If you struggle to hole your putts, specifically short putts (by this I mean 5 foot or less), this will be costing you a lot of shots and there’s no reason why you can’t be as good as Rory from these distances, here’s a few tips that will get you Putting like a Pro.
Often golfers will move their body when making short putts, and in doing so it makes it very difficult to manipulate the face to point at your target. Often it is the lower body moving that means the upper body moves as a result.
So what I’d like to see is you try and stay still while you putt!
The thought, and the feel I’d like you to have, is that you keep the knees still and don’t watch your putt until you can see the grass under the ball.
To help you with those short putts under pressure – whether its to save par or win a match. Here’s a drill to help you cope with the nerves.
– Set yourself up 3 feet from a hole and try to hole 10 putts in a row. If you miss – start again. Once you get up to the 8th or 9th putt, the nerves will start to kick in!
– Once you have holed 10 putts from 3 feet, do the same from 4 feet
– Then repeat for 5 feet
Long putting is all about ‘feel’.
Trying to hit the ball the correct distance so if you don’t hole it, you can make the next one.
Similar to chipping, I see golfers try and putt with their hands and wrists. Why is this a problem?
Well, the hands contain fast twitch muscle fibres, and these are very hard to control to power and speed of consistently – especially under pressure.
The bigger muscles i.e. our shoulders and chest have slower twitch fibres which makes them much easier to control the speed of.
So it would make sense to use these muscles to control the speed….
– Get a good set up where your eyes are over the ball and the arms hang naturally
– Maintain the “Y” shape formed from the arms and putter shaft from set up and throughout the stroke
– You should feel as though the shoulders and chest are controlling the stroke and maintain a smooth stroke throughout
– Putt from anywhere on the green to the fringe – you are trying to get the ball to rest against the fringe
– Hit some putts and try to do this, 3 balls max from any one spot – it is important you keep moving around hitting different distance putts
– Once you can get the ball resting up against the fringe from different spots, do the same thing but before you watch the ball, make a judgement on whether you think the ball is short, long, or on the fringe
When you can judge whether your ball is against the fringe, long, or short – you have tour level feel and to you’ll be Putting like a Pro!
