I suck at putting...please help

[thisnamedoesntfi]

Start putting about 6 inches from the hole and concentrate on hitting the back of the cup.

The move out to about 4 feet or so and place a dime(or Aussie 5c piece) about 6 inches in front of your ball on the line you think you need to use. Do this initially with straight putts. You know you can hit the coin every time, it's impossible to miss, this will give you confidence that you can start the ball on line without steering it. If you hit the coin and have struck the ball well you will make the putt a very high percentage of the time.

Once you have done that, move on to some 4 foot putts where you think you need to aim at the edge of the hole or outside it and do the same thing. This will help you not only with seeing breaking putts as having a straight starting point, but will also emphasize how much you (most likely) under read break even on 4 footers.

This is mainly a mental exercise that you can take on the course with you. Putting is a lot easier when you know you only have to hit it straight 6 inches, and should free up your stroke. This will lead to better consistency in speed control which is the most important aspect of putting, line is secondary.

Other drills that can help groove your stroke is to practice putting with your 5 iron. Don't de-loft the 5 iron, use it with its 28 degrees of loft, and use your putting stroke. The ball will carry a short distance then roll true like a putt if you strike it correctly. Any overuse of the hands will result in side-spin and or too much back spin.

Another one....
Fold a small towel and wrap it around your putter grip so that it is very thick. Pull your hands apart while maintaining your grip so as to put tension into the towel, and hit some putts. You'll find this gives you a great understanding of the muscles needed to stroke a putt.

And...
Put a tee into the ground next to your ball so that the heel of your putter will catch the tee as you impact the ball. Putt from about 4 feet again on a straight putt. This will give you extra feedback on the point of impact. Don't fight the twisting of the shaft that will occur after impact. If you don't have enough loft on your putter at impact(which most poor putters don't) you will miss these to the left. If you have enough loft, no amount of twisting after impact will take that ball off line. Again this gives great feedback and reassurance that you can freely swing through the ball without steering, provided you have enough loft on the putter. See 5 iron drill above to work on the loft thing.

Hope they help anyone who bothers to try these.

[LuckOfTheDraw]

[ QUOTE ]
Don't practice holing long putts. If you want to practice lag putting, putt to a spot, the edge the practice green for instance.

Practice sinking 12 feet and in.

[/ QUOTE ]

I've always been fond of sticking a few tees in the ground and putting to them. You can practice any distance putts with this method, and this saves you the trouble of coping with a crowded practice green too.

[Scorcho]

The only thing I can add to all of this is to remove the mini flagstick from the practice green hole you are shooting at. There's no point in practicing on a hole with a stick in it since you never do it on the real greens.

[ghostface]

i rarely putt to holes when i am practicing my putting. instead i put a quarter on the green and try to roll the ball over the quarter.

instead of the ball stopping when it hits the hole i can see how far the ball rolls by the coin. i aim to have the ball stop within 18 inches of the quarter if i am practicing a putt <10 feet.

[DDH]

Also, like every golf shot, routine. Do the same thing every time. Approach your putt the same way, set your self up the same way, take your practice stroke the same way. Every putt. Every putt I make, I set my line and approach the ball in the same fashion, every time. So when I'm standing over the putt, I'm not thinking at all about the line. I'm able to concentrate solely on just hitting the ball solid.