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Your Tips For Mopping Up the Short Ones

anything inside of 20' just call it good and pick it up. :banana:
 
I’m known as “2-putt par” in my golf league group. I rarely make a putt over 5 feet so I have numerous short putts throughout a round. On short putts, I’ve had great success putting the ball more out towards the toe of the putter. It’s quite unorthodox, but it helps me hole a lot more putts inside 5 feet.
 
NEhomer said:
The problem with this is that it's nearly impossible to do...to "not think about it." When it's to card your career low score, you're gonna be thinking all right. The question is, what are you going to be thinking about? There's simply no avoiding nerves and the more you fight them, the more they influence your stroke. I think that having one or two simple stroke keys to focus upon removes the negative influence that "trying not to think about it" produces. I mean, what is it that you're trying not to think about in the first place? That's right; not missing the putt.

Make a shoulder turn, keep the stroke short.

Try it!
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You wanted to know what works for me, and that was what works for ME.

After going a season with the worst putting I ever had, I decided last year to empty my mind of all putting thoughts, I don't look up tips on what to do, I don't read any of the books I bought on putting, I just stopped thinking about putter.

What happened? I was less nervous, I made more putts, and I scored lower. I just wanted to get out of my own head.

Want a quick tip on how to not get nervous over short putts when going for a "career low score"?
Either don't tally up the scorecard until you walk off the 18th, or let a playing partner handle the scorecard.
If you don't know what you are scoring, no problems :p
 
Mad_Brad said:
You wanted to know what works for me, and that was what works for ME.

After going a season with the worst putting I ever had, I decided last year to empty my mind of all putting thoughts, I don't look up tips on what to do, I don't read any of the books I bought on putting, I just stopped thinking about putter.

What happened? I was less nervous, I made more putts, and I scored lower. I just wanted to get out of my own head.

Want a quick tip on how to not get nervous over short putts when going for a "career low score"?
Either don't tally up the scorecard until you walk off the 18th, or let a playing partner handle the scorecard.
If you don't know what you are scoring, no problems :p
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Fair enough....I'm guessing that you're mentally tougher than me. I get nervous but have learned some ways to play through it.
 
In the words of Eddie Lowry "read it, roll it, hole it!"

I think the biggest part of this is just committing to the putt. If I have a shorter little breaker and put a good roll on it and burn the edge 2-3 ft by it, especially on the high side, then I am ok with that. It's the putts that I that I can't commit to, typically down hill breakers, that I will make a weak stroke and poor effort. These bug me so much more than just missing the putt.
 
Have the putter head "chase" the ball to the hole. Encourages good tempo and acceleration through impact.
 
NEhomer said:
I've been putting with the Odyssey V Fang face balanced model for a couple of years now and I've been real solid on the short putts with it, however, I've found two things to key in on.

If I remember to turn my shoulders and to keep the stroke short, I make 'em every time (provided I've read it correctly). The ones I miss are when I get too handsy or a tad too long.

Have you identified your keys to consistency?
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On the short ones for me I need to keep my eyes on the ball as I tend to look up to the whole mid stroke is I can see it in my peripheral.
 
jvbart said:
On the short ones for me I need to keep my eyes on the ball as I tend to look up to the whole mid stroke is I can see it in my peripheral.
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I've tried not looking at the hole at all until it drops....but I just can't do it.

....hmmm, I never even consider "looking up" to be the cause of a short miss though.

Might be something to think about. Lord knows we all do it with full shots at least occasionally.
 
Snickerdog said:
I think the big thing on short putts is to not overthink them. Check the line, address, take your practice stroke and go. Standing over a short putt or over thinking it usually has a bad result.
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This...this....and this.

Focusing in golf is a challenge, so moving a bit faster and getting it done, tends to breed more success for me. Helps get those pesky negative thoughts out of the melon.
 
Something else came to mind while reading these posts and that is taking time on the putt. I find that so many of my missed putts are simply because I am not taking enough time. I rush into and through the putt. I would state that about 90% of the time if simply slow down, my putts become on target. Heck this really fits all parts of the game but sometimes it is hard if the pace of play is furious.
 
Jman said:
My literal thought, “back of the cup, firm”
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Exactly my thoughts. If I try to get fancy I miss it and tell myself I should have just rammed it into the back of the hole.

We do have to be careful sometimes, though. Sometimes the inmates that cut the holes don't cut them very deep and you'll get the metal *ting* as your ball hits the lip of the actual cup and bounces out of the hole.
 
NEhomer said:
I've tried not looking at the hole at all until it drops....but I just can't do it.

....hmmm, I never even consider "looking up" to be the cause of a short miss though.

Might be something to think about. Lord knows we all do it with full shots at least occasionally.
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I do it more than occasionally :confused: It's probably my biggest problem on anything near the green.
 
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