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what putting drills/practice has helped you

Get a lesson! I was struggling with my putting recently and went for a lesson with a local pro and it has helped me tonnes. He told me my stroke was good and just changed my hand position slightly to get me more balanced and upright over the ball. The main thing I got from the lesson was confidence at knowing I had a good stroke, and this lead to two matchplay victories in the following week.
I'm not discounting any of these drills but a lesson will get you setting up right and then you can build from there.
 
Art M said:
thanks for all the suggestions. i have been using some of these tips and they have helped. my last 3 outings i putted 34, 36, 33 times. still a lot of putts but saving 4-6 strokes sure does feel better. the most helpful to me was brad faxon who said something like don't get hung up watching your back stroke simply focus on where you want the ball to go. and that was me struggling to back stroke as straight as possible
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I used to try and be straight on the back stroke and then did a short game lesson with Stan Utley in February. He's a proponent of all swings are an arc so don't be afraid to do so on a putt. I started doing that and that reminded me more of how I putted as a youngster and felt pretty good. I went to get a longer putter and I ended up getting a Ping with "strong arc" which fits my putter swing better. Been rolling in a lot more 1 putts since.

Long-winded way of suggesting a putter fitting too.
 
Putting without looking at the hole really helps me dial the speed in quickly. Just stroke, keep your head down, and listen for the ball to hit the cup - it's amazing how fast it works.
 
After aligning, make the putt with your eyes closed. Whether or not you make the putt isn't necessarily the point. It's getting a feel for the tempo/stroke, and follow-through. With your eyes closed, your senses go more to the 'feel' than sight. It works wonders for me before practice. Another one is putting with one hand (strong hand). Let the weight of the putter do the work. Do this with your eyes closed too. Dunno, I got this stuff from a putting lesson I had and it immensely helped my putting stroke...your mileage may vary, as they say.
 
Jman's tip to practice with your thumbs off the putter helps engage the bigger muscles and take your hands out of the stroke. I added that to my routine and it really aids with pace from 10-40 feet. I would also suggest everyone learn if they have a dominant eye or not as that wrecks havoc on your alignment process. I'm very right eye dominant so I account for that in my set up and I take better lines now. I'm not a great putter but I'm making my share of longer putts now.
 
I will second the "getting a lesson" comment. I got a putting lesson last year and got some great pointers. I had a big problem with judging speed and was leaving tons of putts short. The pro ended up making me try putting while looking at the hole. I would line it up like normal and then look at the hole. It took a few tries to get used to hitting the ball square without looking at it but it worked. I am making more putts but am almost getting rid of the 3 putts which has helped my score tremendously.
 
Lots of very good tips on this thread...but practice makes perfect (almost) LOL

Anyway there are two things I used to do to work on my putting and I have had less than 30 putts a round quite a few times (used to be a 6hc)...the first thing I would do I call the "Ladder Drill". I would put tees in the ground at 3, 6, 9, 12, & 15 feet and putt two balls starting at 3 feet and have to make both...if I got to nine feet and missed one I would start all over again...sometimes I would be there for a good hour and never finish the drill but what it did was ingrain good putting from 9 feet in (by default by having to start over once you missed) and I found that on the course I started making a lot more putts inside of ten feet because of this drill. Then once I finished that drill or just put in some good time working on it I would practice lag putting. I would pick a distance with one ball and try to two putt (the practice from the ladder drill would help me with this). It really helped me start cutting back on my 3 putting which is killer to your score...hope this helps!
 
My issue is reading greens and on short putts (inside 5 feet) my left wrist breaks down. It's getting frustrating to hit 16 greens and only make 2-3 birdies a round.


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The two drills I do are:

1) 8 balls place at 4 and 5' from the hole in groups of two the goal is to make all 8 but no less than 6

2) I have a 3' circle that I place over the hole and putt 20 balls (4 locations x 5 balls) at 12,15,18,21 and 24'...goal is to get at least 10!" in the circle.
 
what putting drills/practice has helped you

I find a hole with 4 different breaks and measure out 4 feet from the different breaks, put tee's to mark where the 4 footers are, take 5 balls out and make 100 in a row switching to the next tee every 5 putts, If I miss 1 I start over again from 0.
 
I work a lot on uphill putts and right to left breakers. Those are the ones I miss most often, so I try to focus on that type of putt. I plan on getting out and trying to work on a left hand low stroke as soon as the weather lets up around here. I'd really like a more straight back and straight through stroke, and I think that would help.


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My putting has improved quite a bit since taking the Pelz class a few months ago. One thing that was killing me was distance control. He taught us about keeping a fairly fast tempo and altering how far back we take our putter keeping a really smooth tempo back and through without trying to hit at the ball. I now have a quicker tempo (practicing with a metronome at about 100bpm) and just practice how far back I go depending on the length of putt. I do not find that I decelerate anymore and I have a good finish through the ball because I'm not hitting but smoothly swinging through at a faster pace with softer hands if that makes sense.
 
This is something I used to do in the house over the winter on anytime I was bored. I would take 2 books and put them about a quarter inch wider than my putter and I would practice hitting balls without hitting the books. As long as you make a consistent stroke, you shouldn't touch them. After a while it is just an old habit to make a smooth stroke. I didn't care about speed or break, I just wanted to hit the ball where I was aiming. You can set something down a few feet in front to catch the ball and hit them as hard or easy as you want. The key is simply to get through that 6-8 inch gap and not hit the sides.
 
KellyBo said:
He taught us about keeping a fairly fast tempo and altering how far back we take our putter keeping a really smooth tempo back and through without trying to hit at the ball. I now have a quicker tempo (practicing with a metronome at about 100bpm) and just practice how far back I go depending on the length of putt. I do not find that I decelerate anymore and I have a good finish through the ball because I'm not hitting but smoothly swinging through at a faster pace with softer hands if that makes sense.
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What is the reasoning for the faster tempo? Did they elaborate on why faster is better than slower?
 
He said tour pros average around 106bpm based on his observations. I just found a comfortable pace for me (faster than before) and really worked on how far back I take it for each putt making sure my pace stays the same.
 
KellyBo said:
He said tour pros average around 106bpm based on his observations. I just found a comfortable pace for me (faster than before) and really worked on how far back I take it for each putt making sure my pace stays the same.
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Seems really quick....is it first beat starts the stroke and second is impact?
 
cnosil said:
Seems really quick....is it first beat starts the stroke and second is impact?
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That's my understanding but it may be the tempo of the entire stroke "tick/tock". I thought he was crazy when he said 106! Seemed way too fast. I think I'm probably more in the range of 80-90 bpm but have a much smoother stroke and follow through than before. My 3-putts are way down and I'm getting my putts to the hole so much better.
 
1) If you're a really bad putter, make sure it's the indian and not the arrow. Get fitted for a putter. Bring your putter in with you. If you putt no better with the others, then it is not your putter. If you suddenly start putting better with a different putter, then consider buying it. I had this problem. It was not me it was my putter.

2) We're not professional golfers, so averaging around 34 to 36 putts per round is decent. Some people will do better than others and some people can read greens better than others. Some people practice more than others, too. Some people are simply more talented. That's something we have to learn to deal with.

3) Practice 3' putts around the clock of a hole until you can make about 9/10 of them. Start your goal with 7/10 for the first day so you don't get too frustrated.

4) Then move to 4' and work on those until you can make 7/10 of those in the same drill.

5) Then move to 6' and work those until you can make about 4/10. Yeah, my standard is pretty low, folks because I'm not putting from this distance usually.

6) Here's the biggie, and where you can really save strokes - practice your lag putting. Start at 10' and try to putt everything within a 3' radius of the hole - actually you'll try to get as close to the hole as possible, but your goal is to get within that 3' radius where you can make the second putt 9/10 times.

7) When you get good there, move to 15'. Then move to 20'. Then to 25'.

Your goal is to two putt every green. Stop beating up yourself.

Before each round you play, lag putt for about 20 minutes. If you don't have time to warm up otherwise, lag putt.
 
Agree with most on the fact that distance reading is my biggest issue. I just practice with the belief that there should be no place on the green that I shouldn't two putt. Doesn't always work out that way, but that's my goal..
 
First thing is have someone watch you or film you with your phone. I think it is important because you need to know if you have some flaws in your putting stroke. Are you looping the putter, looking up, cutting across the ball, or what? One of the hardest things to detect ( I am terrible about this) is you don't move your head but your eyes follow the putter head back. You have looked off the ball.
Mishits account for most of my 3 putts. If my eyes move off the ball, I tend to not putt thru the ball, comes up way short and then I miss the stupid next putt.
If you can figure out if you have any noticeable flaw in your stroke and fix that, then it is just a matter of practice, practice, practice.
For short putts, say 4 or 5 feet, I like to put my divot tool in the green and putt to it instead of to a hole. It is much smaller and I am trying to hit the divot tool every time. Those should go in on the course.
 
still working it.....for the last 4 rounds i have been using a different grip. i don't know the name, im sure there is one, but i am putting the right hand on top with the forefinger straight down the back side of the shaft, the thumb down the front, wrap the left hand below the right, around the shaft and right forefinger, point the thumb straight down the shaft. the result is a very rigid v frame pendulum and a lower body position because the left is low and it forces me to center right over the ball and line.
 
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