home putting practice and chipping

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Dannyj1984

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I have played a few times this week and my putting is really annoying me. since starting out everything else has come on in leaps and bounds but putting is so bad!! I try and do 15 mins practice on the green before I play to get the speed of the greens etc but always underhit my putts, some times by a good 6 feet!! meaning i regularly 3 putt. I got the ping app that measures your putting stroke etc. after using it at home on the carpet everything is quite consistent but I am wanting to get a practice mat for at home, I know they have the slight incline at the hole to help with firmness. Can anyone recommend one? I did buy one from sports direct that was an absolute waste of time! the pieces of 'grass had been badly stitched and rolled and was impossible to get flat!

Also I have a chipping net and looking for a small piece of astroturf to save the garden :) Does anyone know the best place to get a 1m x 1m piece from? I was wondering maybe if BNQ do samples you can buy of their artificial grass?

Thanks for any help

Danny
 
Hi danny in terms of putting matts there are a few good ones out there. The welling puttmatt is one that I have which I like as there are targets and games to hone distance control and the ball runs pretty true on it.

In terms of small astro matts I bought a dual one from amazon so has artificial rough and fairway again quite good and like you said saves the grass
 
I use a putting machine on the living room carpet and find this helps my putting stroke.

Getting the speed of the greens is not easy, but one thing I do at home is use a post it as a target and try to get the ball to stop on it. On the putting green, try putting to a target a foot or two behind the hole.
 
If you're struggling for distance control, when you warm up just use two balls. With the 1st one, putt looking at the hole, FORGET the stroke. Just get a feel for the distance.

With the 2nd ball, putt as normal. Dont worry too much about holing the distance putts.

Move around your green to vary the distances each time. Dont keep putting at the same hole over and over. 2 balls and move on. 15 minutes of that drill and you should have pace nailed.

To progress that drill, I set up a small box behind a hole rougly 12-18 inches past and 12 inches each side of the hole.

Using 4 balls I putt them all and score them. 5 points in the hole, 3 for anything in the box. 0 for anything long and -3 for anything short. The idea is leaving it short punishes you. Never up never in and all that. But it also focuses you not to smash it past and leave that maximum distance for your 2nd putt.
 
Recently moved home, which sits just off of the 1st hole on Westerwood GC, which off course has a putting green that can be used, only a 2 minute walk from the house, think I can use that without anyone asking questions? I'm not a member at Westerwood and don't plan on being one but the putting green would certainly help during the Winter.
 
PaulyMcK said:
Recently moved home, which sits just off of the 1st hole on Westerwood GC, which off course has a putting green that can be used, only a 2 minute walk from the house, think I can use that without anyone asking questions? I'm not a member at Westerwood and don't plan on being one but the putting green would certainly help during the Winter.
Click to expand...

I think the polite think to do is to ask permission in the pro shop or club office. Maybe they'll just invite you to use it for free or they can offer you some kind of practice membership that allows you to use the putting green and (if they have one) their range and chipping/pitching green. Just using the putting green without any kind of official permission seems wrong to me. It is a private piece of property after all.
 
Dannyj1984 said:
I have played a few times this week and my putting is really annoying me. since starting out everything else has come on in leaps and bounds but putting is so bad!! I try and do 15 mins practice on the green before I play to get the speed of the greens etc but always underhit my putts, some times by a good 6 feet!! meaning i regularly 3 putt. I got the ping app that measures your putting stroke etc. after using it at home on the carpet everything is quite consistent but I am wanting to get a practice mat for at home, I know they have the slight incline at the hole to help with firmness. Can anyone recommend one? I did buy one from sports direct that was an absolute waste of time! the pieces of 'grass had been badly stitched and rolled and was impossible to get flat!

Also I have a chipping net and looking for a small piece of astroturf to save the garden :) Does anyone know the best place to get a 1m x 1m piece from? I was wondering maybe if BNQ do samples you can buy of their artificial grass?

Thanks for any help

Danny
Click to expand...

Sounds as if your backswing is too short.
Do you vary the length of it at all?
 
I can't help.. what I can tell is that if the floor is uneven the ball might jump around a little bit. I use it in my living room which has wooden floors and it works fine. I suspect it will work well on most surfaces - it is a well build and solid mat IYKWIM

Besides, the only way to have something better than this mat is to have a proper artificial putting board / green built to your spec.

But as long as mats are concerned, this is by far the best you can get
 
Go see your local pro.

I find with putting - a lot is about confidence! Try and find a routine that suits you! I like to look at both sides of the hole - line my ball up with the line I want to start the putt. 2-3 practice putts looking at the hole and go! No more than 30 seconds from start to finish! Do this every time and you have a solid foundation. reduce your 3 putts! Key with putting is keep looking down - move your head to soon and it disrupts the whole swing

Try when doing your practice stroke to look at the hole and not your practice swing - your mind will naturally gauge the distance.
I like to try and pull the trigger within few seconds - if I don't feel comfortable I back away.
 
PaulyMcK said:
How does this perform in different areas, for example the Garage floor v the bedroom floor? Would there be a difference in roll or does the matt perform to the same standard?
Click to expand...

I used it on wooden and tiled floors and it made no difference. When you have wonky floor boards for example or your garage floor is slightly tilted, the mat will do nothing to correct that and you will have break, though. Which can be irritating, because all the straight lines printed on the mat just make you want to hit straight putts :smirk: But it is thicker than most other affordable putting mats.

One thing that I did find a bit annoying with this mat is that when you brush it to a slower green speed and then have a few putts on it, you end up with almost a "rail" and the following putts will follow that same line, even if you don't hit them all that well. So to be sure that you are really stroking it well, you have to re-brush the mat after almost every putt.
 
PaulyMcK said:
Recently moved home, which sits just off of the 1st hole on Westerwood GC, which off course has a putting green that can be used, only a 2 minute walk from the house, think I can use that without anyone asking questions? I'm not a member at Westerwood and don't plan on being one but the putting green would certainly help during the Winter.
Click to expand...

If I found someone practising at our club who wasn't a member, I'd politely ask them to leave. And if they didn't, turf them off if they had no intention of becoming a member. Not that i'm mingebag, but why should the members pay and someone else use the facilities for free? Even if it is just the putting green.

The suggestion of a practice membership is a good shout. Can't hurt to ask.
 
I'd guess that if you use the putting green without being a member or having permission it's technically trespassing? I'm about to move house to a new place that's garden overlooks a golf course, I'm planning on staying at my current course but going to enquire about using the green that Is right outside my garden for practice in the evenings.
 
bobmac said:
Sounds as if your backswing is too short.
Do you vary the length of it at all?
Click to expand...

I like to think I do, although I have no video evidence of this 😅😅 I'm currently having lessons on my swing so once they're over I'll move on to putting, my direction is very good, just distance usually way too short then I overcompensate and hit it 6 ft past :( had a tee shot to 10ft on a par 3 and then 3 putts :/ quite infuriating
 
to Dannyj1984!
I promise I can identify with you here! I've been on a long journey and still enroute - shortly heading to the Harold Swash Putting Clinic to get even better! So I'm not a great putter, but I've dropped from 15 to 8 in 15 months and achieved a lot this season, order of merit win etc. I'm not preaching what's best, but if you hear me out I'll share a little bit of what I've learned... if you REALLY want to get good at putting -

(a) Please do definitely get putting lessons from a proper putting coach, you need to know how to get the best posture, arms, shoulders hands feet set-up, club path, strike etc. in order to hit the putt on the line you want at the speed you want. And if you putter isn't setup right that could mean off-centre strikes and you'll struggle to control pace. In the end, your technical skills will either enhance or restrict your ability to control pace. Phil Kenyon is the man behind Harold Swash school and is the reason I'm going there.

(b) you can use a carpet at home (putting matt is great), I have two plastic bottles half filled with ballast, then a string attached between them, this allows me to get my eyes over the ball, and see it starting on line. I use a putting mirror as well as a swing plane and visio path matt.
Use tiny targets to roll the ball to, I use little sticky black dots that I can stick to the carpet at various distances and do fun tests trying to stop balls on them, do the same thing on practice green with tee-pegs, scoring your results and trying to better them.

(c) always pick a spot beyond the hole, or at the back of the hole where the ball should finish if you miss the cup, this relates to your practice and is your "picture" of what speed you want to achieve. Never think back to other putts to decide speed, just let your brain/body respond to what you see.

(d) have a quick simple routine when playing, so you can react to the distance test without second guessing yourself. Use a positive statement such as "roll it to hole it", then go for it and do not get into "outcomes", it always feels great making good putts, but if you get emotional it's hard to control speed/pace. I found I have to read putts from in front, low side and behind (x3 angles), then I take x2 practice strokes from behind the ball (not next to it), step in, take a 2 second look at my target, 2 second look at the spot on the back of the ball I want to strike, whilst saying "roll it to hole it" to myself and then let it go.

(e) do drills with your eyes closed and looking at the hole and not at the ball is a great way to develop pace control. There was a Japanese golf who shot 63 on tour last year holing putts from everywhere whilst looking at the hole only, like Speith does but this chap was holing out from 25+ foot doing it... in a tournament!!!

(f) pull back game - play 9 holes on a putting green, if you miss short you have to pull back x2 putter lengths from where ball finishes and then hole out from there. If you go past, you have to pull back x1 putter length, so if you miss you'll always have a minimum 3ft putt. Keep your scores over 9-holes and try to beat your best, you can do this against friends etc. (log all scores and keep tracking them over the year). I played this against my coach, got spanked badly for coming up short! Helps to reduce 3-putts, I promise! It's a one-ball game that really narrows your focus.

(e) Probably the most important thing... use something like this SKYPRO to measure your tempo. https://ukshop.skygolf.com/p-37-skypro.aspx It took me a while to properly understand it, I achieved perfect tempo by slowing my backswing (in the end). Tempo dictates your innate ability to control speed. But I had to fix my path, and my shaft lean before the stats told me I was getting better.
This device has test modes, where to test yourself against the technical skill with 10 putts.
So if you know what you need to improve this will fast-track your learning like nothing else.

(g) Please read Putting out of your mind by Bob Rotella - brilliant book!

Sorry for the double long message - I promise I know your pain... Last year I was leading a 36 hole medal by 6 shots and I had 5x 3-putts over the back 9, and lost by 1 stroke. This year, I'm pleased to say that I now 3-putt very rarely. I also forgive myself for coming up short because I know I can handle 3-6 foot putts.
Good luck buddy.
 
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