The majority of amateurs do not complete an effective and efficient putting practice before a round of golf and this can be a major cause of dropping shots on the opening holes of a round. This failure to practice properly results in the following types of errors:

The amateur putts the ball well short of the hole The amateur putts the ball in a direction they had not intended (i.e. without accuracy) The amateur putts the ball past the hole

The benefit of taking 5 minutes to practice some putting can really provide benefits, especially the first few holes were many a bogie are made. The following putting drills make effective use of your practice time before a round and should help establish in your mindset the correct alignment when putting and a good feel for the green’s speed.

Alignment

Start by doing your normal routine of lining up a putt and address the ball as you normally would. Before taking the putt place a club down at your toes to show the line you are taking. Step away and look down the line of the club on the ground. Is this pointing toward the hole? If not, then perhaps your technique of lining up shots needs to be revised so try picking a different target to aim for (one closer to your ball) and try again with another technique. A simple alignment technique is to stand behind the ball and visualise the trajectory you expect the ball to take on the way to the hole. Then simply pick a target point along the trajectory that you wish to aim for and line up your body to this target.

Distances

With any practice drill for putting distance you want to focus on getting a feel for the greens speed over short, medium and long distances.

Beginning with a long putt, you want to try to make 10 of these long putts and you should focus on making the distance the ball travels accurate (to establish long green speed).

Next try a medium putt length of about three metres, or preferably, a distance which you find yourself playing often. Again, take up to 8 to12 putts and focus on getting near the hole, and importantly not falling short. The emphasis on this practice drill is to be accurate so you wish to see some putts go in the hole.

Finally, do some short putts within 1 to 2 meters of the hole. This is done last so that you get a confidence boost from a high number of putts successfully going in the hole.

These simple drills can benefit all players and save you shots in the early part of the round so always try to put in some practice before a round to establish a confidence in your putting accuracy and distance control.

Discover the perfect golf swing at Tom’s site http://www.perfectgolfswinghq.com which includes a review of the Simple Swing eBook by David Nevogt that has helped thousands of golfers.

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