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Best putting tips

MWard

MWard

I’ll ban you and laugh about it
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Some of THP will be hitting their winter months here soon, and that means no golf for a while. That means, it's the best time to work on things like swing changes or putting!

That being said, what are some of your favorite putting drills for when you're stuck inside? Mine is the shop ruler drill. 4ft ruler, put a ball on one end and try to roll the ball all the way down the ruler. If you can keep it straight for 4ft, you're already off to a solid start for at least keeping it online.
 
Best putting tips

Wardy, that is excellent. One that I have posted before that changed my putting life is: make strokes while holding a nerf ball or something similar against the wall with your forehead. This keeps your lower body dead still. Anyone who fights swaying would benefit greatly.


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Maintain your focus on the back of the ball until you hear it drop in the cup!
 
One that helped me this year was picking a spot a few inches in front of the ball and just focus on rolling the ball over that spot consistently.
 
Misike said:
One that helped me this year was picking a spot a few inches in front of the ball and just focus on rolling the ball over that spot consistently.
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I do a slight variation. Roll the ball over a dime about 16" in front of a ball and I use different length strokes to make sure I can hit my spot on long or short putts.
 
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cnosil said:
I do a slight variation. Roll the ball over a dime about 16" in front of a ball and I use different length strokes to make sure I can hit my spot on long or short putts.
Click to expand...

That makes sense, same concept. If you can keep it on that line you're good to go.
 
I use the gate drill to work on center contact...usually use a couple ball boxes that are just over a putter head apart.
 
I'm working on holding the putter for a few seconds at the end of my stroke. Makes for a smoother stroke.
 
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emart2173 said:
I use the gate drill to work on center contact...usually use a couple ball boxes that are just over a putter head apart.
Click to expand...

Gate drill is another one I do when I'm outside, just because I prefer the tees than a box. The jolt of smacking a tee reminds me more not to do that than just chasing down a box hehe
 
I like the ruler drill and the dime at 16" drill.

I also try to "see" the shadow of the golf ball after I hit a putt to work on keeping my head still.

I think a new drill for this fall/winter will be to make 50 putts in a row from 3', 4' and 5'. Enforces a consistent stroke.
 
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Spivey said:
I like the ruler drill and the dime at 16" drill.

I also try to "see" the shadow of the golf ball after I hit a putt to work on keeping my head still.

I think a new drill for this fall/winter will be to make 50 putts in a row from 3', 4' and 5'. Enforces a consistent stroke.
Click to expand...

Those are fun but torture when you get into the mid 40's on a 5 footer and powerlip one. That usually leads to an urge to slam the putter back into the bag.
 
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Thought of another couple of tips tonight, mostly for speed drills.

Stand about 20-30ft from the fringe and see how close you can putt the ball to the collar without touching it. It's a good way to dial in your touch opposed to just always putting at a hole. Some putts from long distance, while making it would always be nice, getting it to 2 putt range is a much better goal so you don't put yourself in 3 putt range.

Another good speed drill would be putting with only your dominant hand on the putter. Putting is all about feel, and it's a good way to let your natural touch take over opposed to worrying about mechanics and the perfect stroke. Sometimes it's good to do that just to shock the system and remind yourself the main goal: put the ball in the hole or at worse case, make sure your second putt is a short one.
 
Buy a putting arc. Improved my accuracy tremendously. Unfortunately I showed my brother and he's making more puts too .
 
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Borss said:
Buy a putting arc. Improved my accuracy tremendously. Unfortunately I showed my brother and he's making more puts too .
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What made you pick that one vs some of the other practice ones out there, just out of curiosity?
 
Because it's simple and the premise makes sense.
 
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