32 Best Ever Putting Tips

Putting is the game within a game that’s vital to how well you score overall. You use your putter more than any club in every round you play so improving your performance on the greens is one of the fastest ways to shoot lower scores or save rounds when your long game is not at its best. So, it makes sense to explore every possible avenue in the quest to up your game on the greens. Here, we bring together a collection of the very best putting tips. Some are about improving your technique and stroke; some are more about strategy; others are simply about the way in which you grip the putter. It’s a good bet that something here could help shave a shot or two a round off your scores…

New balls please

Try practising short putts with balls of different sizes, textures and weights. It ‘messes around’ with your feel, so that when you come back to the normal ball, it feels different and you can appreciate its feel better. Making the hole smaller is a good way to practise too, as the hole will then look bigger out on the course. Only relatively few clubs have a smaller hole on their putting greens, so why not create the same effect by using a tennis ball?

Practise one-handed

Roll a ball across a putting green and you’ll really feel some slack and a change of direction in the arm and wrist – the same release you should expect from the right hand in your putting stroke. A stroke that’s rigid and fused will give you no feel and very inconsistent results. Try rolling a few balls to get the feel for the right hand releasing, then use a one-handed stroke in practice, taking your left hand off the club and leaving your right hand completely on its own back and through. See how it feels, then re-apply your left hand. You might just have a completely different sensation from that right hand and arm now.

Find the equator

It’s important you get a good strike on the equator of the ball with the right part of the putterface as any errors will affect the way the ball rolls. People often think about how they strike putts in terms of horizontal contact – centre, heel, or toe – but rarely with regard to vertical contact. This drill is great it you tend to strike your putts a little high in the blade. Place a tee in the green just behind the ball so it’s protruding half a centimetre. Rest your putter on top and make a stroke. Miss the tee to improve your strike.

A quick nine holes