Taking less putts

Asden105

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I average 39 to 40 putts per round. If i could decrease this to around 31 or 32 it would be nice.

i can lag my long putts well, i cannot hole a short putt. Even from 2 feet i consistently miss. Any way to hole more short putts?
 
I average 39 to 40 putts per round. If i could decrease this to around 31 or 32 it would be nice.

i can lag my long putts well, i cannot hole a short putt. Even from 2 feet i consistently miss. Any way to hole more short putts?

practice short putts?
 
I average 39 to 40 putts per round. If i could decrease this to around 31 or 32 it would be nice.

i can lag my long putts well, i cannot hole a short putt. Even from 2 feet i consistently miss. Any way to hole more short putts?

Do you practice putting?
 
I tend to stay on line better when I concentrate on following through.
 
Yes I practice. I've yet to find a way to hole them.
 
Yes I practice. I've yet to find a way to hole them.

Do you practice drills, or just kinda sporadically practice putting on the practice greens?
 
If you are just banging putts, you're not getting much benefit. find some drills that force you to address the path/tempo/alignment deficiency that is the cause.
 
I average 39 to 40 putts per round. If i could decrease this to around 31 or 32 it would be nice.

i can lag my long putts well, i cannot hole a short putt. Even from 2 feet i consistently miss. Any way to hole more short putts?

Give yourself more gimmies? ...LOL

I'm in the same boat as you. Not so much 2 ft, but I miss a remarkable amount of 3-4ft'rs.

Only thing I have tried lately is to work on being a little more aggressive with my stroke when I can. I used to be a "drop it in the hole" kinda putter, but found I kept missing shorter and shorter and on tougher greens the break gets exaggerated the slower I putt, making it really difficult to hole short puts. Of course on downhillers I'm careful, but on uphillers I try to get more firm. Its helped it seems, as my last round I was down to 17 puts on 9 holes.
 
So when you practice, are you missing left, right, short, long? Tell me about your misses.

What length putter do you have? What type of grip are you using? Cross handed, traditional, claw? Are you a handsy putter or do you use your shoulders and arms with locked wrist?
 
you're a 10 and yet taking 40 putts a round? do you hit a lot of greens?

Like tadashi has mentioned, it really depends on how you're missing. Could be putter related (as in maybe you need to find a putter that fits you better), or obviously could be a set up issue/technique. A lot could be the reason.
 
I would recommend a good putter fitting. I'm making most of my putts in that range now that I have a putter that works with my stroke.

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I practiced putting through the winter in my basement 3 or 4 times a week because I would choke up on short putts (under 5 feet). I'm not sure choke is the right word, but I would get so apprehensive over the ball that I felt that I needed to get to the point where getting over the ball on a 5 foot putt is more like "Yes, I got this."

I'm happy to say that the feeling is not only there with 5 foot putts, it's there with 10 footers as well. That doesn't mean I make every one of them, but I now "FEEL" like I can.

It can't hurt to get fitted for a putter, but lots of times, it's learning to use the putter you have. I bought 3 or 4 putters before deciding on the one that seemed to work the best for me and I've stayed with it. Now, I wouldn't switch no matter what anyone told me because I feel really comfortable with it.
 
you're a 10 and yet taking 40 putts a round? do you hit a lot of greens?

I would do a number of unscrupulous things in exchange for a tee and approach game that that supported a single digit index while banging up 40 putts in a round.....
 
Get a SeeMore and learn SPi. Problem solved.
 
One thing I've done in the past to practice putting (especially at home) is to put two books down slightly wider than the width of the putter. Then put the ball down between them and make strokes through that gap and work on not hitting the books. Start small at first, then make longer strokes as you get comfortable. The slightest hiccup on the stroke you will hit them, if you don't, the ball should go on the intended line. Really helps to ingrain the muscle memory to make a smooth stroke with the face square. If your on a putting green, you can put tees down in the same manner.

I will say I use a straight back/straight through stroke, so if you arc, this may not work as well.
 
I average 39 to 40 putts per round. If i could decrease this to around 31 or 32 it would be nice.

i can lag my long putts well, i cannot hole a short putt. Even from 2 feet i consistently miss. Any way to hole more short putts?

I am close to you in putting (had 41 last round). My personal best I believe is 31. But my main issue is the opposite of yours. I am pretty good from 5 feet or in but anything longer than 20 feet is terrible. And when I mean terrible, I mean really terrible. I have left 35+ foot putts about 15-20 feet short at times. And it happens a lot more than I would like. My speed/distance control is crap. Anything between the 15-20 foot range normally also stops short of the hole though it is well within the 5 foot range (most of the times). I think my biggest issue is not following through (keeping my head down) during the longer putts.

For you, have you given reading Unconscious Putting by Dave Stockton a chance. He has some really good ideas in that book. Since your lag putts are so good, you should really be able to use his ideas to wrap up the shorter putts.
 
I am close to you in putting (had 41 last round). My personal best I believe is 31. But my main issue is the opposite of yours. I am pretty good from 5 feet or in but anything longer than 20 feet is terrible. And when I mean terrible, I mean really terrible. I have left 35+ foot putts about 15-20 feet short at times. And it happens a lot more than I would like. My speed/distance control is crap. Anything between the 15-20 foot range normally also stops short of the hole though it is well within the 5 foot range (most of the times). I think my biggest issue is not following through (keeping my head down) during the longer putts.

For you, have you given reading Unconscious Putting by Dave Stockton a chance. He has some really good ideas in that book. Since your lag putts are so good, you should really be able to use his ideas to wrap up the shorter putts.
Do you happen to have a large/heavy/mallet putter?

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Do you happen to have a large/heavy/mallet putter?

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Given my inconsistency I have been switching them around.

I was playing with the Odyssey White Hot RX SS 2-Ball till a few weeks back. I just bought the Cleveland Huntington Beach Collection #1 last week and have been using since then. Since aiming is kind of an issue with me, I like the 2-Ball putter. But I really prefer the feel of the blades more. I went to the practice green for about 15 minutes today and actually did fairly well with the Cleveland. I have been playing with super soft hands since last week and trying to follow-through (keep my head down) on my putts.

Am going to be playing a round tomorrow and will see how it goes. But I definitely feel that if I can focus on keeping light hands and completing my follow-through I will do a better job.
 
So when you practice, are you missing left, right, short, long? Tell me about your misses.

What length putter do you have? What type of grip are you using? Cross handed, traditional, claw? Are you a handsy putter or do you use your shoulders and arms with locked wrist?

I'm definitely a hands player. I miss mostly long. My distance control is terrible.
 
I'm definitely a hands player. I miss mostly long. My distance control is terrible.

So on short putts you miss the hole completely and miss long.

Sounds like you need to learn to read greens. I would also remove your hands from the equation. Find a grip that allows you to lock your wrist so you can use your arms to generate the putting motion.
 
#1. Take More Gimmies ;)

#2. Practice, Practice, Practice
 
I would do a number of unscrupulous things in exchange for a tee and approach game that that supported a single digit index while banging up 40 putts in a round.....

I play from the tips often, and the course handicap from there for my index is 13. The course plays difficult, with a slope of 136 and a rating of 74.9.
 
Would love to help, but things aren't adding up for me yet. You say you lag putt really well, but have terrible distance control. Lag putting is mostly about distance control. So are you saying your distance control is really good on your lag putts, but terrible on the 2-4 footers? And if so, are the balls going so fast that they are popping right over the hole or to one side or the other, and how far beyond the hole?
 
Let me put it this way. My lag putting from 25 feet is good, but outside that I leave it long. And I tend to blast 3 footers so that they lip out consistently.
 
Let me put it this way. My lag putting from 25 feet is good, but outside that I leave it long. And I tend to blast 3 footers so that they lip out consistently.

Then I think Tadashi's recommendation to change things up so that you take your hands out of it is right on. Specifically, I think you will benefit from motoring your putting by rocking your shoulders. You'll have much better distance control once you go through an adjustment period. The big muscles are much easier to control.
 
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