Leaving putts short

shaneon77

Does anyone have any magic cures for this problem?
Its been going on a while for me now and its a bit more than frustrating. It's become a mental issue and i need some drills to combat this.
I would have considered myself a good putter but recently i have developed a fear of putting it too far past the hole. hypnotism may be the solution but in the meantime i am prepared to just work hard at any drills that may work.

One of the instructors at pelz golf showed me that my sense of distance perception is way off. He lined me up at a doorway, told me to imagine i was putting to the opposite wall then close my eyes and walk until i thought i was at the other wall. I was about 6 foot off. Needless to say my putts are almost inevitably the same distance away on longer shots.

dar_cool

It's a confidence thing. Your probably deaccelerating on your forward movement as your afraid of sending the ball flying by the hole. Only thing I.can.recommend is a lot of time on the putting green starting at 3 foot and moving further away. That helped me when I was doing the very same thing. Oh and splash out on a good putter

Rikand

Go somewhere on the putting green where there are no holes and put a tee in the ground. Now lay your wedge about a foot behind the tee. Now take putts from 5+ feet away. Aim for the tee but your real goal is to ram the ball into the shaft of the wedge.

Keep doing that from different distances to get used to the feeling of hitting putts firm and towards the target.

worked for me

Gin77

I recommend a metronome to help your tempo.
Check out this video
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=14xDV7-RAto&feature=related

I downloaded a metronome app for free on my Iphone its great. I practice with the head phones in like in the video. When im playing I count the beat in my head on every putt.
1) last look at the hole
2) Look at the ball
3) Swing back
4) Swing forward

Also if im putting up a slope i take my practice swing behind the ball a foot or two depending on the slope, makes me swing harder.

Down hill i make my practice swing in front of the ball, this makes me swing easier.

Golfgraffix

I had a similar problem a few years ago and I came to the conclusion that it was the fear of the 1.5 footer come back was the problem. So when practising I only worked on the short putts to a point where I felt very comfortable with them. After that I had no big problem leaving them short.

I would now consider it the best part of my game.

spacecoyote

I think Nicklaus had some tip about picking a point about 18"-2ft past the hole & trying to play dead weight at that point. Should guarantee that if youre leaving putts short at least you're aiming at a point 2ft beyond the hole, which should result in you being a lot closer to the hole

Other than that, as above, work hard on building your confidence over short putts as it removes the fear of hitting a firm putt

GreeBo

if your lag putting is way off, try visualising throwing the ball to the hole, and then quickly use that same amount of force for your putt... I find reactive putting helps with this a lot, so basically don't spend any time standing over the ball once you have stopped looking at the hole.
also putting while looking at the hole can help with distance, I sometimes find that I forget how far it actually is and revert to some standard 10 foot swing, looking at the hole removed this issue

PARlance

Just club up

Leaving them short has been a part of my game but I'm gradually getting better.
As Space suggested, my aim point is 2 foot past the hole.
It hasn't been a quick fix but I'm getting there.

shaneon77

Some super suggestions, thanks guys. I read a few before I went out today and just tried harder to concentrate. I figured out that I was crouched over too much so just stood up straighter. It resulted in a straighter back and through stroke. Only left a few short but nothing too chronic.
There is hope!

ShivasIrons

Very hard to tell without seeing someone putt.

It could be vision issues, your eyes could be telling you the hole is nearer then it is.

Toss coins towards the hole, do the eyes closed test like the Pelz one you described, estimate the distance of a putt. If you come up short on all the tests, it could be vision. Technical advice won't work if it is.

Felloffmebike

Try this. On a flat part of the practice green put a tee peg in the ground about 20 feet away and a second one about 30 feet away creating a zone of about 10 feet. Use 5 or 6 balls. The aim is to get the first ball past the first tee and then the second ball past the first ball, the 3rd past the 2nd and so on. The last ball must finish short of the 2nd tee peg so all six finish in the 10 feet zone. To get it right each putt must be about 18 inches longer than the previous putt.

Then reverse it, 1st ball just short of the 2nd tee, 2nd ball short of the 1st ball, 3rd short of the 2nd with the last ball just passing the first tee. Great drill for getting the pace and as you're not trying to hole anything no frustration from missing.

rollotomasi

Make sure you're hitting the putt from out of the sweetspot of the putter. I know this sounds obvious but it really makes a difference to the distance the ball travels.

When on the practice green, hit putts while looking at the target, not at the ball. This gives good feedback to the feel rather then the mechanics of the stroke.

Then on the course, take the practice putts with soft hands while looking at the hole (for a straight putt), not at the ball. Then hit the ball with the same stroke.

Also, practice the 3 footers, the better you get at these, the less anxious you'll be about leaving putts short and therefore the better you'll get with the longer putts.

realgolfgeek

GreeBo wrote: »

if your lag putting is way off, try visualising throwing the ball to the hole, and then quickly use that same amount of force for your putt

This is a great tip for bunker play, but I've been advised by a pro that it's not a good idea for putting as you would tend to overhit the putt, not by 18 inches, but by significantly more than that.

GreeBo

realgolfgeek wrote: »

This is a great tip for bunker play, but I've been advised by a pro that it's not a good idea for putting as you would tend to overhit the putt, not by 18 inches, but by significantly more than that.

works for me..I guess I wouldnt recommend just randomly trying it on the course, but since I use it a fair bit I guess I have my throwing/rolling to putting ratio dialed in at this stage, now if only I could fix the old radar...:o

TheDoc

Probably as someone mentioned, a problem with deceleration.

Have been working on my stroke a little lately, and my long putting has got a little bit better. Found that if I make a controlled, shorter backstroke, and then through the ball and ensure my putter goes a good length through. I'd always been doing the through stroke to promote good roll, but the shorter backswing just ensures I don't slow down, and also gives me better control of the putter head.

Tried this out after I deployed something similar with my chipping and pitching, seems to be working for me, although might just be a personal thing.

Noticed it actually alot last week playing in a practice round playing foursomes. Our playing partner, one of them had an abnormally lengthy backstroke on long putts and then obviously in his head would go " oh ****" and he'd slow down and make a mess of long putts.

shaneon77

Things have improved a lot. The confidence is beginning to come back.
I bumped into an old neighbour of mine who used to be a swing coach in colleges states-side. He has taken it upon himself to change everything about my whole game!! (best of luck in that one)
He told me to "listen for the music" i'm not allowed to look up for a putt from any length at all. I'm trying to go 12" -18" past everytime and it's proving successful short term.

For Paws

Felloffmebike wrote: »

Try this. On a flat part of the practice green put a tee peg in the ground about 20 feet away and a second one about 30 feet away creating a zone of about 10 feet. Use 5 or 6 balls. The aim is to get the first ball past the first tee and then the second ball past the first ball, the 3rd past the 2nd and so on. The last ball must finish short of the 2nd tee peg so all six finish in the 10 feet zone. To get it right each putt must be about 18 inches longer than the previous putt.

Then reverse it, 1st ball just short of the 2nd tee, 2nd ball short of the 1st ball, 3rd short of the 2nd with the last ball just passing the first tee. Great drill for getting the pace and as you're not trying to hole anything no frustration from missing.

Great drill. Ideal pre-round as it's the pace of the putt you want to have in mind.
I regularly see guys on a practice green hitting 10 footers & then finding themselves on the 1st green with 35 foot first putt and a 6 foot second putt !

Anatom

Felloffmebike wrote: »

Try this. On a flat part of the practice green put a tee peg in the ground about 20 feet away and a second one about 30 feet away creating a zone of about 10 feet. Use 5 or 6 balls. The aim is to get the first ball past the first tee and then the second ball past the first ball, the 3rd past the 2nd and so on. The last ball must finish short of the 2nd tee peg so all six finish in the 10 feet zone. To get it right each putt must be about 18 inches longer than the previous putt.

Then reverse it, 1st ball just short of the 2nd tee, 2nd ball short of the 1st ball, 3rd short of the 2nd with the last ball just passing the first tee. Great drill for getting the pace and as you're not trying to hole anything no frustration from missing.

I am definitely going to try this out! Leaving them short is still my biggest problem with putting...

thegolfer

Golfgraffix wrote: »

I had a similar problem a few years ago and I came to the conclusion that it was the fear of the 1.5 footer come back was the problem. So when practising I only worked on the short putts to a point where I felt very comfortable with them. After that I had no big problem leaving them short.

I would now consider it the best part of my game.

I would definitely recommend this.
Had a bad patch with putting recently, and its a confidence thing, missing the odd 1/2/3 footer, which lead to leaving putts short. Confidence from 3 feet in, will ensure that your putting becomes better and stronger part of your game.

From this you will roll putts past the hole, giving them an opportunity to also go in. Though aim to allow the ball roll only one foot past the hole.

Practice short uphill and breaking putts, no more than three feet.

Put two tees in the ground, slightly more than putter width apart, few millimeters extra, place ball in middle of the tees, and putt towards the hole. If you "clip" the tees with the putter then you are slightly off line or misaligned with your stroke.

I also changed putter, which allowed me to align putts much better. If your using a baled, consider a mallet or visa versa.

Average putts went from 35/36 to 27/28 per round. Now a much happier golfer.

Are you a birdie hunter or a bogey avoider..

GreeBo

shaneon77 wrote: »

i'm not allowed to look up for a putt from any length at all.

+1
This is key for me on all putts.
On short ones having a peak makes me yank them left.
On long ones I dont hit the sweetspot of the putter (or the ball) and the distance variation is huge.

matt-dublin

Practice putting with your eyes closed....

Ie line up the putt, address the ball, before you stroke close your eyes.

While your eyes are still closed guess and say out loud where the ball is. Eg short left, left, long right etc

Open your eyes and see if you're right.

It will teach you alot about feel and what your club head is doing.

Running Balance

shaneon77 wrote: »

Some super suggestions, thanks guys. I read a few before I went out today and just tried harder to concentrate. I figured out that I was crouched over too much so just stood up straighter. It resulted in a straighter back and through stroke. Only left a few short but nothing too chronic.
There is hope!

my lag putting was poor to say the least up to reading this last week. I noticed where I stood straigher my body didn't get in the way on the follow through and resulted in a smoother swing and less slapping at the ball. It resulted in 40 points off 19 and no 3 putts. a miracle!!

shaneon77

Not too great today. The speed difference between the wet greens today and the dry greens the previous week was about 2 foot. Left a few in the jaws, on good lines all the same.