How to Putt Out of Your Dreams from Long Range

The approach shot you just hit lands softly on the green just like you planned. You walk up to the green to find your ball just 25 feet from the cup.

With the putter in hand, you roll the ball 10 feet past the cup.  Ah, @#$%^!

Bad putting comes from a lack of proper routine and prioritizing your practice correctly.

Maybe you don't know you should have a routine or you've heard you should but don't know what to do.

Let’s go over developing a routine and how to execute it.

The general approach for developing a routine is only six words.

See it. Feel it. Trust it.

This routine is from the book, 7 days in Utopia. This is a very meaningful and powerful book and its overall approach to the mental game within the pre-shot routine works.

See the shot happen. Feel the swing and the club in your hands. Trust that you can execute the shot (That is a 30,000 foot view of the book).

If you haven't read the book 7 days and Utopia, you need to. It is a must read for every golfer. Put it on your list, go buy it, read it and reread it. It will change the way you look at the game and it's a very fast, entertaining, fun, read.

Here are some more specifics on developing your routine…

On the green, consist of starting out by marking your ball. Place a coin or similar object behind the ball and pick the ball up. Make sure the ball is clean. From there, read the green and see the ball go in.

Walk halfway to the hole between your ball and the hole. Make some practice strokes while you look at your target. Feel the stroke a few times from halfway and then walk back to your ball and make some more practice strokes while looking at your target.

Then, step up to the ball, set up, and stroke it in.  

Here is a specific drill to help with your lag putting…

Practice the ladder drill. The ladder drill consists of three balls.

Place one ball each at 20, 30 and 40 feet. Find putts that are uphill, downhill, breaking to the left and breaking to the right.

Stroke the putt from 30 feet, then 20 feet and then 40 feet. This will help to refine your feel and teach you to lag the ball closely to the cup with greater precision.

Be sure to go through your full routine on each putt. To complete one cycle of the ladder drill, be sure to have 10 minutes (3 putts from 20, 30 and 40 feet each respectively on putts that are uphill, downhill, breaking left and breaking right - that is 12 total putts).

Happy putting :) 

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