What you can do to become a better putter and avoid most of those 3-putts.
Some of us wish we could improve our putting to only three putts, but for most golfers who frequent the links, the dreaded 3-putts are keeping their scores higher than they would like.
It has been found that the average serious golfer putts almost 10 more times per round of golf than a professional golfer does. A lot of the reason for this discrepancy is because the amateur golfer is faced with a much longer first putt than the professional golfer is. That means that in order to eliminate 3-putts, before we do anything else, we need to improve our approach shots.
That will require us taking a closer look at our pitch and chip shots and taking the time and energy to practice them as emphatically as we practice our putting. Always consider your “Greens In Regulation” score and make a point to improve on that number every round.
Studies show that amateurs make short putts only about 20% less often than the pros do. It is the putts over 6 feet where weekend duffers begin to widen the gap and make those putts much less often. If you are a high handicapped player (over 30) you are probably 3-putting more than 20% of your holes, where pros only 3-putt a little over 3% of the holes. This is a huge difference that greatly influences your scoring.
Since it is the long putts where we suffer, it only makes sense to either eliminate the need for long putts with a better approach game or spend even more time on the practice green practicing those long and extra-long putts. In order to do so, for the next month or so only practice striking putts that are at least 40 to 60 feet away from the hole. Do this once or twice a week for a total of 30-60 minutes. You will notice that even though you will rarely make one of these putts, your first putt at this distance will become closer and closer.
For really long putts there are swing tricks and tips that you can employ in order to get a better and faster roll out of your ball while having it still remain in line. One of these super powered putting swings is called Pop Piston Stroke. This stroke differs from the normal pendulum swing as it involves “popping” your right elbow in order to give the ball an increased piston start. This will carry the ball much further for those long, uphill putts.
When long putts become a mastered task, you will find that most of your 3-putts have diminished into 2-putts and many of your former 2-putts may now be 1-putts. This means that if you normally 3-putt (or worse) 4-5 holes per round, you can find yourself knocking 5, 6, or even more strokes off of your round’s final score.
When you improve your long putting skills in tandem with an improved approach game, you may be able to keep those dreaded 3-putts to only one or two holes per round with the ultimate goal of eliminating them altogether.
===================================
==> Sign-up for our Free Golf Tips Newsletter… Receive the latest Golf Training Tips… More Info
Post a Comment