Are you a good Putter?

What defines a good putter? When we ask our students that question the response is typically 2 putts per hole. Well the leaders in both the LPGA and PGA Tour are around 28 putts and most are below 30 putts over 18 holes of play. You are probably asking how can you compare us to the professionals? Well that’s a fair question but consider this… Is there any physical advantages that would make them better then you? Meaning if you are 10 years old or 80 years old a 10 foot putt is the same for everyone and it doesn’t take much force at all so everyone is capable. So why are some better then others?

  1. Reading the putt - Many struggle to read the green properly. Make sure you read it to the side to see if its uphill or downhill. Read it from behind the hole and in front and take the difference.

  2. Develop a great pre shot routing and don’t change it even if you are not having a great putting today. The pre shot routine does not have to be long and should focus on point 3.

  3. Frist you read the line and then you focus on DISTANCE CONTROL. You don’t have to worry about the line anymore. In fact when you mark your ball and replace it use the strip or name on the ball and point it toward where you are aiming. Then during your pre shot routine you are focus only on how hard you need to swing. ALWAYS keep the same tempo and adjust your putting stroke length accordingly. So for shorter putts smaller swings, and longer putts larger swings both back and forth.

  4. There are two styles of putters, the one who like to hit the ball 2 or 3 feet by the hole and the other is trying to die the ball into the hole. Both have there advantages but I prefer to die the ball into the hole as it give the ball more opportunity to get into the hole and avoid the dreaded lip out, it also allows you to have a tap in for your second putt and not put pressure on you for those annoying 3 footers.

  5. Lastly it doesn’t take much effort to practice, next time you go to the range hit a few putts first before your bucket and try the above.

Happy Putting,

Golf Mentor Team