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Putting Drill - Yardstick

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ddelise

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I bought a metal yardstick (less than $3 at Home Depot) with a small hole at the end. It is probably 1 1/2 inches wide. The drill is to putt the ball from the hole at one end across the entire yard stick, keeping it on the metal the entire putt.

I must have had beginners luck because yesterday I was about 12 for my first 15 attempts. Today I am averaging about 1 out of 3 putts successfully navigating the yardstick. Oops...

This is a great drill - easily and quickly reinforces if you are delivering the putter square to the target line. I'm experimenting with different putters, grips, ball positions, etc and will find out which combination gives me the best chance to hit my putt straight.

If you have a chance to give this a try, post here about your success or improvements to the drill.
 
Sounds like a good idea. I've been putting horribly recently, so I may need to try this out.
 
sounds like a pretty good drill.... doing something similar putting over a quarter then down to a nickel and then a dime about 3 feet out im just trying to hit my line every time i make the putt.
 
robn311 said:
Sounds like a good idea. I've been putting horribly recently, so I may need to try this out.
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I worked on it some more last night, experimented with different stances, ball position, etc and got to the point where I was good for 4-5 consistently. It is really teaching me the proper path and follow through. The best thing is the immediate feedback - you know right away if you hit the putt straight or not.
 
ddelise said:
I bought a metal yardstick (less than $3 at Home Depot) with a small hole at the end. It is probably 1 1/2 inches wide. The drill is to putt the ball from the hole at one end across the entire yard stick, keeping it on the metal the entire putt.

I must have had beginners luck because yesterday I was about 12 for my first 15 attempts. Today I am averaging about 1 out of 3 putts successfully navigating the yardstick. Oops...

This is a great drill - easily and quickly reinforces if you are delivering the putter square to the target line. I'm experimenting with different putters, grips, ball positions, etc and will find out which combination gives me the best chance to hit my putt straight.

If you have a chance to give this a try, post here about your success or improvements to the drill.
Click to expand...

Here is a great video of DA Points using your same thought - #headinginrightdirection - Great job practicing putting!!

 
seemoreputters said:
Here is a great video of DA Points using your same thought - #headinginrightdirection - Great job practicing putting!!

Click to expand...


Thanks for posting!

And I like the part about putting slowly. I was going to post about that aspect today. I started varying my speed and noticed that trying to get the ball to stop say a foot or two max after the ruler is much more difficult than say 6 feet.
 
seemoreputters said:
Here is a great video of DA Points using your same thought - #headinginrightdirection - Great job practicing putting!!

Click to expand...


Great instructional video Seemoreputters.
 
seemoreputters said:
Here is a great video of DA Points using your same thought - #headinginrightdirection - Great job practicing putting!!

Click to expand...


I remember watching this one before thinking if I could only repeat that every time!!!
 
You can get different width aluminum sticks at Home Depot. This is fun because it gives you a way to continue to improve. I have been using one that is 3/4" wide. It is a test for sure.
 
Dr. Teeth said:
You can get different width aluminum sticks at Home Depot. This is fun because it gives you a way to continue to improve. I have been using one that is 3/4" wide. It is a test for sure.
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3/4" - you sure?!?! That is narrow! I just measured my yard stick and I guessed right - it is 1.5" and it is challenging.
 
ddelise said:
3/4" - you sure?!?! That is narrow! I just measured my yard stick and I guessed right - it is 1.5" and it is challenging.
Click to expand...

They have a bunch of different options. You can pretty much get them in 1/4" increments starting at about 1/2". I will have to go measure it, but I am pretty sure I got the 3/4". My main point is you dont have to get a yard stick, there are similar items that will do the job. The main reason I got the one I did was because it was more rigid than the yard sticks, so it bends less when it is on the ground. That is the real tough part of this exercise, it is tough to find a section of the green that is flat enough to do this on.
 
That looked like the driving range at Tru Blue, in fact I'm pretty sure that it was.
 
Dr. Teeth said:
They have a bunch of different options. You can pretty much get them in 1/4" increments starting at about 1/2". I will have to go measure it, but I am pretty sure I got the 3/4". My main point is you dont have to get a yard stick, there are similar items that will do the job. The main reason I got the one I did was because it was more rigid than the yard sticks, so it bends less when it is on the ground. That is the real tough part of this exercise, it is tough to find a section of the green that is flat enough to do this on.
Click to expand...

Cool - i will check them out. I did notice that the one I have is kind of on the skinny side so you need to be careful when placing on the ground to make sure it is level. One with a little more heft/thickness will be useful. Thanks for the tip.
 
I can't believe I haven't heard of this or seen it before. Just having confidence in hitting short putts right on line would be huge. Got to try this...for the price of a coffee, why not?
 
Thanks for posting the idea as well as the video. Have to try it.
 
SeeMore, in a post on another thread I thought I heard someone say something about a SPi grip? I was going to ask him about it but I lost the thread while searching for a video on it. Can you explained this any further or have a video/picture of the grip?


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Alright, so my putting has been so bad lately, that while I was at Canadian Tire today I picked up a metal meter stick. Its an 1,1/4" wide and I think will not only be good for this drill, but easy to keep in my bag for my alignment stick on the range as well.

I put this ruler down on my putting strip in my office and started putting. Good lord is it hard to get the ball to roll slowly down the stick. If you hit the ball harder its still hard but easier to keep on the stick the whole way, but like they showed in the video, to make a smooth slow putt is very difficult.

I will be working hard on this over the next long while.
 
coolbreeze said:
Alright, so my putting has been so bad lately, that while I was at Canadian Tire today I picked up a metal meter stick. Its an 1,1/4" wide and I think will not only be good for this drill, but easy to keep in my bag for my alignment stick on the range as well.

I put this ruler down on my putting strip in my office and started putting. Good lord is it hard to get the ball to roll slowly down the stick. If you hit the ball harder its still hard but easier to keep on the stick the whole way, but like they showed in the video, to make a smooth slow putt is very difficult.

I will be working hard on this over the next long while.
Click to expand...

It's amazing isn't it how difficult it is to take a smooth stroke to only hit the ball a few feet and keep it straight. Right now I would say 90% of my misses are to the left. The more I practice the drills the more I think the reason is inconsistent ball position vs. a stroke/face angle issue.
 
This is awesome! I struggle with speed because my carpet is So much slower I think. This will help that as well as alignment. Awesome drill
 
Quick update. I've found for me a consistent combo for me. Bobby Grace Fat Lady Center Shafted putter (new style), ball position slightly inside left heel. Ball 1 1/2 club head widths from toe, hands held "high". With this combo I can now achieve around 8/10 consistently straight down the yard stick. I also added measuring with the iPing app while doing the drill and I am hitting +1.2 putting handicap this way. Now, can I take it to the course???
 
I tried this tonight for the first time, should have bought a metal yardstick, my wood one is slightly warped. I struggle with short putts so hopefully this drill will help!
 
I may have to check this out, especially since it's so cheap to do. I guess I can buy a couple alignment sticks, a yard stick and pay about $5 and have a whole new training system lol
 
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