Fundamentals of Putting

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• Main Menu
• Overview
• The Mechanics of Putting
• Diagnostics and Observation
• Putter Fitting
• The Grip
• Ball Position
• Setup and Alignment
• Lock and Rock
• Swing Plane
• Rhythm
• Eye Movement
• Pre-Shot Routine
• Pre-Shot Routine Template
• Green Reading
• Wind Effects on the Green
• Practice Drills
• Rhythm Drills
• Distance Control Drills
• Eye Movement Drills
• Speed Control Drills
• Pressure Putting Drills
• Before You Play
• Linking the FOP with the Mechanics
• ASSESSMENT

Practice Drills

About Practice Drills

When teaching your students, there are many practice drills that will help them improve.

However, before we give you specific drills to show your students, we’d like to tell you how to make any drill more effective.

1. Practice drills should be as specific to the task as possible. For example, if your student wants to improve on long putts, he should work on long putts and distance control rather than 2-footers. This seems obvious, but it bears emphasis.

2. When practicing, the environment should be as close to the real thing as possible. Putting on a green is ideal, but if indoor practice is only possible in the winter months, then that is better than no practice at all, provided that the practice surface is smooth and the green speed approximates that of a regular green.

3. Variation in practice is important. In general it assists with retention of the skill. But it also helps the student transfer the newly acquired skills more easily to the real situation. Get the experience of making flat putts, as well as sidehill, downhill and different length putts. It all helps when your student takes it to the course.

4. Make practice fun. With variation you keep the student engaged, rather than feeling bored.

5. It’s important to set goals for practice. Incorporate your students’ practice into their overall goals so that they are specific, measureable, attainable and time related.

Bob Christina and Eric Alpenfels of the Pinehurst Golf Academy conducted a study that was published in the September 2007 issue of Golf Magazine that clearly demonstrated that the effectiveness of drills depends on how they are practiced. Of the practice methods tested, they found that following structure for the student was most effective:

1. Perform a practice stroke without a ball in accordance with a drill or using a training aid. With this practice stroke the golfer is trying to understand the purpose of the drill and/or training aid.

2. Perform the stroke practiced in No. 1 using the drill or training aid, but this time add a ball.

3. Perform the stroke practiced in No. 1 and No. 2 without the drill or training aid, but keep the ball. The golfer is trying to transfer what was done in No. 1 and No. 2 to the stroke independent of the guidance provided by the drill or training aid.

Try this out with your students and see if the drills you prescribe are more effective.