Tag: Putting

Improving putting with around the world drill

Short putts have been hurting me lately on the course. My average amount of putts per hole is above 3 at the moment which is pretty terrible. To improve this, I’ve starting practicing the around the world drill. This is where you use one ball and you make putts from 3 to 4 feet. After you make each putt you keep moving around the hole in a circle, so that you’re making a different putt each time. The aim is to get confident in sinking 3 to 4 foot putts, by getting in as many in a row as you can. Using one ball forces you to keep focus because you can’t just keep hitting putts over and over if you’re missing them.

After some warm ups and getting a few in a row then missing, I managed to string together 22 putts in a row, which I’m pretty proud of. I was in a good grove the whole time and I kept my eyes over the ball, not looking up until I heard the sound of the ball going into the cup.

Once I had practiced the around the world drill for about 30 minutes, I moved on to 20 – 50 feet putts. The goal was to get the ball within a 4 foot circle, so that I would only take 2 putts from any distance. I managed 14 in a row without any restarts. I also tried some medium distance putts and even nailed a couple from about 12 feet! Now the challenge is to keep practicing the around the world drill and to take my confidence in putting to the course, to shave some strokes off my score.

Putting practice at Albert Park

After playing at Melbourne Airport Golf course, I’ve been regularly going to Albert Park golf driving range, which is a good quality practice range with multi level driving range bays and also putting and chipping greens.

At the putting greens I first practiced putting the ball from about 10 – 20 feet, trying to get the ball to within a 3ft circle around the hole. I found that it took about 3-4 shots to dial the distance in (I was hitting them too short) and also learn which way the putt was going to break.

I also found a different technique for putting, which I’ve adopted with alot of success. Basically instead of looking at the ball as you putt, you look at the hole. The idea is that because you are visualing the hole as you putt the ball, you are focusing much less on trying to hit the ball and making adjustments, but rather roll the ball into the hole. This technique has been proven to get the ball closer to the hole from long putts as well.

Putting that technique into practice, my feel for distance started to improve as I felt that I wasn’t guessing anymore how hard to putt the ball. At the end of the session I was able to get a great feel and putt from 30 feet out and get it within 3 feet of the hole and then make those putts. My goal from 30 feet, was being able to 2 putt it 5 times in a a row (which I achieved!)

I’ve also been watching heaps of MeAndMyGolf video’s on youtube. Overall I feel their videos are the best in terms of helping you easily understand a technique and how to execute it. Make sure you check them out, if you’re starting out or looking to improve.

Check out Me And My Golf

Find out more about Albert Park driving range