Improve your Putting

PGA Fellow Professional

Improve your Putting

improve your putting

This Blog is to designed to help you improve your putting,

Did you know that 80-90% of amateur putts miss on the low side of the hole?

Over my 30 years of Golfing experience, I have tried countless different styles of putting and using various putters. What I have found is that there isn’t one perfect putter for everyone. There are countless ways of standing over the ball, gripping the club and swinging the putter.

Every Golfer has their own signature putting stance and action.

What I can say is that there are common denominators, which appear during every good putt.

I have come to realise that every good putter has a fixed routine. Whether it is short or long, they use the same building blocks.

What I see in every good putter.
  • Read the putt
    A good putter will start out by crouching down, behind the ball, on an extension of the target line.
    They will look at the hole with eyes in a horizontal position.
  • Parallel stance
    A good putter will generally stand parallel to the hole with their feet, knees, hips, forearms, shoulders, and eyes. A player that stands over the ball in the correct position may not make the putt. A player who stands incorrectly to the ball will hardly ever make a putt.
  • Practice stroke
    Practice strokes can vary from player to player. Some stand behind the ball on the extension of the target line and make a practice stroke whilst looking at the hole. Others will make their practice stroke or strokes as they stand close to the ball. A good putter will always look at the hole at some point during the practice stroke.
  • Visualisation
    Almost every good golfer will be able to imagine the ball rolling towards the hole in their mind. This is an important point, as it will confirm the line of putt in their mind.
  • Putt
    Every good putter of the ball will stand consistently well over the ball. They will stand parallel to the target line. Their dominant eye will be over the ball. Their weight will always be distributed the same over every putt. They will always take one last look at the hole before they execute the putt.
  • Finish
    Most good putters will remain in the finish position for a long period of time or at least until the ball has come to rest. This is a good way of gathering feedback from the result.

 

Here are a few things to think about to help improve your putting.

Too many golfers concentrate on the line of the putt and often forget that the speed is 4x more important.

Learning to lag putt can be a very rewarding way of eliminating the dreaded 3 putt.

A “lag putt” is a long putt, which, because of its length, the golfer does not expect to make but hopes to get close to the cup. There are many ways of practising lag putts which I will touch on in another Blog.

Confidence is also a huge factor when putting. “If you don’t believe you’ll make it, you won’t”, Dave Pelz. See more on Dave Pelz by clicking here.

I like to practice my putting from 2 distances,
The first distance is from 60cm (2ft) – This is my confidence-boosting session. Even I can’t seem to miss from this distance. It also gives my inner-self a boost in confidence by hearing the ball drop into the hole.

The second distance is 2.5m (8ft-ish) – I love to practice this length whilst wearing my winter mittens or ski gloves. In doing so I take the feel factor out of the equation and concentrate on my mechanics. I mainly practise this with my eyes closed so that I concentrate purely on what my body is doing.

Best Pro Tip Ever to help improve your putting – Practice from 2.5m on a right to left slope (for right-handed players). Try not to hole the putts but try to get the ball to stop on the high side of the hole as close as you can to it. Play this game against somebody and see how quickly you can improve your touch for these kinds of putts.

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