Putting Drills To Do At Home

 

Let’s face it, life is busy. Sometimes it can be hard to get to the course or the practice facility to get the reps in so you’re limited to what you can do in your yard, garage, or living room. I’ll be honest, there've been a lot of times that I’ve just decided not to practice because I was stuck at home and I wish I’d known what I know now. . . Practicing at home doesn’t have to be boring or lame. Practicing at home can actually be a sneaky way to really up your game while your buddies are just sitting on the couch wishing they were on the course. So, this week I want to share three drills with you that you can do in your living room to help improve your putting and keep you from getting lazy on those busy days when you can’t make it to the course.

Speed control drill

When most people practice putting, they always try to make every putt. There’s nothing wrong with that, to be fair because the whole goal of putting is to make every putt. The problem with only practicing putts to make is that a lot of times what average golfers struggle with most on the greens is speed control. Here’s the reality that we all know all too well; we aren’t going to make a fraction of the putts we stand over. But if you get good at controlling the speed of your putts, you will have so many more tap-ins that you probably won’t recognize yourself out on the course. 

An easy drill to practice in your living room is just to take one of your wedges and lay it perpendicular to the direction you’re putting, but don’t put a “hole” to aim at. All you’re gonna do is hit your putt as close to the shaft of the wedge without hitting it as many times in a row as you can. What this does is get you used to the feel of controlling the distance, not the direction, of your putts. Once you master distance (speed) control, then all you have to do is get the read right and you’ll start making way more putts, I promise. 

If you want to make the drill even harder, put a ball or a marker of some kind about 6-8 inches in front of the wedge shaft and try to get your ball to stop in between the marker and the wedge. Master your speed and you’ll start to master the greens. Try this drill and see if it doesn’t make you more confident standing over putts on the course.

“2-Ball Putting”

This is a fun drill that is really as simple as it sounds. You take two balls, putt one at a target (maybe using the speed control drill above), and then try to hit the first ball with your second ball. This helps you practice a couple of things. First, it makes you focus and putt at a small target. It’s the “aim small, miss small” concept. If you focus and aim at a small target regularly, then when you get to the course and get to aim at a hole that is four times larger than the ball it will seem way easier. The second thing it does is it gets you used to hitting the same putt over and over again, which is great for creating consistency. One of the biggest challenges that the average golfer has is being consistent, especially with the putter. If you practice the 2 ball drill you will get in the habit of hitting the same putt twice in a row, over and over again, and you’ll start to notice that that second putt becomes more natural and automatic. That consistency will definitely translate onto the greens. 

One hand drill

This is the only drill that is more about technique than developing skills. There’s nothing tricky or special about this drill, it just helps you to develop a good stroke with both hands individually so that when you put both hands back on the club you’ve developed a good stroke that you can be confident in. The drill itself is really simple. Just set up like you’re going to hit a normal putt, then take one hand off and put it across your chest on the other shoulder. Then, you just hit the putt like normal, just with one hand. Hit several with one hand, then switch it up and putt with the other hand. It’s such a simple thing, but it will help you develop a good technique for when you take it out to the course and the putts count. 

Being stuck at home doesn’t mean that your golf game has to suffer. You can make the most of your time, and space, at home by doing some simple drills to keep your putter sharp. Then when you do get back out on the course, you’ll have the edge over your buddies who have just been sitting around the house twiddling their thumbs. So whether your life is just busy, or the weather is keeping you inside, make sure you set aside some time to putt around the house so you can make your buddies look silly the next time you get on the course.