Think about your last bad putting rounds. Now think about the
specific three putt holes. I am willing to bet that most of them
were caused by distance and not accuracy.
Think about your last bad putting rounds. Now think about the specific three putt holes. I am willing to bet that most of them were caused by distance and not accuracy.
Most of the time you miss a putt badly because it is 6-8′ to long or short not because you hit it right or left of the hole by that distance. We tend to get zoned in on the line and forget about the distance.
To help be more consistent with the distance be consistent with your stroke and the tempo. Most of the time the distance suffers because you tend to speed up too much on the forward stroke. Use a smooth tempo that is a consistent speed on the backstroke as well as forward stroke. Don’t “change gears” like going from first gear on the backstroke to third gear on the forward stroke. Use length of the stroke to increase the length of your putt not the speed.
Pick a measurement that corresponds to the speed of the green. On average to slow greens and uphill putts, take the putter back 1 inch for every foot of length. For faster greens and downhill putts this may be reduced down to about 1/2 inch.
A general rule of thumb though is never take your putter back shorter than 6 inches on a real short putt or longer than 24 inches on a real long putt. So on those putts across the green you must rely on your touch a little. Keep the tempo smooth and you will be very consistent with your distance.
Don DeLorenzo is a PGA-certified instructor at Gilroy Golf Course. To schedule a lesson with Don, call Gilroy GC at (408) 848-0490.
