Lowering your scores and making golf more enjoyable often boils down to one thing: avoiding those frustrating three-putts. The key to achieving this is getting that first putt as close to the hole as possible, ensuring that even if it doesn't drop, you're left with a simple tap-in for the second putt. Sounds good, right? Let's dive into five essential putting tips that will undoubtedly help you see a remarkable improvement in your putting stats. 1. Master Your Technique – Posture and Path In the world of golf, it all begins with solid technique. Your posture plays a critical role in achieving a natural putting path. Maintain a posture where you bow from your hips, allowing your hands to hang naturally from your shoulders. This setup creates an ideal path under your shoulders for your arms to swing freely. Ensuring that your shoulders and forearms are relatively parallel to the target line, thanks to proper ball position, will help you deliver a putter face that's perfectly aligned at impact. 2. Keep It Simple – Fewer Moving Parts To maintain control over both distance and direction, it's crucial to minimise excessive movement during your putting stroke. Keep your lower body and head relatively still throughout the entire stroke. Excessive lower body movement can make it challenging to control your putt's distance and direction. 3. Stroke Size Matters – Control Distance Controlling distance primarily hinges on the size of your putting stroke. As your stroke size changes, so does the speed at which the putter contacts the ball, resulting in more or less power and distance. Once you equate distance with stroke size, maintaining consistent grip pressure and stroke size becomes much easier. Remember, it's not about how hard you hit it – it's about making your stroke the right size; larger for longer putts and smaller for shorter ones. 4. Calibrate Your Putting Stroke Controlling distance is an acquired skill that seasoned golfers develop through practice and experience. However, if you're a newer golfer, fear not! You can calibrate your putting stroke to control distance, using a system as basic or elaborate as you prefer. For instance, you could use your own steps as a calibration tool – taking one inch of backstroke for each step. Adjust this calibration for uphill, downhill, slower greens, or faster greens. It's not a perfect system, but it can make a world of difference in helping new golfers understand distance control. 5. Become a Green Reading Expert Understanding how changing terrain affects the path of your golf ball takes time and practice. One effective approach is to "look at the area." Compare the area 5 feet right of your intended line to 5 feet left. This comparison often makes the green's tilt much more apparent. For long putts, consider breaking them into sections and reading the area for each part. If you want to take advantage of technology, consider using the Green Books by Golflogix, which many pros rely on. These maps can be a game-changer when it comes to reading greens accurately.
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