From touring pros to weekend warriors, most golfers wish they had a more reliable putting stroke. Today’s golf tip can help you improve.
In today’s golf tip, we’ll go through one of my favorite drills. This putting distance drill will help reduce those scores that you know could have been lower if you’d spent less time on the greens.
I often use the old putting ladder drill with my students. I draw white chalk circles (around two to three feet in diameter) around holes that range in distances from 10 feet to 40 feet. Then I have the students hit two balls to each of the three or four distances, in order.
Picturing a slide rule can help you decide how much backswing and follow through to give each putt! The ball always sits at zero. Short putts of two to three feet in length are what I call a one-inch pullback and a two-inch follow through. Mid-range putts of 15 to 20 feet fall into the range of four inches back and five inches through. A lengthy 40-footer may require 10 inches of backstroke and then 11 inches of follow through! I always pick a larger number on the follow through to remind students to smoothly accelerate through their putts (except when the hole is downhill). Shift from second gear to third gear, not second gear to fourth or fifth gear!
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Once you start leaving the putts within those circles at different distances, you will start to knock down those scores! The circles are the silent feedback you need to improve. Anything short of the circle reminds the golfer to pull back more. Instead of that three back and four through, you may need to try a four back and five through. Any putt that goes too far past the circle is a reminder to scale down the slide rule to a lesser number! Instead of the six inches back and seven inches through, you may need to scale the slide rule back to five inches back and six inches through.
Keep experimenting with the slide rule numbers to get the distances you need to know and depend on!
What’s the best golf tip you’ve ever received? Let us know in the comments, and keep it here at Pro Golf Now for more tips from Pete.
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