putting drills

recently have found my self three putting 5 or 6 times a round. usually from 10 ft onwards - usually leaving it well short - and i mean SHORT. any ideas on stopping this?

Hit it a bit harder. ;-)

Seriously Liam, Check my twitter feed from earlier on today because I had posted something similar. A few good responses.

Be careful, it could just be that the greens are very wet (and therefore slow) at the moment.

Once the weather gets back to normal then they will speed up again.

Russ

matt, i read something about adjusting the legth of the putter. i tend to grip down on the putter quite a bit - although it is stand 34". do you think coming up the grip abit might help?

i agree russ. we've had a lot of rain lately near me so you might just be right

Liam

For me its practice....and then more practice.

Its something that I havent been doing too much of recently.

Make sure what your doing feels comfortable. Different things will work for different people. Your thinking about coming up the grip, im thinking about going down the grip.......

Liam 2 things. 1. have 5-10 mins practice on the practice green before the 1st tee. 2. if youre still not reaching the hole. Imagine the hole to be 2 ft furthur on than it really is. You will then start reaching.

Dave CAC handed Geordie

Good advice Dave

One other thing Liam. Think about a 'square' around the hole. Use that as your target and hopefully you will get it closer, but to a distance where your second should be more simple.

I agree with Russel, that greens are very wet and thus slower than usual. I have had problems getting the longer putts to really get up to the hole and have some chance of dropping. Am playing in the morning and am determined to give it a go even if I have a bit of work to do coming back. Wish me luck!!

Liam, currently I'm the same, with the added nightmare of it leaking into my around the green chips (fourteen duffed (and I mean duffed, tops, thins, fats) chip shots and three putts last Sat.....tee to green ok) Anyway back to putting. I agree, the conditions lately will lend to a shorter putt but if you're playing different courses then it's double the difficulty: practice putting greens are not always the same as the 18 on the course. Certain greens, for local reasons, may have more grass growth/density than others and this is where feel and confidence comes into it, of which I have zilch at the moment. Best you can do is practice, practice on your technique (go back to the basics ie only moving parts of your body are hands and arms) and persist. If all fails wander aimlessly around the course muttering the mantra 'in time this will pass'.

I find that when my putting becomes inconsistent it is usually because I am hitting the ball rather than letting the putter act as a pendulum and collect the ball on the way through.

I line myself up, glance at the hole, then think about the hole whilst I bring the putter back and let it swing through. Of course I only manage to do that about 10% of the time! The rest I give it a shove and then kick myself for not doing it properly.

I sometimes place a tee peg in the ground about 6in past the hole, concentrate on the tee and you'll be surprised how many balls drop.

I used to use a v-easy putting aid, until I broke it, that helps keep the wrists stiff and makes the putt more solid.

Good advise Robert. As for the wrists: A good drill for line is to plave two balls a 1 cm away from heel and toe of the putter and practice your stroke, helps to keep you on line.