No one's shocked anymore when Tiger Woods drills a 20-foot putt to win a championship. He's one of the best clutch putters in the game. But did you know that when he practices putting Tiger spends more time working on short putts than long putts. That's right. One media sources estimates he spends about 65 percent of the time he spends practicing putting working on short putts.

Most putts are from 5 to 15 feet. These short putts probably make up about 25-30 percent of your total score. You don't need a golf lesson to figure out that if you sink more of these short putts, you'd lower your golf handicap by at least a couple of strokes. Unfortunately, weekend golfers tend to commit too many mistakes when facing short putts. Here are some common mistakes golfers make when putting and some drills on how to eliminate them.

Confidence is the Key
Many golfers flinch when they putt. Or, they rush the putt so much their stroke becomes choppy and uneven. You can become a great putter if your putting stroke is smooth and free flowing. Creating good rhythm in your putting stroke is the best way of eliminating flinching and rushing. No matter what style of putting you use, if you flinch or rush you'll probably miss lot of putts. Unfortunately, most golfers concentrate more on sinking putts than working on developing a smooth stroke.

Next time you're on the practice green, make some smooth pendulum strokes with your eyes closed. As you make your stroke, count out a simple cadence "one-two." "one-two." Once you feel a good flow, have a friend place a ball at his discretion in the path of your putter head. No knowing when the ball is coming helps eliminate the flinching or rushing that can cause you to miss those short putts.

No Putting Ritual
Another common mistake in putting is a lack of putting ritual. If watch Tiger Woods, Fred Funk, or Sergio Garcia putt, you'll notice that they all have a putting ritual. Their rituals are all different. One player walks all around the putt before stepping up to hit it. Another takes his practice strokes behind the ball. But the one thing that's not different is that they use the same ritual every time they make a putt, regardless of the length or difficulty. Develop your own putting ritual. Base it on sound putting techniques and what makes you feel comfortable. And use it every time you have a putt. You'll find that a ritual not only relaxes you and helps build confidence in your putting.

Worry about Outcomes
Weekend players worry too much about the outcome of a short putt. What if I miss the putt? This places a lot of pressure on the golfer. Since the pressure of outcomes is tied directly to the hole, try eliminating it when you practice to relieve the pressure. Next time you're on the practice green, work on drills that improve your putting accuracy without using the hole. For example, place a scorecard over the hole and try to roll the ball over the card, so that the ball ends about two feet past the hole. These drills will improve your accuracy without the added pressure of sinking the putt.

Choking the Putter
A common mistake I see in my golf instruction sessions on putting is players gripping their putters too tightly. Some players grip their putters so tight, their hands almost turn white. A soft and constant grip pressure is vital to maintaining a smooth, free-flowing stroke and creating better "feel" when putting. For players who think they may be choking the putter, try holding an uncooked egg between your right index finger (or left index finger, if your left-handed) and the shaft of your putter. Now drop a few balls and stroke some putts. If your grip is too tight, you'll soon know.

Too Handsy
Another common mistake I see in golf instruction sessions on putting is players using too much of their hands in their putting stroke. Being too handsy eliminates the true feel of a smooth, free-swinging pendulum and cause jerky inconsistent putts. One remedy is to use a belly putter. Simply anchor the putter to a comfortable point on your midsection and swing away. Add a "one-two" count to the stroke to improve rhythm. This approach reduces the amount of movement in the smaller muscles in your hand and keeps the blade on plane.

Eliminating these common mistakes from your putting will not only build rhythm in your putting stroke, they'll also help increase your confidence in your putting. That's big. Ask any professional golfer what the key to great putting is and he or she will probably tell you it's confidence. Great putters are shocked when they miss a short putt. That's how confident they are. To improve your golf handicap, you need to work on things that build confidence and increase accuracy your short putting.

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.

Many swing errors are traceable to your setup. The setup places the component parts of your body in a balanced state with the club before setting it in motion. That's why adopting the correct setup is vital. It's one of the keys to playing good golf. That's why I devote a couple of golf lessons to the setup whenever I work with new students.

One of the key topics in these golf lessons is the correct placement of your hands. Placing your hands correctly on the club is essential to generating power and achieving accuracy. If your hands are incorrectly placed, you'll not only produce a slice or a hook, you'll also short-circuit power and inhibit accuracy. Check your grip periodically to make sure your hands are placed correctly on the club.

Learn To Free Up the Hinge
Placing the left hand (right for right-handers) on the club is critical to a good set-up, as I've mentioned in my golf tips. As the first point of contact between the player and the club, the left hand represents the essential coupling required to hinge the wrists and swing the club freely. However, it's not always easy to tell if you're gripping the cub with your left hand properly. What you think might be the correct left-hand grip may actual conceal several flaws upon closer examination.

Here's how you can tell if you're holding the club correctly in your left hand. If the shaft runs across the palm of your left hand, your ability to hinge your wrists properly will be inhibited—a fault that can cost you distance and accuracy. An easy way to tell if your left hand is incorrectly placed is to examine your golf glove. If you wear a hole quickly through the fleshy pad at the heel of your hand, chances are you're holding the club with the palm of your hand.

Instead of the shaft being in the palm of your hand, it should run diagonally from the base of your little finger through the middle of your index finger. Although primarily a palm grip, you should sense that the club is more in the fingers than the palm. This grip improves the flexibility of your left wrist and encourages the free-hinging motion necessary to create the maximum clubhead speed through impact. Clubhead speed is the key to more distance.

When examining your grip, make sure that the clubface's leading edge and the back of your left forearm are parallel. Also, try to position your thumb so that it points straight down the shaft, slightly right of centre. And keep it "short" on the shaft. A shorter thumb is much more effective than a fully extended thumb, as I've explained sometime ago in my golf tips.

Adding the Right Hand
Having taken the left hand grip, hold the club out in front of you and look down the shaft. You should be able to see two or three knuckles on the back of your left hand. If you can't see them, there's a problem. You should also be aware of an increased sense of feel for the clubhead.

The right and left hands should play equal parts in a good swing. They should work in unison when hitting the ball. The problem is that people who are naturally right handed (or left handed) tend to grip the club too much in the palm of their right hand (left hand) as if the were holding a hammer. In other words, the right hand dominates the left hand. This grip creates a series of problems, which collectively help render the swing powerless.

Maintaining a Neutral Position
To create an effective working union with the left hand, your right hand must be applied to the club in what some people describe as the neutral position. For improved feel, the club should be held primarily in the ringers of the right hand. The shaft should run diagonally from the base of your little finger through the joints of the second and third fingers and on the middle of your index finger. When you close your right hand the left thumb should be totally covered, fitting snugly beneath the fleshy part of the base of your thumb.

When you have a completed grip, check to see that your hands are parallel on the club. Also, there should be a slight gap between the index finger and second finger on your right hand. The index finger should be hooked around the grip in what's known as the "trigger" position, its tip lightly touching the end of your right thumb. The index finger and the thumb are responsible for much of the "feel" in your right hand, which you can appreciate by waggling the club head.

The hands play a critical part in unleashing the power of your swing, regardless of the type of grip you use. Placing them correctly on the club generates distance and increases accuracy. Proper placement of your hand is also one of the keys to a correct setup. And a correct setup will help eliminate many of the swing flaws weekend golfers exhibit. If you're really serious about lowering your golf handicap, make sure your holding the club properly.

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.