The Short Game
My old golf coaches used to say that you can always tell how good a player is when he gets close to the green. I believe in this whole heartedly and a reason why I spent so much time on the chipping and putting greens.
One good habit to get into is to count your putts for the day. We ALWAYS did this in high school/college practices and it really does help you to put in perspective how much of the game really relies on putting. I finally got to where I would one or two putt about any green I faced. If you are in the category of average player who's putting is holding them back from being good, then maybe these tips will help you out!
1) PUTTING GREEN!!!!....... just in case you missed that....PUTTING GREEN!!!!
This is were you get better at putting. Now I know that on most practice greens you don’t get course like roll/break/speed (not even the same grass on some), but if you really want to improve - start here. Take out about four to five balls and putt. What I got in the habit of doing was to take five or so balls and make a circle around the hole with them. Start at about three radius for them, then when you make all of them, move back about two feet and do it all again. Another take on this would be to set tees down at three, five, seven and nine feet away, then make three balls at each spot. The key is for both of these drills to not move back until all the balls are made. This is very good for distance control.
2) “If you don't give it a chance, it won't go in.” I am sure every player out there has heard that line, and as obvious as it is, many of us leave it short. I was always told that if I missed the putt, that my ball should lie about one to three feet passed the hole. This shows that I definitely hit it hard enough to get there and I had just misjudged the break. Most people bring there club heads back too far, then decelerate on the way through. Work on not bringing it back so far and accelerating through.
3) Read the green. Tiger Woods is EXCELLENT at this. Now I’m not a big Tiger fan (go Phil ), but if there is one thing he does well it is putting. First, crouch behind the ball and look at the green. Are you going with the grain of the grass or against it? Has the green been rolled? Is it a scorcher outside today or has it just rained? Or has the sprinklers just been on? Once you kind of pick out a line, get up and walk beside it. Let your feet FEEL the breaks, let them be your mind on the ground. Walk behind the cup and look at the line. Walk all the way around the cup!! This will help you get a good feel for the green. Take a few practice swing, and sink it.
These are just a few things that I have learned over the years of playing. Like my last article, these are very basic steps to improving your game, but golf is made up of many basic skills put into one single round.
