Golf Putting Practice Drills – Lower Score

Sure, there are those people who can pick up a new pastime or hobby and are just “naturals” at it. But that doesn’t happen very often. Even the best players in the sport say they play as well as they do and stay at the top of their game because of one reason – They practice. And that doesn’t just mean playing 18 holes every day.

They spend hours every day on each aspect of their game from driving, pitching, chipping and most importantly, putting. Most tournaments are won by players who hardly ever three putt and try to hole every ball with only one putting stroke.

Unless you are already on tour or are hoping to make it onto the PGA or LPGA tour, you probably don’t need or want to spend 8 hours a day practicing. That doesn’t mean that even the weekend or the occasional golfer can’t benefit from practicing.

Your game will benefit tremendously the more that your body and mind get used to following a routine and practicing the same stance, grip, and swing.

There are many great and inexpensive tools that you can incorporate into your practice that will improve your putting. One great exercise is to wrap two rubber bands around your putter’s head so that they are on either side of the center of the clubface or the spot that gives you the best hit.

Take as many practice shots as you can, even if they are on your living room or office floor, to train you to consistently hit the ball on the center of the club. This will help you to avoid bouncing the putt and most of all it will ensure that the ball goes where you are aiming.

Another great practice technique is to do the opposite and look at the cup as you are putting instead of the ball as you would when you are playing a round of golf. This practice exercise can help you to take your focus off of your body positioning and concentrate on the distance and lie instead.

As you become more confident you can increase the distance and practice on more complicated greens with even more intricate lies.

It is very important when practicing your putting techniques to be able to control the distance of your putt. Many golfers will make dozens of putts from 5 feet out and then 7 feet, then 8 feet and so on. They will circle the hole and practice these putts from every angle.

Another drill to practice and one that will help you to get a feel for distance is to put some sort of marker on the ground about 2 or 3 feet away from you and another one about 10 feet away from the first marker.

Practice with about a half a dozen balls. Your goal is to putt the first ball just past the first marker. The next ball should be putted just past the first ball and the third ball should land just beyond the second and so on.

None of the balls should ever go past the second marker. If a ball falls short of the previous ball or goes past the second marker, bring all of the balls back and start over. The more balls you practice with, the harder the drill. This is a great discipline to hone your distance technique, which is one of the most important aspects of your putting game.

If you want to improve your putting performance and unless you have been blessed with an abundance of natural talent you will have to practice. The great thing about practicing is that it is almost guaranteed that the more you practice, the more your putting will improve.