Being able to sense the strength or pace of a putt is fundamental in becoming a great putter.
In truth to become a reliable putter it is imperative.
Many golfers, especially beginners will struggle with correctly judging the pace.
Mainly down to experience beginners simply have not put the hours into practice to develop their touch on and around the greens.
I have had clients, right down to single figure golfers that have a hard time determining the force they need to reach, especially from putts ranging between 25 and 65 feet and practising alone didn´t help them.
Having used this exercise for teaching and improving other aspects of the golf swing, I applied it to putting and the results were nothing more than incredible.
The “trick” was to get my students to close their eyes (after setting up) and putt towards a fixed pint (never ever a hole) and before taking a look at the ball declare whether the ball would be short, the correct distance or long.
It is important to stress the need to not use a hole for this drill, it only aids to lower confidence levels, something that we are trying to improve rather than decrease.
Instead place a tee or a putter head cover on the green, to begin with a relatively flat part of the green is the best choice.
Remember the “line” of the putt is not at all important, you are working on improving your touch and feel for the distance.
This drill is best practiced to begin with from a distance of 25 foot or so, anything shorter and the player will not gain the benefit of the exercise.
Closing the eyes results in your “touch” sense being the dominant sense that you will be using, when you couple this with the visual impact of seeing if your feelings were correct the results will be almost immediate.
It is a simple exercise that will transform your putting control in a matter of a few sessions on the putting green.
Keep practising this way and you will quickly become confident that you can get the ball to travel the require distance, reducing the number of the putts you take per round.
If you are a “looker” on the short, must-make putts the same can be applied to your short putts.
Set yourself up correctly and close your eyes.
DO NOT LOOK
Listen for the ball to drop in the hole, if you don´t hear anything then repeat, and be aware of how your stroke feels, how your hands move, or perhaps even how your head still wants to move to look at the result.
It is a great way to heighten your senses and understand why you may be missing those key putts at key times in your round.
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