Having been laid up with a knee injury sustained playing football (soccer), I haven’t been able to hit the golf course for over a month. With constant rain delays during the U.S. Open over the past week, I was coaxed to come out of temporary retirement for a quick nine holes on Saturday. I was fine, a little rusty, but all in all it just felt great to get back out on the course after a long layoff. My biggest concern, as usual, were the poor habits and fundamentals of my friends. All three of them can hit the ball, but none of them can putt to save their lives. This is not surprising in the slightest, considering 95% of their already limited practice time is spent on the driving range, and not on the practice green.
Two of them are what I would call “recreational players”. Guys who are out there just to have a good time, where their performance is not of the highest concern. The other one is a gradually improving serious golfer who has gotten much better over the last two years, and takes the game very seriously. All that aside, the three of them have the same major problem with their golf game: short putts.
I maintain, and will always maintain that the biggest reason mid to high handicappers miss so many short putts is BECAUSE THEY NEVER PUTT THEM!!! They lag a 20 footer up to about three feet from the hole, and then just rake the ball back to themselves…I hate that. The ball isn’t in until it’s actually in, but that’s a whole different story. The other reason they miss short putts is because of a mechanical flaw in their short putting stroke. Not all putts should be hit the same way. A lag putt should be hit with a longer flowing stroke in an attempt to establish a consistant feel for the speed of the greens. When you get inside of the dreaded six foot range, it becomes all about the line. In order to keep the ball on line on a shorter putt, you need to use a shorter stroke.
I see way too many people take the putter back on a five footer like they are hitting a 15 footer. Then, to compensate for that, they decelerate on the way through the ball. A serious mechanical flaw. For a putt in that range it is only necessary to take the putter back a couple of inches. If anything, this will help you keep the face more square, and the putter on the correct line, since it is traveling less distance, makes sense right? Also, since you aren’t taking it back as far as you usually would, it will force you to accelerate on the way back to the ball.
Unlike a change to the full swing, this is not a mechanical flaw that will take a lot of time and practice to incorporate. It is more psychological than anything else. The next time you get out to play, get to the course about a half hour or an hour earlier than you usually might, and hit the practice green. My favorite drill is the 2-4-6 drill. It’s pretty basic, find a flat putt or a straight up hill putt, and put a ball down at two feet, four feet, and six feet from the hole. Start with the two footer and work your way back, and keep repeating the process with a short, solid, and strong stroke. I guarantee you will be more confident and consistent with the short ones if you stick to a shorter stroke. And this way, you won’t have to rake back that three footer, you can just knock it in.
- Patrick Keegan
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Thanks very much for your simple but insightful advice,which I
find motivating me to get out there just to hear the special sound
of a ball as it drops into the hole.
Dave Walsh
I had a 2+ year absence from golf. As my swing started to return, I would be walking off the 18th feeling better about my game until I got to the 19th and totaled my score and putts. So concerned was I about my long stroke, I had forgotten the good habit of the putting green, always saying to myself something like “That’s OK, you hit a great 5-iron,” or some other feel-good excuse for missing that 4-footer (again). I had taught my sons the game from the green backward to the tee, but some of the best lessons in golf have to be re-learned. Thanks for the reminder. The least complicated stroke in golf is the putting stroke and one is expected to use it 36 times per round. I use the driver only 14 times on my preferred course. The math speaks for itself.
Good advice! Something else that helps me is to talk to myself – On every put I say (softly), ” straight back, straight through.” This really keeps me focus on what I’m doing.
worked on it and it is going down a treat thanks patrick
I have heard that golfers spend less than 19% of their practice time on the putting green. I have reversed this on a monthly basis and have seen some (not 100%, yet) improvement,
Good advice from Pat.
Thanks
A timely reminder anytime.
Thanks. It is really a very practical and sound advice.
Thank you. A very helpful refresher. It is all to easy to forget the importance of club head speed on these short putts.
Thanks, this makes perfect since to me, however, I don’t like to practice on the practice green because they just are not like the greens on the course
Yes that is very good advice I always miss those.
Thanks for sharing. I’ll work on the drill.
Thank you for the lesson re putting. I will test the takeback today when I play at Royal Cromer, Norfolk. many thanks margaret
Makes sense. A billiard pro instructed me to hold the bridge hand and cue tip close to the ball for the same reasons.
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