Improving Your Putting
March 11, 2008 – 4:02 pm | by GolfdirtOriginally Published in HumanGolf.com
By Richard C. Myers
Here are a few easy practice tips and exercises to help you improve your putting technique.
Maintain a square to square putter head through the ball on short putts. For these putts, the putter head should ideally move straight back and straight through, remaining square to the line of the putt at all times (as the putt gets longer, the putter head starts to move on more of a curve, coming back slightly inside the target line). To practice this, lay two clubs on the ground slightly more than a putter head’s width apart. They must run parallel to each other and directly towards the hole. As you make your stroke, keep the putter head inside the two clubs for the entire stroke. Do this at least 50 times to groove that straight back and straight through movement.
Try putting one-handed to increase your control of the putter head and the acceleration of the putter through the ball. To do it right very simply putt with only your right hand. Place your other hand behind your back. Hit 10 putts with one hand from five feet then revert to using both hands trying to recreate the sensation of putting with one hand.
Keep your head still. Many putts are missed by players looking up to see where their ball has gone. They hope to watch the ball disappear rather than listen to it drop. In doing so they risk affecting the path of the putter head and the quality of the strike. Try placing your ball on top of a ball marker or similar flat object and make a normal stroke. As the ball moves away from the ball marker your eyes should still be focused on the marker rather than the ball. It is a good idea to combine this drill with others so that you are constantly working on keeping your head still.
To enhance your feel for distances putt to different distances. Most golfers have more trouble getting the pace of a putt right than the line. If you’ve played golf before you will know that getting the ball to roll in the general direction of the hole is not that difficult whereas achieving the right distance from long range can sometimes be tricky.
Try this drill: Stick four tees in the ground, 10, 20, 30 and 40 feet away. Then hit balls to them at random; e.g., two to the 20, three to the 10, one to the 40, etc. Do this for at least 20 minutes to build your confidence.
Richard Myers is a keen golfer and his websites Think and Reach Par and Golf for Leftys contains many free tips and great golfing advice plus training videos and DVDs to help you improve your swing and lower your score using some very simple exercises.
