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Putting Practice

At home: SPI medicine ball and/or carpet putting using a shirt button as a target. I'm working on grooving a consistent stroke and hitting the button from various distances keeps me focused.


Pre-round: Drop 3 balls 5-6 feet from the cup and repeat 2-3 times to get the feel for the speed. I then work my way around the practice green in no particular order using 3 balls per hole (putting them out). This allows me to practice various lengths (including long lags) as well as reading proper lines.

Overall, I think it's working fairly well since I rarely 3 jack.
 
Pre-round I look for a flat area on the practice green, put a tee in the ground, take 3 balls, and putt them to the tee from about 5, 10, 20 and 40 feet. This is just to get a feel for the speed. I then move on to putting towards a hole from different directions.

I often see people take 3-5 balls, put them in a line, and putt them towards a hole. For me, that doesn’t work. On your first putt you get the line, so the putts that follow are not like the real situation on the green. You only get one shot to get the line right, so during pre-round practice, I try to approach it like that as well. I only use one ball, mark it, line it up and take my time, just as I would do during my round, and try to get in in the hole in the least amounts of putts.
 
You're supposed to practice putting? I knew I was probably doing something wrong.
 
I'm usually the only person out there during the week, especially with it getting colder. So, I'll drop a dozen or so balls and hit chip shots from 10 yards or so off the green at a particular hole. Then I step up and read, align, and putt, each ball. I putt and two putt, or whatever, until each ball is made. Then I repeat the process at a different hole. I find that it makes it similar to actually putting on the course and leaves me a variety of distances/breaks. I've recently tried to make all of my practice better fit what I do on the course, even my range sessions.
 
I'll usually number the holes on the practice green and just do circuits through them, starting from the edge of the green and then for the rest I'll start from near the previous hole.
 
I go to my local course's putting green and go to the one hole that from four directions you have a downhill, an uphill, a left break and a right break. I start at three ft out from each direction and stick a tee in the ground. I hit three balls from each spot and don't advance to the next until I have made all three in a row. All the way around then I move the tees back a foot and continue around three or four times. Then I do some lag putting and by then my back screams no more.
 
I hit about 6 putts on the practice green about 5 minutes before I tee off, and that's about it LOL. Unfortunately, I just can't get motivated to practice my putting, it bores the living daylights out of me.
 
Ladder drill and around the world. 3 balls, starting at 2 feet, then 4 feet, then 6 feet (distances approximate), all in a line. Make the closest, then the middle, then the furthest. After making all 3, do the same thing in a different orientation to the hole. Basically, the orientation is north, south, east and west. Then i do it on the diagnols to the previous lines.

I do this ateast once a month, and sometimes several times a week. It really depends on my putting in recent rounds.

I do very little for long putt practice. In my mind, everything is a 5 foot putt, sometimes you just have to hit it harder (longer putts).

It works well. It gives me confidence and a repeatable ane simple putting stroke.

~Rock
 
The one drill I do at home that I credit making me a serviceable putter involves putting while holding a nerf ball against the wall with your forehead. (it is really a matter of finding the correct ball, or object so you can take your natural stance) My SPI coach (Jim PRCC) showed me this drill before he fit me for my first SeeMore, it has done wonders for me. I had issues with sway during my stroke, this drill will completely quiet your lower body. I make a ton of strokes like this at night while talking to my wife and watching tv.

At the course I practice a lot of short puts, worry about starting the ball online. I also practice up and downs to try and put pressure on the practice puts.
 
- Putting Professor for 5-10 minutes

- 5 by 5's, 5 tees in a line starting at 4 feet and going out to 15 feet. Have to make 3 of the 5 and you move back a tee. Make 3 of the 5 on the next tee and you pick up the tee you last came from. If not, you go back to that tee. Object is to pick up all 5 tees by the end.

- 5 random tees anywhere from 5 to 15 feet around a hole. Make 3 of the 5 and pick the tee up. If not, move to another tee till all tees are picked up.

- Recently started something called 30,40,50,60,70. A tee at each spot 30ft out, 40ft out, 50ft out, etc. Place 4 tees around the hole about 2 feet from the club making a circle. Putt 5 balls from each spot (30,40,50,60,70ft) & get 1 pt. for every ball inside the circle. Goal is to get to 20+ pts.

The SPi Cyber coach has helped a ton with my putting practice and practicing with a purpose.
 
Usually, if I'm at a new course, I'll run some 10 foot or longer lags, just to get a feel for the speed from a longer distance. Not a bunch of those though, maybe 6 or so from different angles. I'm looking for how the grain in a green plays with a putt. So I'll putt into the grain (dark green grass line in freshly mowed turf) then turn around and run with the grain (white lines) to see if there is a noticeable difference.
Then, I'll move into the 4 to 6 foot ranges and work on my stroke and mechanics. Finally, I'll run around the cup from about 2 to 3 foot a few times, just to mentally see and hear the ball falling into the hole. Positive mental reinforcement.

At home, I have a 13 foot piece of turf that is about an 8-ish on the stemp, so I set up small objects (half the size of an actual cup) and putt to those, focusing on my form and rhythm.
 
I found I was missing a lot of putts left/right with out ever starting the ball on the intended line. To help with that, I got a chalk wheel. I snap a line and try to work on 6-8' putts to make sure I am actually getting things on line. After that I work on distance control by trying to get the ball past the hole, but within 2-3'. I try to do that for 2 balls from different distances.

This has helped a bit, but I need to spend way more time doing it.
 
Start with three foot putts in a clock drill. Need to go 20/20. Then move out to four or five feet. Then work on lag putts. Usually hit the CC after work for 30 min.
 
I really enjoy long lag putting from 20-40 ft out, no pressure and surprising how many you make or just miss. Seems to really help with speed control
 
I have put this in before. This is a great putting drill.

Take two balls to the practice green and map out a 9 hole 'course', with putts of varying lengths, say 15 feet up to 45-50 feet, with mostly 20-35 footers. With the two balls play your course, putting out EVERYTHING, par of two for each ball on each hole. You cannot leave the 'course' until you have completed a 'round' in less than 36, meaning under 'par'.

This drill will sharpen your feel for distance putting, and will test your nerve on the 3-4 footers just like on the real course. It works best when you have the practice green to yourself, or no more than a couple of others there. This is not practical pre-round, but is meant for a purely practice session.
 
My practice with the putter at home is just on my putting mat and I can put it on a slope up or down hill and even to the right or left. I try to vary it from every angle and just confident in making to smooth to the hole. Maybe 30 to 40 shots and always finish with 5 in a roll. Now if at a course I just want to make a few shots on the practice greens to see the speed and hope that it's the same on the course.
 
Sometimes if I am way off on a put I will drag it back to see if I can get it a little closer. Normally it is just tempo and speed, but one putt I redid 5x last week. It had a little uphill in the first few feet that didn't seem significant and I kept missing right.

The other parts of my game are such a joke that it doesn't make sense to practice putting. Greens around me are also pretty small. Though I did just read Peltz's bible book last week, didn't really inspire me much at all though some seeds have been planted. Though I did change my line for more break on a putt last week and was amazed at how close it came even though I aimed way right when I normally would normally would have putted straight and would have been happy with a 5' second putt. I think putting is gonna be pretty exciting one day, but for now it is just a formality.
 
Tell me about your putting practice?

How do you do it? I use the birdie ball I have at home, the indoor green at the driving range or at the courses practice greens. If I am at the station I will use the hallway or training room floor.

I will use my spi ball to work on posture and turning with my shoulders(using the big muscles), I will use my triangulator to work on alignment as well as path.

If I am working on distance control I will put down an alignment rod and just get the ball to roll over it.

On the putting green I will typically start out with lag putts trying to get the ball inside 3ft from 20,30 and even 50ft then I will try and make the second this makes me pick a line and trust it then put a solid stroke on the ball. I also try to work on uphill downhill left and right breaking putts. If there is a shelf/tier on the green I will work on rolling puts up it and to a hole t get the feel for break and speed.


When do you do it?

After a round of golf or before, during or after a range session. Never before a round, that time is used for just getting a feel of what I brought to the course that day and judging speed.

What is specific and how well do you think it's working? My putting is pretty solid, it could always be better but I rarely 3 jack unless the green is huge or really complex. I
 
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