Improving Your Putting Skills

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In the game of golf, aside from getting the best equipment like a golf cart cover, clubs, and shoes, it is said that putting is one of the most crucial skills a golfer should have. After all, putting is the shot that directly affects a golfer’s score when in a game. At the same time, putting is supposed to be a saving grace for golfers as it is the only shot that can be possibly executed without flaws. Yet, putting is definitely more than just targeting your ball into a hole in a straight line.

Just like any other skill in a sport like pitching in baseball and 3-point shooting in basketball, all the points for a perfect putt should be present, or else you might get frustrated. A great deal of patience, practice, and repetition are needed to prefect putting. While it is true that most golfers do not really warm to the idea of practice, it is a known fact that in order to increase one’s proficiency in putting, practice is needed. Practice plus the proper technique (actually, constant practice on proper technique) is an essential to polishing your putting.

For putting, you should be able to practice both your long and short putts. There are specific drills you can master to increase your putting skills.  For long putts, a good exercise would be to place a number tees in a semicircle on the back of a hole, within a radius of up to 2 feet. Then, putt five balls, making sure that every putt stays within the semicircle. Increase your putts’ distance as you improve. If you are not able to let you putts stay in the semicircle, repeat the exercise until you make it.

To practice your short putts, you can do what is commonly known as a round-the-clock exercise. You will need 12 balls for this, which you form into a circle around the hole. Arrange the balls so that it will resemble the face of a clock with the hole in the center. Now, putt all twelve balls, one after the other. Missing one ball should make you start from the beginning. As you notice improvement in your practice, you can choose to increase the distance between the balls. This will widen the clock’s face and lengthen the distance between the balls and hole. Also, why not give your golf cart a rest and cover it with a golf cart cover? Walk around to improve your cardio endurance.

Another essential skill that a golfer must have with regard to his or her putting skills is mastering the speed of the course or what is known in the golf jargon as your putt’s “break.” A lot of the putt’s break, aside from wind conditions and the force you put in the putt, relies in the contours of the green. In this respect, you should know how your ball reacts to a contour that is going up, going down, across a slope. That way, you will know how much force you are going to apply to each putt. You should also try out the course’s practice green so that you’ll know the speed of the greens, meaning the speed of the ball when rolling in the greens or grass.