 
The one thing I do when I practice putting is to not putt from ranges that are not in a range of putts I think I should make all the time. I start off with 4 balls at say 3 feet, and stay at that close distance until I can make all five, five times in a row. I then move back a foot and repeat. Move back a foot and repeat. Once I get in the range of say 6 feet, I still feel this is within the range I should make a high percentage of them if not all. I might go out to as much as 8 feet, but then it is more of making a high percentage and keeping the misses very close.

I work on lag putting more or less from outside of 8 feet. I don't really expect to make them all, but I want to still see a high percentage. I will also putt from much longer distances, but in this case I'm really looking to make a few and have all the misses still close enough to tap in.

This is something my teacher had me working on last summer. He feels that way too many people come to the practice green and start off right away from a distance where they have no chance of making any. He is a big believer of building confidence from in close and then working out from the hole.
 
Since I'm unable to swing a club for a few months, I'm going to be working hard on my putting. I'm hoping to turn my weakness into a strength!

I love the ladder drill that has been described previously. I do that using my Birdie Ball putting green pretty much every day but it's only allowing me to work on 8' and in.

One of the things I plan to start doing is work with a metronome on my putting tempo. Tick @ takeaway and Tock @ impact. My coach worked with me on this last year but i never practiced it much. Now I have the time and desire to work on it.

I've read that everyone's tempo is different and you have to find what works for you. I'm going to start around 50-60 bpm and see where I go from there.

If you have a smart phone, I am pretty sure you can download a metronome. I bought one (Korg) off Ebay last year for less than $20.
 
Since I'm unable to swing a club for a few months, I'm going to be working hard on my putting. I'm hoping to turn my weakness into a strength!

I love the ladder drill that has been described previously. I do that using my Birdie Ball putting green pretty much every day but it's only allowing me to work on 8' and in.

One of the things I plan to start doing is work with a metronome on my putting tempo. Tick @ takeaway and Tock @ impact. My coach worked with me on this last year but i never practiced it much. Now I have the time and desire to work on it.

I've read that everyone's tempo is different and you have to find what works for you. I'm going to start around 50-60 bpm and see where I go from there.

If you have a smart phone, I am pretty sure you can download a metronome. I bought one (Korg) off Ebay last year for less than $20.

Plenty of free Metronome Apps out there. Also there's http://metronomeonline.com/ . Metronomes are great for putting and chipping since a 1-1 tempo is preferred (as opposed to a 3-1 in your full swing), at least according to Tour Tempo.
 
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