Even with the best ever putting tips, holing out under pressure can be a difficult skill to master. Often that is down to a lack of practise, but with the right putting drills it's possible to turn your fortunes around on the greens.
In this video and article, Golf Monthly Top 50 Coach Alex Elliott shares his expert tips, and talks us through three transformative putting drills that all golfers should try...
Alignment
These drills are so easy to set-up, and they could have a huge impact on your putting performance. All you need is a golf ball box, something which many golfers seem to accumulate in their golf bags over time that can act as a great putting aid.
The first drill focuses on alignment, which is crucial for success when putting. If you are not aiming correctly, the chances of holing putts drops significantly.
You want the putter to be flush to the box (right)
As I demonstrate in the video above, stick your golf ball box on the green and just practise squaring your putter up to it. If you have a tendency to aim left, you'll notice the toe of your putter will be in contact with the box, and if you aim right, the heel of your putter will be hitting it.
Take your hands off the putter and practise getting it flush to the box so you know what this feels and looks like. Then put your hands back on and address the ball. Over time this will get you aiming at your intended target more often and therefore help you hole more putts.
Strike
Strike is the focus of the second drill, and is good for players that regularly miss the middle of the putter face. This can make it very difficult to judge distance accurately, and can also start the ball on an unintended line. Similarly to the first, place the box on the green. Line up to your ball with around a finger's width between the toe of your putter and the box.
This will improve the quality of your strike
Place a tee peg the same finger's width distance from the heel of your putter so you've got a gate and start hitting some putts. This drill gives great feedback because if you hit the box or the tee you know you've made a bad stroke and therefore poor contact. The better you get at this, the better your putting will become.
The Stroke
The final drill and my favourite is one where we're not even going to putt to a hole. This is what I do to calibrate my stroke. A common mistake I see in amateurs is they take the putter back far too far back and then decelerate into impact.
Place your golf ball box on the ground roughly two clubheads outside your right foot and imagine it's a brick wall. I want you to use that as a buffer for how far to take the putter back.
Use this drill to hone a better stroke
Now, simply hit a few putts into open space trying not to swing back past the box. Match up the length of your follow-through and backswing and you'll be surprised how close together the balls finish.
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