Become A Lights Out Putter With A Practice Routine

By Jack Moorehouse

If you've played golf for a while, you know that the fastest way to chop strokes off your golf handicap is to improve your putting. Doing that is hard. You can't just take golf lessons or read golf tips. You must also hit the practice green. But if you're like most golfers, time is at a premium. To squeeze the most out of your practices, use a routine. It budgets your practice time so you can maximize effectiveness and create better habits efficiently.

Below is a sample of a practice routine. It's simple to follow and takes only an hour to complete. If nothing else, it gives you focus and direction. Make yours similar.

Green Reading (5 minutes)
Before you can align yourself correctly, you have to know where to aim. Unfortunately, few golfers practice green reading. Spend time surveying the general terrain around the practice green. Look for high and low areas. Sense the basic slope of the surrounding areas. In choosing your line determine speed first, then the line. When in doubt, choose minimum speed with minimum break.

Putting Mechanics (25 minutes)
Good putting, as stressed in golf lesson and golf tips, means striking the ball consistently in the right direction and with proper pace. It's the essence of putting and the biggest part of your hour. Key areas include:

Set-up and Alignment
Use the logo of your ball to line up your putter as well as the lines on your putter, if it has them.

Stroke Length
Good putters vary the stroke length for different distances, not swing speed.

Body Stability
Keep your head down until well after the ball is struck. Don't look up from your putt until it drops into the hole.

Arm Swing
Place a tee in the end of your grip. With good motion, the golf tee, your arms, and the putter head will move together toward the target.

Rhythm

Use a metronome. Set it between 54 and 64 beats-per-minute. Time your stroke to this tempo. Also, try making some strokes so the end of the backstroke occurs on one click and the end of the forward stroke on the next.

Touch and Feel (20 Minutes)
Most golfers focus exclusively on mechanics. Good putters also must work on getting a feel for the energy needed to achieve correct distance. It's called touch. Try these or similar drills to improve your touch:

Eyes Have It Drill
Hit three putts of 50 feet or longer. Odds are you'll be short. Try the same length putt but while looking at the hole. You'll probably hit them past the hole. Adjust your stroke. This drill leads to a good pre-stroke routine.

Safety Zone Drill
Create a circle around the hole with a radius of your putter. Hit balls from various spots on the green. Practice until you can get 10 balls in a row either in the hole or within the circle.

Close to the Hole
Play a putting game with a partner. Award five points for sinking a putt, two for lagging inside the safety zone, and one for the putt closest to the hole. Deduct a point for missing the safety zone. Set an agreed upon point total.

Confidence (10 minutes)
Confidence is essential to great putting. Finish your hour by making as many short putts in a row as possible from different spots on the green.

Practice is essential to becoming a lights out putter. But if you're like most golfers, finding practice time is hard. Create opportunities to practice. And when you do, use a routine. It maximizes time on the green. Also, read golf tips and attend golf instruction sessions. Improving your putting is the fastest way to lower your golf handicap.

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book "How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros." He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction.