All great putters are excellent at lag putting

The one area to improve on to get your scores down is to eliminate as many 3 putts per round as possible by learning lag putting. Developing the feel for lag putting successfully is by far the easiest way to make it happen. Take it from experience golfers do not get all the approach shots near the cup which can make for a long putt.

You need to eliminate the thought of trying to make every 30, 40, or 60 foot putt. You need to determine the feel for controlling the distance of each putt so you can lag putt inside a 3 foot circle around the golf hole. Then with confidence learn how to make the short putts eliminating 3 putts.

So why is 3 feet the magic distance? Because almost all golfers feel confident they can make most of the putts. You do not have to read the green for most of these putts because much of the break in most 3 foot putts can be simply removed by striking the putt a little more firmly.

Therefore work on getting your long putts inside 3 feet leaving yourself a make able short putt.

Here is a drill to develop the feel for lag putting inside the “magic 3 foot circle.”

* Place tees around the hole in a 3 foot diameter. If you imagine a clock face around the cup you want the 6 o’clock position to be closest to you (and where your target line points to) and the 12 o’clock position to be furthest away from you.

* Place the tees in the 12, 10, 2, 8, and 4 o’clock positions. An easy way to do this is to take your sand wedge (which is usually about 36 inches) and place the head in the hole.

Now put the butt end of the club at the 12 o’clock position and put a tee in at the end of the club. Repeat with the 10, 2, 8, and 4 o’clock positions. You now have your visual of the 3 foot diameter around the hole.

*Next, find as close to a straight, level spot on the practice green as you can 30 feet away and start putting until you get the feel for the stroke for that distance and start consistently putting the balls inside that circle.

Then limit yourself to 3 balls and try again starting over if you miss one. This adds a little pressure to the drill and will help your confidence when you’re out playing for real.

Continue this drill at 40, 50, 60 feet or whatever distance you feel you need your most practice from. With the right length putting mat you can practice this drill at home.

Once you practice this lag putting drill, you’ll be more confident when you stand over those long putts.

Relax Over Those Tough Short Putts…

There is more pressure on those short putts than driving the ball or your approach to the green. And this is what brings those nerves out. One thing that can help you when you get nervous over a putt, is to lower your expectations.

Here’s what I mean by that.

Most recreational golfers are fixated on making every one of those short putts (2 foot, 3 foot, 5 foot, or 8 foot).

This causes you to put WAY too much pressure on yourself and creates an inability to relax during the stroke.

What you do for this, is to simply focus on putting the ball to an area around the hole depending on how far away the putt is. It could be a 2 foot, 3 foot, or even a 5 foot diameter around the hole.

Use whatever will give you the most confidence for making the next short putt.

The further away you are, the larger you can make your target area.

Forget about the hole entirely and just focus on the area around the hole you’ve chosen. And if the putt happens to go in – that’s just a bonus.

You’ll see the Pro’s doing this all the time with difficult long putts.

They putt the ball to an area that will give them the best chance of making those short putts that are left following the long putt.

They’re not actually trying to make those long putts. This takes a whole lot of pressure off if the target you’re putting to is a 3-foot circle (or 2, or 5, or whatever you choose) than a 4 1/4 inch cup.

Try this the next time you’re out playing. And remember – golf is just a game. It’s not life-or-death out there.

So take a deep breath. Stick to your routine. And above all – make sure you HAVE FUN as you stand over those short putts!

Practice those short putts at home on a putting mat.

Sink More Downhill Golf Putts

Downhill golf putts are usually real tricky and create a great deal of problems for most amateur golfers.

In an issue of Golf Digest and in the “Quick Tips” section there exists an outstanding checklist for mastering downhill golf putts by Jason Day.

In the article Jason gives his personal tip on sinking those tricky downhillers.

Here is what he say:

“ONE FOOT MAX. When you’re judging speed on a downhill putt, you want the ball trickling as it gets to the hole. If you miss, you don’t want it to go any further than a foot past the cup. Missing is never good, but look on the bright side: You’ve got an uphill putt coming back.”

To make this happen time after time with downhill golf putts, or any putt, it is important you have distance control. You can practice distance control at home with an indoor putting mat.

You need to know the way to putt specific distances every time. And this is the serious problem most amateur golfers have trouble with.

Even though you miss read your golf putt by a foot left or right, as long as you’re putting it the right distance, you’re only leaving yourself a foot for your second putt.

To shoot low scores, you need to know the way to roll the ball 12 feet for a 12 foot putt.

You must know how to roll the ball 10 feet for a 10 foot putt. 9 feet. 8 feet. 6 feet. 15 feet.

If you cannot do this on demand, you will never shoot the scores you know you’re capable of – regardless how many fairways and greens you hit.

To become a better player you must master distance control on each green to reduce the number of golf putts.

Putting Distance Is Key

To become a better golfer you must know how to putt the exact putting distance each and every time. And this is one of the major problem all amateur golfers have problems with.

Even when you miss read a putt by a foot left or right while putting the golf ball the right putting distance, you will only a one foot left for you second putt. Those one foot putts are easier to make than a three foot putt if your distance control is off when you make that first putt.

To lower your scores per round, you need to develop the feel for rolling the ball xx feet for a xx foot putt.

With that in mind you need to learn how to roll the ball 10 feet for a 10 foot putt. 9 feet. 8 feet. 6 feet. 15 feet. So what ever length putt you are faced with you need to feel that distance in your stroke each and every time no matter what.

If you can not hit the putting distance on command, you will not be able to lower your scores no matter how many fairways or greens you hit.

To become a better player you have to master your distance control.

PuttingSecretsRevealed.com

A Simple Putting Drill To Lower Your Scores

Using a simple putting drill to lower your scores and help improve your putting confidence. Putting practice is really tough at times because it seems like work without having fun.  There are so many putting drills in magazines, on the internet, and putting books for working on different parts of the putting stroke and the mental part of putting.

If you are like me I really do not have the time to spend working on all those drills and practice the full swing.

I have found a putting drill that will help you work on your stroke, control of distance, and determining the right line for the putt.

To work on this drill you need to find a place on the green or a larger putting mat without a cup, six golf balls, and your putter.

You start this putting drill by placing the six golf balls in one of your hands. Now you want to drop all the ball on the green at the same time. They should hit the green and come to rest in a random order. That is exactly what you want to happen. You also want to make sure that there is enough space between the balls for you to make a putt.

Select one of the balls and putt it a distance of about 4 feet. Next you want to select the second ball. Use your pre-putt routine and determine the line to the first ball. Now putt the second ball and strike the first ball.

The next part of the putting drill is to select the third ball and putt it to strike the second ball. Continue this process until you have putted all six golf balls.

The goal is to strike each ball with the putt. Since you are putting to a ball the cups on the course will look larger.

You can repeat this drill by putting the first ball to six feet, then eight feet, then 10 feet, etc. to work on your distance control and reading the green.

The good thing about this putting drill is that each putt will be different from the other putts and you are not standing in the same place for each putt.

This drill will help you get your putting on track fast.

Here is a great putting drill that can be done without a putting green. All you need is a carpet long enough to roll a ball.

Find three golf balls and drop them on the carpet so they are spread out. You want the balls to be about three to four feet apart. The good thing about this drill is that you do not need a hole in the carpet. All need is a spot to putt to.

The distance you want to work on with this drill is about four feet. Now putt the first ball the four foot distance. The important part of this drill is distance control.

The rest of the drill consist of putting the other balls so they hit the first ball. You may want to repeat this drill to get the feel for the distance and the feel of the stroke to move the ball this distance.

To expand this drill perform the same steps for putts distance six feet to twelve feet.

Here is another variation. Putt the first ball and hit the ball place on the carpet. Now putt the second ball so it hits the first ball. Then putt the third ball to hit the fourth ball. You can also use a putting mat to perform this drill.

We all have missed those easy 6 to 8 foot putts and wondered: “How did I miss that one?” Well, John Brenkus, host of “ESPN Sports Science,” explains why in this video.

You may think you know all about what Brenkus is going say, but it’s still fascinating to listen to him analyze those fast greens at Augusta National Golf Course. He discusses what determines whether a putt is makeable:

• Impact speed on the back of the cup. If your putt crosses over the center of the hole, the fastest the golf ball can roll and still go into the cup is 3.64 mph. If it travels faster it will jump off the back of the hole as move past the hole.
• Impact parameter. The farther away from the center of the hole that a putt crosses the cup, the slower it must travel to go in. It can not travel faster than  – 2.7 mph.

It is very surprising is to learn how uphill putts, which we all want, will move away from the hole when mishit. Based on Brenkus’s discussion we should welcome downhill putts which move toward the hole even when they are mishit? Check it out the video.

Remember to practice your putting at home on a putting mat.

Discover putting tips and others putting ideas from Shawn Clement in the video below. After going through the video you will need to practice and practice these tips over and over again to improve your putting stroke and make more putts. I personally practice my putting stroke about 15 minute 3 to 4 times a week. This has helped me make more short putts and reduce the number of three putts per round.

Here are just a few of his putting tips.

Get yourself in the right posture. You want good balanced posture with your weight evenly distributed over your insteps. Try to get your eyes over the ball but if you can not, error with your eyes inside the ball.

The arms and putter need to hang from the shoulders. This will allow your shoulders, arms, and putter to move and travel all together. Your shoulders, arms, and putter should also form the letter “Y”.

Let the letter “Y” swing back and through with your putting stroke. When everything is hanging correctly from the shoulders the stroke will follow it’s own arc and line.

You want the putter to line up in front of your sternum while hanging straight down. You should also place the ball just in front of your sternum.

With this putter arc you will want to strike the ball at the bottom of the arc to get the ball rolling properly.

These putting tips from Shawn can be practiced in the comfort of your home on a putting mat such as the Vari-Break Putting Green or the putting green at your favorite golf course.

Putting Secrets; #1 Most Popular Golf Teacher on You Tube Shawn Clement

You do not know how long a stoke to make or how much force to put into it on a long lag putt. Because of this, if you are like me you usually leave your first putt far from the hole making the second putt a knee knocker. This failure to knock it close from long range is the most typical cause of most three putts.

Here is a drill you might want to try to help solve putt control on long putts.

On a practice green, set up a putt about 50 feet from a hole. Lay a 5-iron on the ground and lay it parallel to the line you want the ball to start on. Set the ball in the middle of the shaft. Then simply roll putts to the hole, with your goal not to make it but to hit it “hole high.” As you do this, use the 5-iron as a guide. It’s essential that your stroke be the same length on both sides of the ball. To one end of the 5-iron on your backstroke, and to the other end on your through-stroke.

Over the years I have found that a 5-iron provides the perfect stroke length for a 50-foot putt, and practicing long putts teaches you how to make solid contact and control distance better than practicing short putts. If you become consistent from 50 feet, 15 to 30 foot putts will seem easy by comparison.

If your putts come up short or roll too far, your tempo is off. Do not change your length (keep matching your 5-iron), but instead make your stroke faster or slower. When you start mailing this distance, your tendency to three putt will disappear.