There are many useful tips to help you score lower.. I am always on the look out for useful putting tips, but I’m also always looking for leverage. What I’m really looking for is ideas and techniques to improve all parts of my golf game and putting.
Squeeze the Hole
Before each round, using my pre-round putting routine, I make 10 putts from one, two and three feet. However, making those putts doesn’t mean that I’m hitting the ball exactly where I want it to go. The hole is 4-1/4 inches wide. The ball is less than 1-3/4 inches in diameter. That means there’s a lot of room to go off-line on short putts, but with longer putts, not so much.
There is a way to get more precise. A very useful drill. Take two tees and stick them in the green three to four feet away. Place them at a distance of about 1-1/2 balls apart. This will be less than 3 inches instead of the 4-1/4 inches of the hole. Now, putt through the tees.
Obviously, you will need to be more precise to putt through the tees. Putting Drills of this type will force you to be more accurate and precise and strike the ball toward your selected target or path.
On the course, you can make the target smaller as well. If you can see any white in the hole, pick a spot and aim for that, not at the entire hole. See the ball hitting that spot in your mind. If you are too far away to see any white, then aiming for the hole will work well.
Squaring the Putter Head or Straight Putting Stroke?
If you can’t hit short targets, and you trust your stroke is smooth and straight, your putter head is probably not square at impact. For more disccusion on the line and a square putter head, see Putting Tips - The Line and The Square Head.
Conclusion
More accuracy will help you make more short putts and keep on your line for longer putts. Practice these putting tips to be more accurate.
Lag putting is what I consider a necessary evil. I’ve found the following few lag putting tips to work wonders for my game.
The Hole is Not the Target
When you’re lag putting, you shouldn’t being targeting the center of the hole. That’s too small a target. You need to be aiming for a much bigger target.
Picture a three foot hole. Go ahead, expand the hole unitl it is a circle 3 foot in diameter. Now, tell me that hitting a three foot target isn’t easier than hitting a 4-1/4 inch target.
When you aim for the bigger target, you’ll relax mentally and physically. In lag putting, the goal is to get close and making the putt is secondary.
Test the Greens
When you are standing over a 45 foot putt, it’s too late to test the greens and your lag stroke for the day. Check out Pre-Round Putting Drills for more on that. The point is to find at least a few minutes to take a few lag putts before the round.
Watch Other Players
Watch what’s happening with other players, especially if you know they are decent putters. If they’re lag putts are short or long, take that into consideration.
Summary
Lag putting is an important part of the golf game. Lagging well will keep you away from three putts that kill a good score. Remember to see a 3 foot hole, test the greens and watch other golfers putting.
