We have all heard the term “you miss 100% of the putts you leave short”. If you start putting to aggressively you can begin three-putting more than you would like as well.
So where is the happy medium?
It’s different for every player, a great skilled putter like Nicklaus or Woods can hit putts 3 – 4 feet past the hole if they needed because they are most likely going to make the comeback putt. It’s safe to assume that none of us are as good as those two so picking a distance of 12 – 18 inches is a bit more realistic.
What you’ll start to find when you try to hit your putts just past the hole is that you make more! Those big curling putts now have enough speed to hold their line and find the bottom of the cup.
Next time you’re on the putting green I want you to find a flat putt and then put a tee 12 inches behind the cup. Now putt 5 balls from distances of 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, and 50 feet and keep the ball between the hole and that tee! Tally up your total. Anything above 20 out of a possible 30 points is good. 25 out of 30 possible points is terrific.
This may be the fastest way to to shave strokes off your score, and a great way to warm up and get some feel for the greens before a round.