Putting
by Erin Grier
When many people think of putting, they think of putt putt. This is a facet of putting in which it makes you get a feel for distance but it is hard to aim. We will discuss putting and how important it is to your golf game.
Believe it or not, the putter is the number one club that you use the most in a golf round. If there are 9 holes in regulation you are supposed to putt it 18 times (2 putt every hole). For every 18 holes you should aim to putt 36 times. Think about that. You will use a putter about 3x more than you use a driver. That’s how much more you need to focus on putting. This stat is even eye opening to me!
Putting is broken down by 2 components. The first we will engage in is distance. Distance is dictated by how far you take it back and how far you take it through. If I take it back 3 inches, I have to take it through 3 inches. This gives me a putt about 3-6 feet. If I take it back 5 inches, and take it through 5 inches Im guaranteed to hit 14 to 16 feet. I challenge you to find your distance that your golf ball will roll depending on how far you take it. This will help in gauging distance and is beneficial to ensuring you will get those two putts consistently especially for the longer putts. Here’s a drill that can help with that. Mark a point about 20 feet away from you. Then get three golf balls and putt them to that spot (I recommend a golf tee). This will help in regulating distance. Do this several times until we have those three less than 2 feet separation. Then move to 30 feet, and putt towards that. Make sure your putts are within 3 feet. This will get your putting distances more accurate because now you have developed feel for the difference.
One more additional tip with distance is to use your feet to measure how far back you take it. It is a great measuring tool and helps you more consistent in taking it back and taking it through.
The second component of putting is direction. You have to take in consideration direction because most if not all of your putts will have some type of break. A break can either be right to left or uphill or downhill or even a combination of the three. I do a drill called the 3 foot drill. I take my initial putt to see how far the cup breaks to the left or the right. Once I figure that out, I put a tee at the back of the hole as a guide point to ensure my aim or direction. I putt to that tee because it gives me a clear visual of my line and how much it breaks. This is a great drill. Start with making the putt 10 times, then move backwards a foot and try to make 10 4 footers, and so on and so on. You will see how m putting will improve!
Thanks for coming back and checking out our tips for golf golf game. If you haven’t make sure you checkout our Virtual Lessons on putting, we go into to detail on how to get your golf game ready so that you can crush that course. We have also officially released our golf forum! Make sure to join on the latest topics in the golf world!
