Seve - one of the best putters.
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As we've explained before the putting stroke accounts for nearly half the number of shots you make on the golf course. Just think what a golfer you'd be if you could reduce those by five or six a round.
Here's a few more tips to work on to eradicate those irritating 'three-stabs' and bring your scores and handicap tumbling.
If you have any putting tips you want to share and that work for you, log-on to the Golfmagic forum and spread them around.
Tee-coin drill
Most of us tend to cut across our putts with an out to in swing path. This leads to mishits at impact. Practice by placing a coin between ball and hole and a tee peg 15 inches behind the head of your putter, keeping all three points in a direct line. Strike the tee peg on the way back and follow through over the coin and watch how your putting direction improves.
Fringe benefits
Putting from the fringe and other places off the green, you have the option to leave the pin in or have it taken out. Many pros will tend to take it out, to help them be more positive and avoid any distraction. However, one piece of research tells us that with a robot putting device, 33% more putts were holed from off the green with the pin in than out. When a range of golfers were tested (hitting over 10,000 putts) 18% more were holed.
Pace-setting
From distance, pace is everything in putting. Most of us can roughly read the line from getting the lie of the land, previous experiences or watching how colleagues' putts behave. Pace is individual. Concentrate on achieving a smooth roll with a low back swing and a follow through that pulls the putter head through to a finish about a foot off the ground. Think of pulling the logo on the back of your glove through to the target and not looking up until the ball is well on its way.
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| Andrew Coltart - reading the green.
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Read it your way
If you're a sharp-thinking positive person who likes to get on with it, it's little use telling you to take your time over reading putts. Continue to be instinctive by reading the line behind the ball to the hole, deciding and stepping up and holing it. If you tend to be indecisive, start reading your putt as you approach the green and use the time while your colleagues are putting to take confidence from an alternative angle of sight first. When it's your turn, pick a line a few inches in front of the ball, be positive and roll the ball over it.
Knees are a give-away
Your knees can be the secret to a better putting stroke. Concentrate on keeping your kneecaps still through the stroke. It will help to achieve a smooth arms and shoulders pendulum stroke and avoid any body movement. Remember too to keep the wrists firm, but tension free, through the stroke.
