Struggling with short putts

[bladehunter]

My 2 year ah ha moment:

I played this weekly scramble game for a couple years. We would always have these predictable putts. You know, 10 footer, right edge. I would watch 3 guys before me miss. We all knew it was right edge, but no one could start it on that path. They would push it a cup right, start it left edge, etc. I would get up there and do the same thing and I was batting clean up. Frustrating when it’s once every couple months. Pure rage when it’s every week, almost every putt. I realized over the span of those 2 years that most people can read greens, most people can putt with a decent pace, most people have a good routine, most people spend time practicing drills, most people have high quality putters but few people can start it on their intended line.

 

This led me on a journey of trying to hit it on my line a majority of the time. The best way I have found to do this for me is to only practice 10-15’ straight or slight break putts. It’s a far enough distance that you will miss if you don’t hit your intended line. Where as 3’ers will still let you in the side door. Once I was able to find a method that worked for me on long putts, I started making all my short putts because I knew I would hit my line. I trusted it out of facts not hope.

 

Tip: Don’t practice on bad greens. You can hit good putts on bumpy greens and miss. This doesn’t give you any usable feedback.

 

 

best advice in this thread yet ^^^^^^ this is the issue.. this is the confidence killer... itisnt green reading , it isnt pace, it isnt stroke.. Its a setup and routine that gets the ball on the line you read... period. I havent figured that out 100% yet.... BUT i know for sure thats the issue and i found it by the same method... straight 10 footers.. If you cant make 7-8 out of 10 then you arent starting it on the intended line..

[finleysg]

My 2 year ah ha moment:

I played this weekly scramble game for a couple years. We would always have these predictable putts. You know, 10 footer, right edge. I would watch 3 guys before me miss. We all knew it was right edge, but no one could start it on that path. They would push it a cup right, start it left edge, etc. I would get up there and do the same thing and I was batting clean up. Frustrating when it’s once every couple months. Pure rage when it’s every week, almost every putt. I realized over the span of those 2 years that most people can read greens, most people can putt with a decent pace, most people have a good routine, most people spend time practicing drills, most people have high quality putters but few people can start it on their intended line.

 

This led me on a journey of trying to hit it on my line a majority of the time. The best way I have found to do this for me is to only practice 10-15’ straight or slight break putts. It’s a far enough distance that you will miss if you don’t hit your intended line. Where as 3’ers will still let you in the side door. Once I was able to find a method that worked for me on long putts, I started making all my short putts because I knew I would hit my line. I trusted it out of facts not hope.

 

Tip: Don’t practice on bad greens. You can hit good putts on bumpy greens and miss. This doesn’t give you any usable feedback.

 

 

best advice in this thread yet ^^^^^^ this is the issue.. this is the confidence killer... itisnt green reading , it isnt pace, it isnt stroke.. Its a setup and routine that gets the ball on the line you read... period. I havent figured that out 100% yet.... BUT i know for sure thats the issue and i found it by the same method... straight 10 footers.. If you cant make 7-8 out of 10 then you arent starting it on the intended line..

 

I agree. If you can't hit your line, then god help you.

 

But is this inability a technique issue or a mental issue or a mix? Probably a mix, but in my experience, training the mind is at least as important as training your body. Putting is just not all that difficult a skill.

 

I have a practice mat at home, 10' long, with lines on it. I will rarely miss on that thing. There's no break, no doubt, no randomness to interfere with the roll. It highlights, for me, that any problems I have on the green from 10' and in are probably not technical. It's the doubt about a chosen line, the fear of missing an "easy" putt, the memory of every lip out in the past 6 months -- whatever.

 

Being a good putter with that mental chaos + the randomness of muni greens requires discipline. I think it's why focusing on the process and evaluating yourself based on how well you followed that process a productive way to improve for those of us without the time or inclination to practice like a robot.

[larrybud]

I never understood why with other sports you stare at the target like darts or basketball or horseshoes etc

 

Do baseball players look at the gap they're trying to get into, or the ball that they're trying to hit? Do you look at the fairway when you're swinging a driver? Why not?

 

While your ultimate target is the hole, you have an intermediary device which is moving, the putter, and you better be pretty good at hitting the center of that if you want any kind of consistency in the result.

 

Darts, basketball and horseshoes have no such thing since you're holding the object.

[larrybud]

Ball mostly starts in the direction of the putter face, so if you're putter face isn't square at impact, you'll have a tough time hitting your line. Add to a really lousy path and/or striking it off center, and you'll miss a lot of putts.

 

Like all things in golf, there might be a cause to those things. Bad alignment could certainly be one, but if your body is moving all over the place, or your wrists are breaking down, you'll have difficulty in keeping that putter face square. You need a good setup, good alignment and a quiet body and hands to putt consistently well.

[RobertBaron]

I never understood why with other sports you stare at the target like darts or basketball or horseshoes etc but golf you look at the ball the whole process haha.

 

My short make percentage sky rocketed a few years back when I started looking at the hole inside 5-6 feet.

 

Trust your read and your stroke. Once I stopped worrying about how my stroke arched or how the takeaway looked it all improved...

 

Because the golf ball isn’t in your hand. Baseball players and tennis players don’t look at their target. They look at the ball.

[Chowdah86]

To me long lag putts are more speed and break, short ones you can kind of jam it in there on a straight line, just dont hit it TOO hard. Notice most guys on tour have this approach. They lag it with perfect speed, the ball dies at the hole. But on short putts, they jam that s*** in there. The ball runs into its hole like a mouse. Hitting it a little harder when you are close takes the break out, makes it so many putts are all 'line'.

 

Two technical tips that have helped me:

 

1)Take it back less (like 3"-4" is all you really need inside 4'). Sometimes when the putter goes way back, it tends to wonder and the path through the ball gets skewed.

 

2) This has two parts:

a) Your grip might suck. Try a conventional putting grip (google it). Left index and middle down over right side fingers, thumbs on top, hands feel locked as one.

b) with this new grip, you will find you cant 'wag' the putter head as much, there's less free swing in it.. In order to move it back and through you will have to rock your shoulders. This is how you make short putts simpler, by rocking your shoulders.

 

 

Bonus: This goes for putts of all lengths: Dont move. I quietly watch so many guys chase the ball away with their head. Thier bodies slide like 3", moving through the impact. They get so frustrated with their lack of consistency, and yet it looks so obvious to anyone watching. Its very important that you Stay very still and quiet in your follow through. You might even go so far as not even turning your head, watch the spot where the ball was and listen for the drop. ("putt to the picture" per tiger woods). Or watch the hole from the start as others have said, Like Spieth does. Just dont friggin slide all over the place.

[ferrispgm]

definitely check alignment but also monitor hip movement. Either or both can spell disaster on short putts.

[sethdavidsdad]

Use a chalk line on the green. Practice 6 foot putts instead of shorter ones.

 

"Anyone can make a crappy stroke and make a 3 footer, but it's hard to make a crappy stroke and make a 6 footer" - me

[Shrinkwr4p]

I continue to have problems with missing 2-5 foots. It is really costing me and it really taking the fun out of the game for me. It is causing me to 3 putts 4-5 times around. I need some idea about how to increase my confidence with short putts. Shot 77 today and missed 4 3 footers. Suggestions or ideas about how to deal with this are appreciated.

 

Give this 5 minutes of your time, if you haven't seen it before. It's changed my game!

 

[HackerD]

I revert to a SBST stroke on short putts. Putter head travels such a short distance so just trying to keep it square the whole way. Short backswing, and a bit of a pop stroke too.

[NEhomer]

I miss short putts when I fail to turn my shoulders. It's all arms swinging and it can cause a push or pull. Make a conscious effort to turn your shoulders slightly but properly.