A lot of amateur golfers head out to the first tee without getting a chance to practice some putting on the putting green. They then find that on the first few holes in their round of golf that they make the following putting errors:
The amateur putts the ball well short of the hole The amateur putts the ball in a direction they had not intended (i.e. without accuracy) The amateur putts the ball past the hole
The benefit of taking 5 minutes to practice some putting can really provide benefits, especially the first few holes were many a bogie are made. The following putting drills make effective use of your practice time before a round and should help establish in your mindset the correct alignment when putting and a good feel for the green's speed.
Alignment
Line up for a long put using whatever preferred technique you regularly use. Place a short iron against the toes of your shoes then step away from the club and look down its line. Is it the line you had intended in your setup? This line is going to show the starting trajectory of your putts so you want to have this as accurate as possible. If the line is off then maybe your technique for lining up shots is a little off. Try picking a point closer to the ball instead of closer to the hole to start lining up your shot.
Distances
With any practice drill for putting distance you want to focus on getting a feel for the greens speed over short, medium and long distances.
Start with a long putt. Try to make a dozen of these long putts and try getting the distance of your putt correct. Get the rhythm of your swing consistent and just vary the distance you pull the putter head back.
Next choose a medium length putt around the 10 foot distance and preferably a distance which you experience often. Again, take up to 10 practice putts and try to get to within a meter of the hole. Being accurate is important with this drill so you wish to have some putts going in.
And lastly, perform some short putts close to the hole so you get a high number of putts going. This is good for your confidence and will be good practice for the large amount of one metre putts that happen in any round of golf.
These simple drills can benefit all players and save you shots in the early part of the round so always try to put in some practice before a round to establish a confidence in your putting accuracy and distance control.
Discover more putting tips by visiting Tom's site, the Perfect Golf Swing HQ, as there's a great putting guide with the Simple Swing eBook.
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