Putting: Former DP World Tour winner's top tips for better distance control

Former world top-50 professional Nick Dougherty offers us some great tips on how to take the stress out of putting, and this week’s advice is on how to improve your distance control.

A three-time winner on the DP World Tour, Dougherty is now widely known for his role as lead presenter for Sky Sports Golf, while his Tee Time Tips show is hugely popular with club golfers looking to improve their games.

Last month, Dougherty told GolfMagic about a number of ways for beginners to feel comfortable on the greens, and now he shares his thoughts on how best to gain distance control.

Putt to the fringe

If you've got five minutes before you go on the golf course, you won’t have time to set up a nice drill or two that will help you putt better. But if you are short on time, you can get up to speed using three or four balls on the practice green.

You don’t have to be precise, you're throwing them on the green anywhere from 10 to 40 feet, and the goal is you pick somewhere on the fringe and roll that ball from three or four different distances.

So you take away a hole and you putt to the fringe, and the perfect putt barely rests against the collar of the green. You're just tapping into feel for speed.

One of the things you find most people struggle with when they go away from their home club is that there are different grasses, different greens, different speeds, so this is a good one to do.

It's not going to be perfect, but it's better than if you didn't do it at all. And it’s far better than standing on the first green, guessing how fast it's going to be.

You'll have a pretty good gauge of the speed of the green because you've had different length putts before you head out. It'll only take you a few minutes, but it's a great little cheat sheet for knowing how fast the greens are.

Draw a box, keep it engaging

If you’ve given yourself more time ahead of your round, this is a really good speed drill. It takes a bit of setting up, but it’s super easy.

Put a tee peg down at 20 feet, 40 feet and 60 feet, which is effectively seven yards, 14 yards and 21 yards, and I do that all in a straight line towards a hole.

Now, at the hole, and you can make this as hard or as easy as you want, we want to draw a box. I do from the putter head to where the start of the grip is, but beginners might want to do the full putter length.

You're going to create a rectangle box just beyond the hole with a few tee pegs, so you’re trying to feel what is exactly dead weight to reach the hole.

The challenge is to stop your ball within that box if it doesn’t find the cup. It’s not that hard from 20 feet, but from 40 and 60 feet, it's really hard. It’s a good idea to use two balls from each of the three distances, and you can turn this drill into a little competition.

If you hole any putt, you’re 1-under. If you get it to stop inside the box, you’re level par. But if you miss the box, it's a bogey. So if you're half an inch short of the hole, you're not in the box.

The idea is to reach the box because, if you do, then you’ve given the putt a chance to go in. Your goal is to shoot par or better, which is is a really high level.

So it keeps it engaging, and it’s really good for kids if it’s competitive. It's difficult, but it's really good not just for feeling speed, but for creating that pressure in a practise situation.

Nick Dougherty was speaking to Keith Jackson.

Get more hints and tips from Nick Dougherty by watching Tee Time Tips on Sky Sports Golf.