Three simple drills you can use to build repeatability in your putting

It's a fundamental rule of golf that putting, ostensibly the simplest act on the golf course, is and always will the most utterly confounding.

Putting is among the most important things any golfer of any level can practice. It can also be the most tedious, leading countless players simply to give up on the practice altogether and hope blindly that they don't develop a case of the yips out on the course.

Put investing time in your putting can pay dividends, especially if you're searching for a consistent, repeatable stroke that takes the guesswork out of scoring less on the greens.

We visited Adam Keogh, Head Professional at The National Golf Centre at Woodhall Spa - home of England Golf, to get a few quick drills that anyone can implement to find more consistency with the flat stick.

1. The two-sticks method

"This is a massively underutilised one that I often see working with my clients" says Keogh. "You don't need a lot of equipment to do it, just a couple of alignment sticks or even a pair of clubs. It's just about building that consistency and repeatability."

Perfect for training a consistent action on short putts, the goal of this one is simple: start the ball within the line of the sticks, and ensure it comes out of the passage without hitting either. Obviously, you need to set up on a straight putt for this one to work, but it's excellent for building a robotic method on short putts, minimising those infuriating pushes and pulls that so often creep into our putting when the chips are down.

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2. The putting line

Putting lines can look a little bit funny out on the green, and take a moment to set-up, but have a number of benefits that you may not necessarily know about.

While it may appear on first glance that they provide a simple line for the ball to follow, putting lines are actually much more useful for building repeatability when setting up over your putt. The idea here is as follows:

1. Set the line up on a straight putt pointing directly towards the hole
2. Set the alignment aid of your ball directly under the line at address
3. Use the alignment aid on your putter to create a perfect line-up with the other two
4. Putt as you normally would

Having the line as a visual aid is an immediate way to get feedback on whether you're set up too close, too far away or not optimally positioned over the ball. As such, over time it should become second nature to set up in a way that you know your alignment is right and true.

3. The alignment drill

While the hole is always the final goal, having a visual marker set-up between your ball and the hole is an ideal way to build repeatability and accurate reading on longer putts.

While you can buy specific putting disks for this very purpose (and to act as makeshift holes if you don't have an actual putting green available, a ball marker or two set up a hole's width apart will also do just fine.

There are a couple of ways you can do this, explains Keogh. "I'd try and get the player to then go 'okay well this is where I think the ball, where I need to aim,' and then draw a line in tees along that route, trying not to hit the tees on the way."

"The other way I would try and get a player to do it is try and get the player to place the disc or a marker two thirds of the way down the line, for where they feel that ball would need to roll over to get into the hole."

Adding a backstop like an alignment stick behind your target hole is also a great way to train distance control on breaking putts.