Repeatable stroke

slimjim32

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Other than continued and repeated practice, what are some drills or training aids you have used to help create a repeatable putting stroke?

My stroke is all over the place, and I would like to fix that.
 
Just throwing a few thoughts out there that seem to help my putting consistency (hope it helps some):

1. Setup with a posture that allow my eyes to get over the ball (or maybe just inside) and my arms to hang out nicely away form my body.

2. I like to have my elbows at maybe about a 30° angle. This allows me to feel like my elbows are semi "locked" (read: no significant pressure though). Sort of imagine a baseball home plate type of shape between my arms.

3. Grip: I like to feel like the back of my left hand wrist is facing my target and moves down the target line from the strike zone onward. The left hand is sort of set in this position, then my right hand really supports the actual stroke back and through itself. Grip pressure should be fairly light so as to allow your right hand to track the club on a little arch back and then a small release through the ball.
When I get these bits going with a nice rhythm, I typically putt quite well.

So many great training aides out there for putting. Good luck an I hope these little musings were helpful for you.
 
Other than continued and repeated practice, what are some drills or training aids you have used to help create a repeatable putting stroke?

My stroke is all over the place, and I would like to fix that.
Get a lesson and keep it simple - as DNice mentioned, honing in on a consistent alignment, setup, and grip routine can help eliminate a LOT of inconsistencies.
Don’t self diagnose!
 
i'm certainly no expert, but as someone who has struggled a lot with putting and now is decent but not great at it, i'll give you my insight.

i think other than the yips (which i have), putting comes down to fundamentals that are very similar to the long game. alignment is so critical. feet, knees, hips, elbows, shoulders, and eyes. this is something you can work on with an alignment rod, or a training aid like the putting arc or eyeline mirror.

then the putter needs to be aligned to the target line. i have found no better substitute than callaway's triple track paired with a putter that has sight lines, in my case the tuttle that lines up perfectly with the triple track. you could also find a straight putt and use a chalk line, then just roll putts down that line. this is so much harder than it sounds, at least for me.

personally, i don't believe working on path is as important. if you have your body and putter aligned properly, i don't think you will manipulate the path or face significantly. i believe path and face manipulations occur when we instinctively know we aren't aligned correctly.
 
My putting improved by a huge margin simply be adding a small forward press to initiate the stroke.

Not only does this take the wrists out, it automatically starts the backswing on line, allows the putter to rest on the ground too which takes yippy and hover movements and misalignment out.

Honestly, try it. I’m missing nothing from close in currently, whereas before I was missing at least 50% of putts within 4 feet. It was driving me mad.
 
I think the first step is to get fit for a putter, preferably on a SAM PuttLab unit. You'll find out if you have too much face rotation, too much/too little loft, the correct lie angle, tempo, and more. You can then either adjust your putter to fit you (if possible) or get into something that does.

The next most important thing is repeating your grip/posture/alignment. You should be able to set up your body/eyes where it looks/feels like you can make the putt. This should be taken care of during the fitting process. You don't want to fight your subconscious on this because your conscious efforts will at best be inconsistent.

The last part is repetition. You have to hit putts from various distances to build up a knowledge base/reference for your subconscious to work from. That just takes practice. When first starting you could use a marked alignment stick to help make the same size stroke and walk off putts to see what size stroke works for what distance. But I think the goal is to work toward the stroke size per putting distance to become second nature and not something you are thinking about on the course.
 
Other than continued and repeated practice, what are some drills or training aids you have used to help create a repeatable putting stroke?

My stroke is all over the place, and I would like to fix that.

gate drill is great for contact at least. It's probably my favorite putting drill to get things back in order. It's as simple as two tees just outside the edges of the putter, and forces you to get the putter through the same each time.
 
gate drill is great for contact at least. It's probably my favorite putting drill to get things back in order. It's as simple as two tees just outside the edges of the putter, and forces you to get the putter through the same each time.

This is what I was going to say as well. It should at least get you consistently hitting the center of the putter.
 
Practice.

I got a PuttOut mat and trainer last fall and it helped a ton!
 
Just throwing a few thoughts out there that seem to help my putting consistency (hope it helps some):

1. Setup with a posture that allow my eyes to get over the ball (or maybe just inside) and my arms to hang out nicely away form my body.

2. I like to have my elbows at maybe about a 30° angle. This allows me to feel like my elbows are semi "locked" (read: no significant pressure though). Sort of imagine a baseball home plate type of shape between my arms.

3. Grip: I like to feel like the back of my left hand wrist is facing my target and moves down the target line from the strike zone onward. The left hand is sort of set in this position, then my right hand really supports the actual stroke back and through itself. Grip pressure should be fairly light so as to allow your right hand to track the club on a little arch back and then a small release through the ball.
When I get these bits going with a nice rhythm, I typically putt quite well.

So many great training aides out there for putting. Good luck an I hope these little musings were helpful for you.

I try to setup with my eyes just inside of the ball. I found when I had my eyes directly over the ball everything was even worse. I don't know how to explain it per se, but it was just horrendous. And when I get over the ball, one of the last things that I do is "lock" my right elbow in. I need to pull the trigger on a putting mirror to help with my alignment. I'm sure that is a big hindrance for me.

i'm certainly no expert, but as someone who has struggled a lot with putting and now is decent but not great at it, i'll give you my insight.

i think other than the yips (which i have), putting comes down to fundamentals that are very similar to the long game. alignment is so critical. feet, knees, hips, elbows, shoulders, and eyes. this is something you can work on with an alignment rod, or a training aid like the putting arc or eyeline mirror.

then the putter needs to be aligned to the target line. i have found no better substitute than callaway's triple track paired with a putter that has sight lines, in my case the tuttle that lines up perfectly with the triple track. you could also find a straight putt and use a chalk line, then just roll putts down that line. this is so much harder than it sounds, at least for me.

personally, i don't believe working on path is as important. if you have your body and putter aligned properly, i don't think you will manipulate the path or face significantly. i believe path and face manipulations occur when we instinctively know we aren't aligned correctly.

Yeah. I'm sure my setup could use some tweaks and adjustment. I plan on getting a mirror to help with that, I just haven't pulled the trigger on one. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE the triple track on the green. But am a little curious if that is causing some behind the scenes issues. I don't get anal with it, but I do try to set it up so that the lines are pointing close to what I think the break is. As it sits now, I refuse to let myself get distracted by trying to line up the TT just perfect.

I like when the college kids come to my home course and set up a chalk line. They have done all the work for me and I can reap the rewards. I don't have the means to find a perfectly straight putt (via level and stimp-like device), but I guess that will have to change. I'm not worried about my path. I don't even look at my putter head when I make the stroke. As far as I know, I take it back loop-like and hope for the best come impact.
 
I think the first step is to get fit for a putter, preferably on a SAM PuttLab unit. You'll find out if you have too much face rotation, too much/too little loft, the correct lie angle, tempo, and more. You can then either adjust your putter to fit you (if possible) or get into something that does.

The next most important thing is repeating your grip/posture/alignment. You should be able to set up your body/eyes where it looks/feels like you can make the putt. This should be taken care of during the fitting process. You don't want to fight your subconscious on this because your conscious efforts will at best be inconsistent.

The last part is repetition. You have to hit putts from various distances to build up a knowledge base/reference for your subconscious to work from. That just takes practice. When first starting you could use a marked alignment stick to help make the same size stroke and walk off putts to see what size stroke works for what distance. But I think the goal is to work toward the stroke size per putting distance to become second nature and not something you are thinking about on the course.

I plan on getting a fit with a SAM. That way a fitter can give me specifics, and I can make changes accordingly. I like to think that I am repeating my setup, but it's a guess at this point in time. I feel like I am, so I would think I am at least close to the same time and time again.

I know I need to practice more. I'm sure that is my biggest variable at this time. I despise practicing my putting. I get bored very quickly and very easily.
 
This is what I was going to say as well. It should at least get you consistently hitting the center of the putter.

I use the gate drill a lot as well, especially when I feel like I am not hitting the center of the putter face. Quickly brings be back online.
 
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Sometimes, "rocking your shoulders" is too general a thought. A couple of things I've tried with success are 1) as suggested by Tiger, feel your left hand dominating the backstroke and your right hand dominating the forward stroke, and/or 2) feel like you're driving the stroke with either your left shoulder or right shoulder instead of both.

The motion is still the same as rocking your shoulders with either method, but (at least for me) concentrating on those smaller parts help make my stroke more consistent.
 
I use the gate drill a lot as well, especially when I feel like I am not hitting the center of the putter face. Quickly brings be back online.

so the gate drill is only for correcting contact? I ask because I think Im one of the only people on earth that hates the gate drill
 
so the gate drill is only for correcting contact? I ask because I think Im one of the only people on earth that hates the gate drill
Not sure if it's only for that, but that's what I use it for.
 
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