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The quickest way to lower your golf scores is to become a better putter. To do this, it will take some practice to find your stroke and gain some confidence. This is where understanding some shooting drills can have an impact, which can help turn you into a sniper with the flat stick in hand.
Since I always get asked about my favorite running workouts, I decided to list them below. You need to set up well, aim the club face well, and have a great performance hitting the shorter strokes – within 3-4 feet. The first three practice techniques are specific to this. Once you can make short strokes, you should be great at distance control. Exercises 4-10 below address this aspect.
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1. Place next to the alignment stick
This may be one of the simpler training techniques, but it will reap huge payoffs.
Take your alignment stick (or one of your own paddles if you don’t have one) and position it so that it points outward from the hole, with its end touching the side of the cup. It will lie right next to the aligner, so make sure the ball is on the side of the aligner you are standing on.
Practice making small strokes that don’t touch the alignment bar. By doing this, you will be able to check to see if the ball is rolling straight from the putter face to the hole. This is really useful for practicing straight strokes.
2. Chalk line
No doubt about that chalk line is one of my favorite training tools – and one of the easiest throwing drills.
Simply find a straight putt and throw a chalk line on the green – regardless of whether it’s a short or longer putt. Align your feet and the point of the putter, making sure the ball rolls well on the chalk line.
Practice until you feel confident and start to see more shots fall into the hole.
3. Alignment ball
One of my new favorite training aids alignment ball.
Not only does it help align your club with your putter, but it’s also dynamic enough to help with other parts of your game as well. Plus, it’s portable, so it’s easy to take with you on every ride.
4. Dig a 3-foot increment
The quickest way to avoid the three strikes is to learn how to control your distance. The distance should be controlled by varying the length of your back, so that your stroke is relatively even between back and back.
To practice this exercise, set the balls in increments of three feet (one big step) away from the cup. Start with the shortest throw and then work your way back up. Your goal is to control the distance and eventually get your ball close to the hole.
As the distance increases, the back muscles should increase slightly in size. Being able to make subtle changes in your putts is how you will gain more confidence and begin to control your speed on the greens.
5. Two strikes or better, seven times in a row
Choose two holes on your practice green that are 20 to 30 feet apart. Take one ball and bounce between the two cups back and forth.
Now, give yourself a goal of making two goals or better. For example, be sure to put two strokes, or better yet, seven times in a row.
As you get good at this exercise, increase the difficulty of the stroke or the number of times you need two or better strokes. Ultimately, you should be able to hit twice or better 18 times in a row.
6. A 5-foot circle
This drill will help you learn to adjust your aim as you move around the hole, giving you the ability to read the green more effectively.
For practice, place eight 5-foot diameter golf balls around the cup. Hit each ball, and notice how the fraction changes as you move around the circle.
As you move to hit each ball, you should be more aware of the slope of the green in your feet. This is how you read the green, and it’s supposed to help you react to every throw.
Your goal is to make every throw on the first try, and to complete the full circuit.
Another great way to improve your reading ability is to use green Golflogix Bot Linewhich provides target using green data with flight quality.
7. Undo
Leaving your first putt near the hole is crucial to improving your scorecard. This means that the second strike is usually within 2-3 feet – which is where you almost automatically have to come from in order to see better results.
To help you achieve this, try practicing the back pull-up.
If the first strike is within three feet of the cup, place it from there. If you are not within this hole radius, move the ball back a full club length as a penalty stroke.
Treat each hole as a value of 2, and keep your score at par, with the goal of improving over time.
8. Over par / under par
The most natural way to get practice is to simply play 18 holes, and keep your scores even. Treat each hole as a #2 once you are on the deck, aiming to get it even each time.
This allows you to work on mortar from a variety of greenery, and challenge yourself from different distances.
9. Match play
A fun (and natural) way to get better at playing is to simply challenge a friend to play a match.
Not only will this help you practice distance control and aim for two or fewer poses, but the pressure will also add an extra element.
Simply treat each putt as 1 point, and whoever has the fewest points at the end of 18 holes is the winner.
10. From margin to margin
Learning to control your pace should always be your warm-up priority. Rather than always laying the cup, it can be helpful to feel the overall speed of the green by laying from one side of the green to the other – or from margin to margin.
Practice moving back and forth to see how close you are to the edge of the green with each shot. This will help you focus specifically on controlling the distance, and not worry about aiming or breaking the green.