Putting Drills
Some Helpful Types of Putting Drills
You can practice putting drills almost anywhere. A relatively smooth surface is enough. The skills in this article will help you develop and improve the confidence you feel on the greens. After you are a better putter, you will be more accepting of the challenges of difficult putts, instead of worrying about them.
Putting drills will help you to control your putting swing. You stand close to a wall, and place your putter so that the club's toe is about an inch away from the wall. Place a ball on the floor and take your usual putting swing. When you backswing, does your club move away from the wall, or touch the wall? If you swing correctly, the club will stay the same distance away from the wall through backswing, swing and follow-through.
Circle putting drills can be done at the golf course on a green, or in your home on a carpet. Pick a target on the green or carpet, and place eight golf balls around it. Start with a distance from the target of about a foot, and then add six inches to each subsequent ball. Make a circular path with the balls around the target. Start your practicing with the ball closest to the target, and make your way around the circular path. Then reverse the pattern and start with the farthest one away and work your way closer. This will help you develop a quick eye for distances.
The target practice drill seems to be like a game of darts, but the target is, of course, on the floor. Cut three circles out of paper. The littlest target should be about the size of a hole on the golf course, the second a few times larger and the last a few times larger than the second. Place the smaller circles inside the larger one on the floor, and assign a point value to each ring – the highest point value will be on the smallest hole. See what kind of score you can get taking ten putts. Try the drill a few more times, attempting to increase your score each time.
No follow-through putting drills help you to focus on your accuracy and aim. After you tap the ball, instead of following through, stop your swing. Try a lot of putts this way, and then put your normal follow-through back into play. You should now be able to help guide the face of the club much more accurately.
Another of the numerous putting drills you can try is the eyes closed test. Putt three times at the same target with your eyes open, then three more times with your eyes shut. Did the balls end up in roughly the same spots, or were they far apart? If they're close, you have good balance and a good backswing and follow through. If they're NOT close together, on the second set of three balls, you may be unconsciously taking a backswing that has too much arc, instead of a straight backswing.
All of these putting drills will help you to improve your backswing, your swing and your follow-through. And they will improve your putting confidence, too.