There is a famous golf saying – you drive for show and you putt for dough. The implication is that it doesn’t matter how far you can drive the ball, it’s the quality of your putting that determines your score. For something that should be so simple – hitting a ball into a hole – putting can often be the most difficult part of the game. Here are a few golf tips for putting designed to help those of you who are currently struggling on the greens.
It is important not to be frightened of the putt. Some golfers, when confronted with a three-footer, will experience all sorts of negative thoughts about the stroke, which can ultimately influence the positivity of the putt. If you strike the ball with a hesitant stroke, this can have the effect of moving the putter head offline, causing the putt to miss. Be conscious of hitting through the ball, and don’t forget to accelerate the putter head through the ball at the point of impact. Three feet is a short distance, the chances are you have read the line correctly, so a positive stroke along that line will mean you sink a lot more of the three footers than you miss.
If you watch old videos of Jack Nicklaus putting, he always seemed to have his left elbow pointing at the line through-out his stroke. This is a really good technique – it forces a positive stroke along the line. If you are focusing on your elbow, you also tend to forget all the doubts you have about the putting stroke, which can also contribute to you making a positive putt.
Another method of executing a positive putting stroke is to line up the putt, then visualise your arms as a static triangle. The wrists and elbows cannot be bent, the arms must move solely as a unit. This removes all moving parts from the putting stroke apart from the shoulder movement through the ball, which helps reinforce a positive stroke.
Getting a really good feel for long putts will help you save strokes on the greens too. If you can lag a forty foot putt consistently within concession range then you will go some way to eliminating the three putt from your game. The best way to do this I find is to practise very long putts on the practise green. By doing this, you will develop an excellent feel for line and distance of the longer putts you face throughout the course of your round. Vary the distance of your practise putts, and also try some with more adventurous lines. This drill will definitely reduce the amount of ten foot second putts you need to make when you are playing the monthly medal.
Hopefully these golf tips for putting will be helpful to someone, but as with all things golf, you need to practise to master a particular aspect of the game. Putting is no different, and a few hours practise per week will soon groove your putting stroke.
