There is nothing in your game that can make up for a cold putter. No matter how hard you hit off the tee or how solid you hit your irons, if you can’t putt effectively, you’ll never maximize your full potential.
Conversely, if you’re a good putter, you can cover up a lot of flaws elsewhere in your game. When the ball is rolled in the cup on a consistent basis, it gives you a certain confidence to score that is impossible to replicate elsewhere.
That’s why I decided earlier this year to take my first putting lesson. After a beginning of the season in which I rolled the ball inconsistently (at best), I decided that it was finally time to consult the help of an expert.
In this case, that expert was PGA Tour that put consultant and GOLF Top 100 Master Stephen Sweeney. During our lesson, Sweeney fixed my setup, taught me how to practice reading the greens and shared a putting drill that helped me make my shot.
Check out the full lesson below or read on for more on a drill that immediately helped me start making more putts.
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An easy drill to sink more putts
When practicing your shot, it’s important to find a dead straight putt. That way, if the putt misses, you know the problem had to do with mechanics rather than a misread.
After finding this straight putt, push a tee into the ground until it is almost entirely under the surface of the green. You should be able to see it, but make sure it doesn’t interfere with your shot. This will serve as your reference point where you will putt – and you will know it is in the same place every time.
Next, take two tees and build a gate a little wider than a golf ball about a foot in front of your tee sunk into the ground. So, your only goal is to try to roll your ball in line through that gate with every putt.
“I gave you a very clear target very close to the golf ball,” Sweeney said. “And that helps you line up the putter better and gives you a visual of where you want to start the ball.”
After doing this drill repeatedly, I found myself taking a similar strategy on the course. On every putt, I pick my line and then focus on a spot on that line about a foot in front of the ball.
Ever since I started using this drill and adopted that strategy, I broke out of my putting slump and hit more putts than ever before.