Here is a great practice drill to help you make more 3 foot and 6 foot putts. You want to find a hole on your putting green that is on a slop. Place four tees three feet away from the hole at 12 o’clock, 3 o’clock, 6 o’clock, and 9 o’clock.

You goal is to putt each ball until you make all four consecutive putts. If you miss a putt you want to start over. When you make four consecutive putt you want to move the four tees out to six feet away from the hole.

Now your goal is to make 4 consecutive 6 foot putts. If you miss one you should start over again until you make 4 consecutive 6 foot putts.

That is the clock drill. With this type of practice you should be able to become very proficient at making up hill putts, down hill putts, right to left break putts, and left to right break putts. Inside 3 to 6 feet you will start to feel more confident.

Southland Golf Magazine – Putting Instruction

During a each round of golf most of us are faced with an up hill putt and down hill putt.  I know I have seem to have more trouble with a down hill putt compared to an up hill putt. Knowing how hard to strike that down hill putt is always an issue.

You are faced with a 10 foot dead downhill putt on a slick green. You may have been told to hit the golf ball on the toe of the putter is a good method. When I try it I still hit the ball too hard.

A better play is to find a way to get the ball rolling gently down hill to improve the chance of making the putt roll into the hole.  Here are three methods with some practice should help you make more down hill putts.

Choking down on your putter grip will give you more control over the club head and help slow down the putting stroke. If you have to grip down all the way to the steel to get the best control.

Another approach is to hit the ball with the putter heel. The heel is a better place than the toe of the putter to deaden the impact. Hitting on the ball on the heel is easier because you have move control over the heel of the putter. Striking putts with toe will tend to make the putter head wobble through impact.

Look over the down hill putt and get a feel for how steep the hill it and the speed of the putt. You want to pick a spot to roll the ball over at the right speed to get the ball to the hole without sending the ball many feet past the hole.

Practice hitting down hill putts on you putting mat by placing something under the mat to simulate a down hill putt.

Putting tip: Downhill putting

Today, I would like to talk to you about making a high percentage of short putts. I know we all would love to make 80 to 90 percent of putts within six feet. If you could you would definitely lower your score and you will also reduce the number of three putts.

One way to make more putts is to establish a routine and use a line on the golf ball to line up each putt. When you stand over the putt look a spot on the hole that your see the ball rolling over as it drops into the hole. Watch that spot as you take your practice putt and get the feel for the stroke you need to make so the ball rolls into the hole.

Now you want to line the putter with the line on the ball reset your feet and stroke the ball.

So I recommend that you draw a line on the golf ball or use the line that is now being printed on most golf balls by the manufacture to help you line up the putter, ball, and the line to the hole or spot you are putting to for a break in the putt. This will help you line up the putt the same way each and every time.

You can use your indoor putting mat or a practice putting green to help you practice your aligning process so you can repeat it on each and every green during your round of golf.

This alignment process will help you become a better putter and to make more short putts. Remember what you want to see when you putt the ball is that the line on the ball is rolling end over end versus side over side.

Jeff Goble: Putting Tip For Short Putts

I play with a number of average golfer and they all fail to line up their ball before they putt. It is one of those simple and obvious things that should be done but is not.  It does not matter whether you play with a brand name ball or not, if you fail to line up your ball you are putting blind.

I have never figured it out as to why it took golfer so long to learn this little putting trick. You do not have to use some imaginary line when most golf balls come marked with a straight line on the ball.

I have to admit I did not figure it out until I saw a PGA Pro on TV using the ball line to line up the ball on the putting green.

Here are a few benefit of  lining up your golf ball before you putt.

1) You have  a visual image of the alignment of the putt

2) It helps to simplify lining up the putter. It helps to make the putter face square.

3) It provides visual reference to help  line up your body and feet.

4) Aides in lining up you eyes over the ball and the putting line

Make sure you are totally committed to the alignment of the ball before you strike the ball. If you don’t feel right about the line, take a trick from Jim Furyk and step back behind it again and adjust your line if necessary.

Being confident over the ball is half the putting battle. If there is any doubt in your feel, your odds of success decreases substantially.

How to Line Up Your Putts

When golfers are putting poorly, they usually look to their equipment as being the cause. But most of the time it is not the equipment. Most of the time it is the golfers lack of confidence in themselves than it is the club itself.

Now you see PGA Tour players with long putters, belly putters, two ball putters. Some of the putters have a crazy looking putter heads and grips.

Then you also see different grips such as the “claw grip”, left hand low, and God knows how many others.

You see these things so frequently because players lose confidence in their ability, not because they are having equipment issues.

When it is time to get a new putter, there are only a few things that really matter. The most important thing is to pick a putter that is easy for you to line up. Reread that sentence about five times. It is that important.

If you can’t line up your putter properly, you can’t putt well. Mine has three lines on the top of a fairly small semi mallet head.

Once you have a putter you can line up, you can make the small adjustments required to adapt the new putter to your stance and address.

It is individual unique adjustments that make a new putter spur one onto improved putting. It is the result of doing something just a little out of the normal.

Sometimes that’s all it takes to get out of a putting funk. But the truth is, it’s never the putter’s fault. Keep that in mind before you go out spend a bunch of money on something that will probably not help you in the long term.

After selecting your new putter you want to practice with it on an indoor putting mat to get a feel for the putter before putting on a practice putting green.

Good luck with your selection.

It is the goal of every golfer to improve putting and roll the ball into the hole more often. It is very interesting to watch the putting statistics on the PGA Tour. For example, pros make only about 44% of putts 7 foot long and about 10% of putts of 25 feet. They do make about 95% of putts within 3 feet. So why do we beat ourselves up for missing those 10 and 20 foot putts when the pros do not make every putt?

Here is a pre-putt routine that will help you with your putting.

You want to visualize your putt before you do anything else on the putting green. Suggest when you walk up to the ball on the green look at the distance the ball is away from the hole and determine if the putt is on an up slope or down slope. You should also look for any side slope as well. So look at the putt and visualize it rolling into the hole in real time.

Then you want to feel the putt in your hands and shoulders. You want to do some practice putts to get a better feel for the putt while looking at the hole and the line of the putt.

Now you want to commit to the putt. You have all the data and information to help you make that correct putt with the right speed.

And finally you want to stand over the putt and make your putting stroke while keeping your head down and while you listen for the ball hitting the bottom of the cup.

Remember not to get to anxious about your putts. Stroke the golf ball to get it rolling on the right speed and listen for it hitting the cup.

Four Steps To Rolling In More Putts

Your arms do not rotate as the putter moves back and down the target line. The turning of the shoulders with regards to the ball appears to cause the arms to rotate with regards to the putting line. However the arms don’t rotate with regards to the shoulders.

When your shoulders turn back during the putting stroke the forearms track with the putter. You heard people talking about “delivering” the putter. That only means permitting the arms to rotate with the putt. But it is really the turning of the shoulders that turns the arms. They do not do it by themselves and you can not make them rotate with any consistency. So do not try during the putting stroke. So turn your shoulders back and forth for the putting stroke.

So the key factor to consider would be that the arms do not rotate. It is the shoulder turn that triggers the arms to look like they rotate and the opening of the putter face.

You need to work on reducing or eliminating any shoulder turn when you make those short putts. You want to simply tilt them slightly down the putting line.

So practice and work on controlling how your shoulders move back and through the ball on an indoor putting mat. If you want the shoulders to turn to trigger the putting stroke on the way back, you will need to turn the shoulders equally back and through the ball.

Increase your shoulder turn on full swing and putting