Pro-Tips – Putting Speed
I thought we would talk a little about the importance of speed when it comes to first of all reading greens and hitting good putts. Many of my students ask “How do I read greens?” My normal response is “How fast are the greens?” A putt without the right speed, no matter if it is on the correct line, will most likely not end up in the bottom of the hole. Putts that are hit to soft, have no chance of going in if they don’t make it to the front of the hole and putts killed by the hole will take an act of god to hit the back of the hole, bounce up, and land in the bottom. This is where practice and warming up come into play. When practicing putting, many people just go out and hit 25 footers from one practice hole to the next on the putting green (if they even make it to the putting green before their round). A better way to get the feel of the green speed for that day is start with a bunch of 3’ putts, and then move back and hit a bunch of 6’ putts. Each time trying to roll the ball just past the hole, but keeping it within a foot behind the hole. After the 6’ putts, keep moving back at small increments so that you can keep the feel of the pace of the green. After 10 minutes or so on the putting green, you should have a fairly good idea of the speed of the greens.
Assistant Golf Professional Dan Zeitler
When practicing, the same drill can be used. Place a tee in the ground at each distance and hit putts from each distance. Place a club behind the hole at 12” to 15” so that the balls don’t roll out to far past the hole. You want the balls to either go in the hole, or stop past the hole and short of the club. Another drill I like is to place golf balls in a circle around the hole at different distances. This allows the player to get an idea of putts that break in both directions and are both uphill and downhill. Time spent doing these drills in a practice session can help drop shots quickly on the golf course.
Once you have the speed down, it is much easier to read the greens. Although there is no tried and true way of reading greens and it takes a lot of practice to get good. My advice to players needing help with this is to take everything into account when you are walking up to your putt. More often than not, people don’t pay much attention until they are right over their ball. They try to read it from over the top of the ball and that is very difficult to accomplish with any consistency. Use what your body feels when walking up to the putt, along with what your eyes see from behind the ball. Pick you line and live with it. If you change your line when you are standing over the ball, chances are you are going to miss read it or hit it on the wrong line. See it, feel it, and trust it, then live with it. Adjustments mid stroke lead to bad speed and missed putts.
– Chad J. Maxim, PGA
Head Golf Professional