Golf Putting Practice Drills
Here are 3 great putting practice drills that you can use to improve you putting right now.
The Step Drill
The step drill is probably one of the most grueling and cruel drills ever invented.
The basic concept of the drill is to make 3 putts from 2 feet, then 3 putts from 4 feet, then 3 putts from 6 feet.
The trick is that once you miss a putt you must start back at the 2 foot range. So, in effect you must make 9 putts in a row. It sounds extremely easy in print, but once you try it you will change your mind
2X4’s
I credit this drill for improving my short putting tremendously without ever hitting a putt.
Go to your local hardware store and ask if they have any leftover 2×4’s that are about a foot long. You need 2 of them.
Set them down on the floor parallel to each other and allow enough room between them for your putter head to swing through. Using the shoulder based putting stroke, swing the putter back and through between the 2×4’s.
You can hit balls while doing it by placing a ball between the two by fours, but just the action of swinging the putter back and through repeatedly will ingrain this motion in your muscle memory.
You will be amazed at how little time you have to dedicate to this drill to see results. I recommend about 15 minutes each day, but the more you do it, the better your stroke will get. I used to get up during commercials when watching a TV show and practice during the commercials. If you work in an office it is a great way to take a 5 minute break to get your mind off things.
Towel Drill
Take a beach towel to the putting green.
Lay it down away from any holes so that when you are putting to it, it faces you lengthwise like a runway. Now hit long putts, 20 feet or more, and try to get them to stop on the towel.
The better you get at this drill, the smaller the towel you can use. This will help your lag putting by giving you a broad target to aim at instead of trying to make the putt. It will also give you a good visualization to use when you are playing.
If you’re interested in learning more ways to improve your putting check out our free short game course below.
Filed under: Golf Putting Tips