No-Frills Putting Drills
Nine easy ways to lower your score
A quiet body, a ball at rest, a short back-and-forth motion—how could
something so simple cause so many headaches? It’s a question that
occupies the minds of touring professionals and weekend warriors alike.
Wouldn’t it be great if putting was as simple as it sounds, where every
round was as automatic as the clinic Aaron Baddeley put on at Harbour
Town this year (97 putts over 72 holes)? Jeff Ritter, director of
instruction at the ASU Karsten Golf Academy in Tempe, Ariz., believes
putting isn’t complicated. And to help solve your putting woes, he has
put together his No-Frills Putting Drills—nine straightforward,
no-nonsense exercises intended to be practiced on your own, without the
aid of an instructor. Practice these drills and, before you know it,
you’ll actually look forward to working with the flatstick.1 Metronome
Have you ever noticed how smooth a touring pro’s putting tempo is? It’s as if his or her stroke was a pendulum swinging back and forth—rhythmic, free-flowing and uncomplicated. This kind of uniform movement eliminates any “herky-jerky” motions that might adversely affect a putt’s length and direction.
A great way to develop Tour-quality rhythm and tempo is to practice with a metronome. Simply place the metronome on the ground and time your stroke so it matches its “tick-tock” sound. On the “tick,” your putter should be at the end of your backswing, and on the “tock,” it should be at the end of your followthrough.
A metronome has adjustable speeds, a feature that makes finding the appropriate tempo a snap. Once you find the speed that matches your natural stroke, continue to practice matching your tempo to the metronome until you can consistently reproduce it.
The next time you play, I suggest grooving your tempo while making a practice stroke. It’s easy. Just repeat to yourself, “tick-tock,” as you putt. When you step up to the ball, your rhythm will be right for the putt at hand.
2 One-HanderSome players like to feel as though one of their hands is guiding the stroke through impact. For example, Tiger Woods wants his dominant right hand to control the stroke, so he frequently practices with only that hand on the handle. Whatever your preference, practicing with just one hand is a great way to unlock the feel and flow of a pure putting stroke.
Hold the putter with one hand only and make a stroke. At first, the sensation of a one-handed motion might feel unusual, but as you practice, you’ll find it’s actually fairly natural. As you practice from a variety of distances, don’t be afraid to put a little wrist action into your stroke, as it promotes a true roll. Also, allow yourself to be loose—a tension-free stroke usually produces the best results.
Remember, a natural wrist cock is common in every ball sport, whether the motion is hitting, swinging or throwing. It’s no different with putting. Rigid wrists make it very difficult to develop the desired soft touch needed on the putting green.
3 On TrackIf you tend to push or pull your putts, your clubface or putter path is probably going to be off line at impact. Misaligned putterfaces cause your putts to veer off line by many feet, so keeping your clubface square at impact is paramount.
To keep your putts on line, practice this simple flagstick drill. Place your putter on top of a flagstick so its alignment aid (the hash mark on top of the putterhead) is centered with the flagstick. Although it’s okay to have a little arc in your stroke, try to keep your blade as square as possible. Practice this motion for 30 seconds or so and then move your putter off the flagstick and onto the green, where you
can
actually stroke some putts. Try to re-create the square stroke you were
making on the flagstick as you practice, and continue to alternate
between this drill and stroking putts.4 Speed Reader
If you play a lot of different golf courses, you know that green speeds can vary widely from day to day and course to course. Obviously, it can be extremely frustrating when you’re not accustomed to the speed of new greens, particularly if they’re significantly different than those on the course you last played. A very effective but simple technique to combat this problem is to exaggerate your practice stroke. In other words, if you’re playing greens that are significantly slower than you’re used to, take your practice stroke from a greater distance than your actual putt. This will force you to ingrain the feel of a longer, more powerful stroke. On greens that are faster than normal, take your practice stroke from a spot closer to the hole than your actual putt. Then simply go back to your ball and use that same sensation to make your stroke.
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