Putting practice advice needed

[TPO77]

After posting about breaking 100 for the first time earlier in the week I had my first outing since today at a 9 hole course. Drove it well, iron play is getting more consistent and wedges are improving the more I get a feel for them. My putting however was that of someone that had never held a club in their life. Direction is fine but distance was terrible 75% of putts I decelerated into and massively under hit them and the rest when I did consciously make sure I hit them I raced them by. Short putts were the worst. The sheer lack of confidence standing over a six inch putt with no break is mind boggling.

Obviously I'm able to practice every other aspect of the game at the driving range but as I'm not a member of a club the only putting practice I have is on the course. I have a putting matt for in the house which I use along with a V-easy which has made my alignment near perfect every time but I'm struggling greatly with distance control. The mat is uphill so I can put a fair amount into it with no risk of it flying by (and if it does I don't have the follow up to worry about). As I say I have no access to a practice green, no garden and no carpets in my house that I can even use. Has anyone got anything else I can try to make sure that I get a feel of distance control with such limited facilities.. Confidence is a big part of it but the only way that will improve is if I make a couple of these par/birdie opportunities that I'm now creating.

 

[Simbo]

No offence mate , but if you want to learn to swim you have to get in the water. The only thing that will give you good distance control is practice!!!!, on a real green, carpets/ laminate/back gardens etc one of the perks of being a club member I suppose.

Only other thing I can suggest is going out to play when the course is very quiet, and have a wee practice then.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Surely there must be a range, municipal or your own club that has a practice green. Get out, work on it and if you are still struggling get a lesson

 

[bobmac]

Do your hips move while you putt?

 

[louise_a]

Your bag looks nearly the same as mine, I started with all WS DXi clubs and that putter too, I couldnt cope with it at all, my putting was awful, I got an Odyssey putter instead and my putting is now a lot better. I am not saying the putter is entirely to blame but I could get no feel off my 8881.

And yes practice is the best thing as stated above

 

[grizzler]

i used to practice on the carpet on the upstairs landing all the time lol, it helped me to get a good stroke. putting was shocking yesterday think i'll have to practice a bit more this week

 

[TPO77]

Blimey, lot's of replies. I'll try to cover everything in this post.

Simbo: No offence taken. I completely agree. Sadly conventional methods aren't readily available to me. The down side of renting a flat + having limited finances to spend on golf I suppose. No control over the flooring in here and no hope of financing joining a club but Grizzler/Homers comments have given me 2 potential practice grounds which renders my post successful :clap:

Homer: It's a municipal that I play at. It does have a fairly small practice/warm up green but it's the warm up area for two 18 hole courses and a 9 hole course and I can't get there outside of peak times easily so there can easily be 8+ people on there at busy times combined with a fair few of the members not liking people hogging it (there have been incident's before). I don't want to rub anyone up the wrong way in case I do hopefully manage to join the club side of the muni. I didn't know driving range's had putting area's. I will have a look into it. Hopefully one up here has a putting area. That is a big help thanks.

Bob: I don't think so. I try to rock my shoulders when putting and keep my hands as quiet as possible.

Louise: I was fitted for the putter so I know that I can hit it well. The problem isn't the feel of the putter it's between the ears of the user I went into the fitting wanting either an odyssey or at least a decent mallet putter (since that's what I had before) and really didn't want a full bag of W/S (no idea why) but the 8881 blade produced the best results on the day so I'm definitely not going to blame the putter. It's most certainly me that needs the work.

Grizzler: I've just moved flat and literally hadn't noticed until you posted that there are carpets in the landing between flats. Not on my level but the level below there is about 16 feet of carpet which could form a useful practice area. :clap: going to go down after tea time and make sure neither of the neighbours down there will mind me putting outside their door. Cheers buddy :cheers:

 

[Ian_S]

One thing I've been working on is watching the putter hit the ball. Get myself lined up, decide how hard I'm going to putt it, and then stick to it. Don't look up until well after the ball is gone - you aren't going to lose a putt after all. That seems to work for me. So long as I make my decision and stick by it, I can learn for the next putt whether my pace needs adjusting or not.

 

[TPO77]

One thing I've been working on is watching the putter hit the ball. Get myself lined up, decide how hard I'm going to putt it, and then stick to it. Don't look up until well after the ball is gone - you aren't going to lose a putt after all. That seems to work for me. So long as I make my decision and stick by it, I can learn for the next putt whether my pace needs adjusting or not.

Quite a good thought for me to have I think. Especially when I'm not putting well and get overly caught up in how I'm hitting it rather than where. Cheers

 

[woody69]

Quite a good thought for me to have I think. Especially when I'm not putting well and get overly caught up in how I'm hitting it rather than where. Cheers

I've really improved my distance with putting by taking a few practice swings whilst looking at the hole and visualising the ball heading towards the cup, similar to how you think when you try and roll a ball a certain distance. I then pick my spot to aim at and focus completely on the ball. I let my mind take care of the distance, hit the ball and keep my head looking at the spot the ball was until it disappears from my peripheral vision.

 

[tsped83]

I'm going to be making a conscious effort to improve my putting in the next couple of weeks too fella, and the practice green is the place to do it for me. Tried on the carpet at home but it's just not the same. I've done a lot of Googling and Youtubing(?) the last couple of days and 'Tigers Gate Drill' looks like a good bet, check it out. Also, the 'Clock' drill. Get on Google/YouTube and check them out.