Putting drills

[Troll_Inc]

So since I'm now able to hit approximately every fairway and green in regulation, I'm turning my attention to trying to putt better.

I've started with the 1, 2, then 3 foot putting drill and want to share some experiences and have a couple of questions.

1 foot drill. I do this until I hit 20 in a row. (I've heard that pros do this for 50 in a row, so I figure 20 is good enough, plus I don't recall missing any 1 ft putts in the last 2 years.)

Aim. I don't aim at ball, I just do a couple of practice putting motions focusing on moving the putter straight at the hole.

Speed. I hit it fairly hard. If I missed it I think I would go 3-4 ft passed the hole if green was flat.


2 foot putts. I do 20 in a row from 4 different circles around the hole and have to restart a couple of times as I miss 10-20% of the time.

Aim. I aim at the back of the ball and read a little bit of break if it is there, such that I might aim at the back of the cup a little of center.

Speed. I hit it about the same speed as the 1 ft putt and it would go 2-3 feet passed the hole.


3 foot putts. I do 12 in a row of these from 4 spots around the hole in a circle.

Aim. I read the putt and aim at the back of the ball and then where I need to hit it so that if there is a break it will break into the hole.

Speed. I hit it such that if the hole wasn't there, the putt would go 1 foot past the hole.


I've found that the 1 and most 2 foot putts are such that I am better off just hitting the ball hard at the hole to take any break out since I am unlikely to miss and the chance of missing decreases if I don't fool with any read.

3 foot putts..I treat this like a real putt and read break accordingly and aim for it to fall in the hole at a constant tempo, which helps with reading the break.

Questions:
*What are other people's cutoffs between hitting regular putts and "jamming" it in the hole?
*What sort of short putting drills do people do?

One thing I thought was to mix these up so that I go through sets of 1,2,3 foot putts and try to do 12 total sets before moving on to next drill.

[brettbrettr]

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So since I'm now able to hit approximately every fairway and green in regulation, I'm turning my attention to trying to putt better.

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How did you manage to do this?

[TripleH68]

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2 foot putts. I do 20 in a row from 4 different circles around the hole and have to restart a couple of times as I miss 10-20% of the time.

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You don't really miss 2-footers do you?

Where is the weakness in your putting game? Maybe you should review fundamentals before continuing to practice with a stroke that may be off.

[black knight]

Also, it's not the <3' putts that generally do people in. It's lag putting from >30', and it's making putts <10' that you should focus on. Practicing 1-footers is comical, IMO, your time is better spent on 6-10' because that's where most good birdie (and par-save) putts find themselves.

[brettbrettr]

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Also, it's not the <3' putts that generally do people in. It's lag putting from >30', and it's making putts <10' that you should focus on. Practicing 1-footers is comical, IMO, your time is better spent on 6-10' because that's where most good birdie (and par-save) putts find themselves.

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Ya, I tend to agree. I think your time might be better spent adjusting this system to longer putts. Like, 10 30ft putts. You have to put it within 5 feet. Or 3 ft.

Or 10 10 footers make 6 of them etc.

[JackInDaCrak]

This drill has helped me immensely with lag putting and touch in general:

Set up 2 balls at 10 feet, 2 at 20 feet, 2 at 30 feet. (further if you want) on the same line.

Set up a club 2 feet past the hole.

Starting close, putt one ball, then move back, putt one, then move back, putt one, then move forward and putt each ball remaining.

The goal is to get all 6 (or 8 or whatever) balls past the hole but not past the stick behind the hole. Don't quit until you've done it successfully.

[TripleH68]

When practicing/warming up for a round I concentrate on three distances. Five paces, eight paces and twelve paces. These are distances of putts I will try to make on the course. I want to be sure to get them to the hole and not run them past too far. While playing it takes little time to pace off a putt. This has always worked well for me. See what you think.

[Troll_Inc]

[ QUOTE ]
This drill has helped me immensely with lag putting and touch in general:

Set up 2 balls at 10 feet, 2 at 20 feet, 2 at 30 feet. (further if you want) on the same line.

Set up a club 2 feet past the hole.

Starting close, putt one ball, then move back, putt one, then move back, putt one, then move forward and putt each ball remaining.

The goal is to get all 6 (or 8 or whatever) balls past the hole but not past the stick behind the hole. Don't quit until you've done it successfully.

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So on this drill, is it ok to get the ball within 1 inch of the front of the cup or does it have to go past the hole?

It seems that I'd rather have my second putt be 1 inch rather than 1.5 feet behind.

BTW, last night i did this drill and did it probably 6-7 times and didn't finish it, gave up.

Tonight, the first time I tried it I holed 2 initial putts and hit the rest in on the second putt, but left one short by about 3 inches.

Then on the second try I went holed, 1 ft by, holed, holed, holed, 1.5 ft by. (drained both 30 footers in the pitch dark..I'm sneaking on a course near my house.)

this does seem like an excellent drill, I'm interested to see if I have more confidence playing for real on Saturday.