Distance training

Worked in this subject this weekend.

Put a tee about a yard behind the hole - make sure your putt does not go past the tee if you miss the putt.

This drill is great, I try to get ten in a row between the tee and the hole. You,ll be surprised how many times you get to 8 or 9 before you finally get all 10 in a row.

Leap frog game: hit a ball 10 yards then try to hit a ball another 10 every time through your driver. Make it an even greater challenge to do it in a straight line.

The simple answer is practice. Early in the year I actually spend more time practicing lag putts than short putts. It helps me dial in my distance control better than anything else I've tried.

Spend most of your time thinking about and visualizing the distance more than banging balls. You can put a shaft or club two feet behind the cup. Make it your goal to get a ball to the cup or past to the shaft. No points for made putt, one for past the cup but before the shaft and two points if short of cup. Shoot for the least amount of points.

Chris,

Do a search on the classic drill many of the pros use. It's called the ladder drill and it's very effective (for putting speed control) if you spend the time working with this drill.

DV

On a flat level surface on the green get 3 balls and just putt the width of ur stance with a nice tempo. Then pace out how far them balls on average went. Might be 6 metres. Might be 10. But use this as a guide to know how far to take the putter head back in the backswing. Then when on course playing just pace out ur putt I.e if ur average width of stance putt rolled 10 metres and u have a 14 metre putt, then in you backswing take the putter head just past your backfoot and so on. This usually helps... just make sure your tempo never changes

Below are several drills I used when I won the 2011 World Golf Hall of Fame Putting Championship..

DEVELOPING DISTANCE CONTROL

1. Eddie Merrins Drill. Hit 10 balls each from 20, 40 and 60 feet from the cup. Your goal is to hit the putts so that they stop 1 foot from the cup for every 20 feet of distance.

2. Variation of Safety Zone: Distance Game from 20 feet Place a club 18 inches behind the hole. Practice hitting putts from 20 feet. Here is how you keep score. Take 5 points for making the putt. Deduct 5 points if you are short of the hole. Add 2 points for finishing between the hole and the club behind it. Deduct 2 points if you hit the club behind the hole. Practice until you accumulate 20 points.

To build more feel this game can also be done at 5 feet increments starting at 20 feet. The further distances increase the difficulty, which will build more feel for proper distance into your game.

3. Aaron Baddeley’s “Putting Ladder Drill” Imagine a circle 6 feet in diameter around the hole. Place tees at 10, 20, 30, and 40 feet from the hole. Place three balls at each tee. Start at 10 feet. The goal is to hit all three into the hole OR in the 3 feet behind the hole. If you miss, start over. Continue until you can do this for all distances in a row without missing.

4. 5 Balls-5 Distances Take five balls to the practice green. Put tees in the green 20, 30, 40, and 50 feet from the hole. Your goal is to putt all five balls within three feet of the hole. Mix it up. Start at 40 feet, then move to 30 feet, then 50 feet, then 20 feet. Mixing distances prevents you from just grooving a slightly longer stroke and hones your feel for speed and distance.

But don't change distances until you get all five balls within three feet of the hole. If you miss, start over again at the same distance. Trust me. If you put four in, you'll feel the pressure of putting the fifth close to the hole

5. Practicing from 30 - 60 Feet Pace off a 30 foot putt. Then hit putts from this point until you two putts 50 times in a row. If you three putt you start all over. Start at 20 times in a row and then increase. When you have accomplished this from 30 feet move back to 35 feet, then 40 feet….

6. What does a 30 foot putt feel like—eyes closed What brought this on was I would practice 25-40' putts almost every week, yet that's where my 3 putts would come from. My instructor asked, "Do you know what a 30' putting stroke FEELS like?" I thought I did, but when we walked on the green and paced off a 30' putt had me close my eyes and attempt 4-5 putts. Then I practiced these until I could do it 5 times in a row with eyes closed. Then increase the number of times in a row, and increase distance.

7. Alternate Eyes Open and Eyes Shut From 30 feet putt 10 balls. They must come within a 3 foot circle of the hole.

8. Long and then Eyes Closed Drill Pace off a 30', 40', and 50' putt, and practice those distances until you are able to have 10 putts in a row finish within 1 ½ feet for the 30 footers, 2 feet for the 40 footers, and 2 ½ feet for the 50 footers. Then hit five from each distance with your eyes closed to see if you really have the feel for the distance.

9. Putting Between the Clubs Place two clubs parallel to each other at each side of the hole. Space them about 3-4 feet apart, with the cup midway between their lengths. From 25 feet stroke 5 putts in a row so they stop within the length of the clubs…you can increase the number required and also the distance by 5 foot increments.

These are just a few of over fifty that are in the book, "Make More Puts!"

I'm so surprised no one ever practices putting this way. You play from tee to green, you play yardages, right? You know exactly how far every club in your bag goes. So why do you get on the green, you stop playing yardages ie distance and rely on look, feel? I used to three putt 5-7x/round when I first started out. This drill has eliminated that. On a flat green, measure out 10 foot increments with tees. I found with my normal stance, a backswing to the inside of my back foot goes 10 feet, mid foot 20 feet, outside foot 30 feet...and so on...So I know how far to swing back the putter to putt 100 feet. So when I'm on the green I pace out the distance of all my putts. I take the "feel" out of putting and worry only on line. And I also figured out if you have elevation changes, can adjust accordingly. Roughly 1 foot in elevation change equals 10 feet linear distance. ie say you have a 60 foot putt that is downhill 2 feet, so you play 40 feet of putt! Another thing to keep in mind with lag putting: what is your % of made putts inside 5 feet if you know the break? Above 90%? So imagine if you're putting from 50-70 feet away, you have a 10 foot diameter circle to get within 5 feet (5 feet short/long/left/right) and you see the break from you lag putt. I would love to hear back what, if any improvements everyone has with this drill.

Not enough space to do this in so will make several posts. Practice at least 2 hours every day putting. Pace of the green is the first thing to find out. Putt to the edge of the green from different distances. 10,20,30 40feet and so on. You will train your memory to the feel for distance.

Next, grip pressure and stroke. I practice putting and chipping 2 hrs each every day. Distance control is all about feel. You cannot get feel by strangling the putter grip. Tension is your worst enemy. Just think of smoothness.