SPEED & DISTANCE CONTROL PUTTING DRILLS

Developing a feel for speed on the greens.

These speed & distance control putting drills will make you a much better putter. Putting is simply using a tool, a putter, to roll a ball on the right line at the right speed. Speed is, in my opinion, the most important part of that definition. I believe I can teach anyone to roll the ball on a straight line. Knowing what that right line is requires the skill of green reading. And as a certified coach for the Tour Read Green Reading System, I can definitely teach you how to get the correct read every time. If you know the line and can roll the ball on the line, then the only variable left is speed!

If your speed is right, then there’s always a chance the ball will find the hole. And with good speed and distance control, you should always be left with a reasonably short second putt when you miss the first. But if your speed is off, you’ll be leaving it short or running it way past the hole. Putts left short never go in the hole and putts way past the hole also end up breaking more and going farther away.

In other words: More bad things can happen if you can’t control your puttting speed; fewer bad things can happen when you improve your distance control.

Here are some putting drills that will help you develop your feel for speed and distance on the putting green:

String Lines Putting Drill 

1. Cut multiple pieces of string, each about three feet long.
2. Lay the string out on a putting green, evenly spaced, each string about three feet apart, on the same basic line.
3. Start about 10 feet behind the first string. Now putt a ball and try to roll it just over the first string. Putt a second ball and try to roll it just over the second string, and so on. When you reach the last string, start working your way back to the first string.
4. Once you become good at stopping balls in-between the string, start varying the distances – put to the first string, then the fifth, then the third, then the last, and so on, varying your distances.
5. I also use a modified version of this drill sometimes to get a feel for the speed of the greens before a round. Here’s a video on that:

This drill takes your mind off the line and target and helps you to focus on speed and feel.

5-Ball Variety Drill 

This drill is similar to the string drill above, except that in this one we are putting at a hole.

1. Drop balls at 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 feet from a hole on the practice green.
2. Start from 10 feet and putt to the hole. Make sure that if you don’t sink the putt, you leave the ball no more than 3 feet from the hole. (Should be easy from 10 feet)
3. Now go back to 50 feet and do the same. Then continue from each distance, but don’t go in order – vary the distances, from 10 to 50 to 30 to 40 to 20 to 40 to 10 to 30 and so on, in random order.

The goal is to leave yourself no more than three feet on your misses. If you get good at this, you can leave lag putts near the hole and greatly reduce 3 putts.

Feel the Distance With Your Eyes Closed

1. Place 3 balls each at distances of 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 feet from your target…yep that’s 15 balls (putt toward a hole, a tee in the ground, the fringe, a dropped head cover, whatever target is available).
2. At each station, putt the first ball using your full routine. But for the second and third balls at each station, go through your routine and set up with your eyes open. Then close your eyes just before making your stroke.

You’ll be amazed at how much this drill will help you develop “feel” on the greens.

2-Putt Max Distance Control Drill 

We want to make every putt we also want to make sure that if we miss we leave ourselves with a short, easy putt. Good lag putting means never 3-putting. This drill forces you to control your speed in order to guarantee a 2-putt.

1. Set up 30 feet from the hole.
2. Putt five balls at a time. Then walk to the cup and knock the balls in.
3. Make 50 consecutive 2-putts. If you 3-putt, start over.
4. I often vary this drill with one ball 25-30 feet from the hole and try to 2-putt or less every hole on the practice green. If you 3-putt you have to start over.

This drill not only teaches lag putting, it also gets you into pressure situations. Imagine making 48 2-putts in a row. Putts 49 and 50 are really going to test your pressure putting skills. I like creating real life pressure in practice.

If you struggle too much with this one, then start from a shorter distance. Try 10 feet and then moving to 20 feet, and finally move out to 30 once 2-putting from 20 is comfortable.

Get those Fringe Benefits

1. Get five balls and drop them 10 feet from the edge of the green.
2. Putt toward the fringe (don’t worry about putting at a hole, just focus on speed and feel). Try to get each ball to roll about one foot onto the fringe without leaving any short and without running any beyond the fringe into the rough.
3. Back up to 20 feet and repeat, and repeat again at 30 and 40 feet.
4. When you really good at this, try to stop the ball exactly on the fringe.

These drills will help you become a master at controlling speed and distance on the greens and that will improve your putting and lower your scores.

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