50-6-3 Putting Drill

stockdam

I've been missing too many short putts though carelessness and poor mental attitude so I'm going to try to do some home practice.

On a carpet I should be able to roll in 50 putts from 6 feet in a row.

So I've put two blocks of wood together but left a 3 inch gap between them (the hole). Now from 6 feet I want to hole 50 in a row.

I couldn't even do 10 in a row and that shows that my technique has become sloppy.

Try it and tell me if you find it easy or hard.

(My putting was so bad that this started out as 10 putts in a row from 5 feet but that is something that should be easy).

bigtimecharlie

I've been thinking of setting up a putting track using a carpet base just to get my stroke going. Are you putting on carpet in the house or in a garage/shed?

stockdam

I'm putting in the house on a short pile carpet.

I'm surprised how poor my stroke has become and how I open and close the face of the putter without being under control. I'll have to find a new way of putting that keeps the face square.

I've increased the putts to 6 feet now and I reckon that I should be holing a lot since they are straight putts. I've made the hole 3" which is smaller than a normal hole (plus I won't get any that fall in the side of the hole). Ok Peltz said that the pros hole about 50% of their putts from 6 feet but he wasn't talking about straight putts with no break.

Obviously if I can't putt straight then I have less chance of holing the putts that turn an average round into a good one.

It's time that I stopped loosing holes to people that scramble pars when I miss from 3 feet on a hole that I've played pretty well.

WHIP IT!

stockdam wrote: »

I'm surprised how poor my stroke has become and how I open and close the face of the putter without being under control. I'll have to find a new way of putting that keeps the face square.

Five-handicapper I work with swears by the claw grip for shorter putts. While a three-handicapper (also in work) usually goes left-hand-low on short putts. For what that's worth!

stockdam

WHIP IT! wrote: »

While a three-handicapper (also in work) usually goes left-hand-low on short putts. For what that's worth!

I have tried the left hand low in the past and found that it firmed everything up. I may try it again as I need to break the low-confidence barrier first - when you start missing these putts then you mentally expect to miss them and that's not a good way to approach a par putt.

stockdam

Right I'm showing some progress and now I'm going to up the ante.

I reckon that a good target is 50 putts in a row from 6 feet through a 3 inch gap. If I can do that then I reckon that the stroke is ok.

After I can do that then I reckon that I'll decide that it's too easy and move the distance to say 9 feet.

Over the years my putting has gone from excellent to sloppy.

couerdelion

I did the GUI training day recently and one thing that always worries me about putting is how out of control the club face seems on the back swing and doesn't remain constantly square to the ball all the time. One of the others also raised this query and the coach threw him a ball and asked him to throw it back to him, which he did. He was then questioned as to how straight his arm was as he pulled it back and how straight it was at release. The point being that all you have to worry about is the club head being square at release and as long as the ball is coming in at 6 o'clock and leaving at 12 o'clock too then the ball will go straight. We did a drill to reinforce this which was putting two clubs on the ground parrallel with the gap facing the hole. We then hit five balls from 6 feet into the hole, closed our eyes and hit the 6th in too just to show how simple the idea is.

Halfprice

i have noticed with my putting that i was inclined to go back to fast on my stroke and not follow through properly either. on a clock i was going back as 3 o clock but then hitting the ball and bringing my putter to 7 o clock and not following through properly to 9 o clock. 1 was pulling all my putts as a result if that makes sense.. I need a slow swing back and a good follow through to have my putting sound which it normally is. I miss very little short putts..

stockdam

Ok after a couple of sessions my putting is getting back to normal again.

I was decelerating and stabbing at the ball a bit (not flowing through). I wasn't taking enough time but rather just walking up and expecting to make the putt without investing the time to go through a setup routine.

I'm using the palm of my right hand as a guide to the position of the putter face.....so I get my grip right and then push the palm through to the hole.

I don't know why I haven't done enough putting practice before - I used to do a lot of putting practice at home as a kid and that helped me to become a very good putter.

Now I'll have to find a way of practicing my chipping without having any real space to do it.

couerdelion

stockdam wrote: »

Now I'll have to find a way of practicing my chipping without having any real space to do it.

Upside down golf umbrella and then pace out as far you want (10 paces if you can!). If you can consistently get the ball in the umbrella then you'll be more than able!