Golf Tips – Putting Drills

Practice makes perfect, they say, and the more you practice your putting, the better you should become at it.  The other saying that rings true is, “Drive for show and putt for dough”.  You may get the ego boost of being a long hitter, but at the end of the day, it’s those eighteen greens that you putt on that will have a bigger impact on your scorecard than those ten tee boxes that you were able to launch monster drives from.

The key to becoming a better putter is developing a consistent putting stroke that you can rely on every time you reach the green.  Putting is one of the few shots in golf that should not change significantly based on distance and ball lie.  The best part about practicing your putting is that it can be done virtually anywhere, whether it be on the course, on a practice putting green, on a practice turf mat, or even on the carpet.  Though the surfaces you practice on may be different, and may cause the ball to roll differently, there is no replacement for the muscle memory that your body will gain with each practice stroke.

If you watch the pros putt, you will notice that they are perfectly still over the ball, and their heads do not move.  A good drill to help you keep still is to lean your head against a wall while you take some putting strokes.  You should be able to feel your forehead move against the wall if you are not perfectly still.  This perpendicular alignment to the wall should also show you if you are taking the putter head on a straight line back and forth.

Playing a game called “golf ball bocce” is another good practice drill, and one you can play at home.  To play the game, take out about five or six golf balls, including a colored ball.  Putt the colored ball a distance away from you, and then try to hit the colored ball with the other white balls.  This is a good drill to gauge speed and distance on flat surfaces, but it gets really fun on practice greens that have undulations that will force you to read the break of the green.

Another good drill is called “around the world, and it should be played on a practice green.  Take four golf balls and place them at equal distances around the hole (start at three feet away).  Putt around the hole from the same distance until you can sink all four balls from the various points surrounding the hole.