Long Distance Putting

[avidgolfer]

What is the longest distance you feel comfortable in getting the ball to the 3 foot circle every instructors been harping on? Personally, I think I'm at about 30~40 feet. A key point of my game I am trying to improve this season.

Also any suggestions for drills to improve long distance putting?

[dekker]

Yes, hit it closer.Had to say this 'cause you'll hear it a lot.

Always take the time to look at the line from behind the hole and from the side. Most lags deviate from the line because the slope or grade is misread more often than the speed of the green.

[corchard]

Pelz has a good practice for lag putts. Put a tee in the putting surface right at the fringe for aim purpose only. Walk to a suitable distance away. Go throught your regular Game putting routine and putt to the tee. Immediately after impact without looking say to yourself short, long or just right. Look up and see if your guess is correct. You'll get good at judging whether you have the right distance very quickly. Doing this for 20 min will improve your lag putting right away. It is a good warm up routine before the round to get a feel for green speeds.

I also incorporate it into my putting routine with my practice strokes. I take a couple of practice strokes and after each one think to myself short, long or just right. When I have a couple of practice strokes that are "just right" I go up and hit the putt.

[Shadow]

What is the longest distance you feel comfortable in getting the ball to the 3 foot circle every instructors been harping on? Personally, I think I'm at about 30~40 feet. A key point of my game I am trying to improve this season.
Also any suggestions for drills to improve long distance putting? I don't mean to sound like a smarta$$, but the circle that I am trying to get the into is 4 1/4" in diameter, not 3' to 4'. Whenever I try to get one close I invariably end farther away than 3' to 4'. The key to successful long putting is to practice long putts of hugely varying distances. The more you try the more you adjust your effert to get the ball to do the distance and this distance judging will become part of your subconscious, so that when you play you just stroke the putt and you should get the desired income with NO conscious thought.

Contrary to Pelz' suggestions I never use a practice stroke to try to get the "FEEL" of the distance because "feel" does not exist. "Feel" is your SUBCONSCIOUS abilty to judge distance. It is not something you feel. Most golfers practice strokes are very different from the real one when a ball is present, whether it be a putting stroke or a full swing and so they are unnecessary. However, if working on the mechanics of the stroke, or to just loosen up the hands/arms in preparation for a putt, by all means take a few practice strokes, but they won't help you get the "feel" of the real stroke, inspite of what you feel.:)

[corchard]

by all means take a few practice strokes, but they won't help you get the "feel" of the real stroke, inspite of what you feel.:)

Feel is probably the wrong word. Let's use imagination then. My practice putting stroke is as much a copy of my actual stroke as I can make it. If it's not then why practice. When I take a practice stroke I immediately imagine the path the ball makes and determine whether the stroke was too strong too light or just right. I keep taking that practice stroke based on my imaginary path until I can imagine the path of the ball passing over the center of the cup to a spot 18 inches behind the cup. Then I step forward 5 inches and repeat the stroke sending the ball on it's way.

With this as your routine you can then work on the practice green with actual targets making your imagination and reality match.

Is that a better?

[JEBS]

I have started walking back from the hole to my ball counting my paces helps me be a better judge of distance. Sometimes I am behind a putt that is 50' when my brain is telling me it is only 35'.

I too am trying to get my short game back in order ... I was sooo much better when I was younger...sigh..

[avidgolfer]

Thanks for your comments. Please keep them coming. There was a day when long putts were just stopping near the hole (and sometimes in the hole). I couldn't describe why they did and I can't describe why they aren't anymore but... I am trying to recreate that... touch/feel? (don't know if it's the right word) so I can roll them close again. There must be things I did back then that I'm no longer doing now.

[Shadow]

Feel is probably the wrong word. Let's use imagination then. My practice putting stroke is as much a copy of my actual stroke as I can make it. If it's not then why practice. When I take a practice stroke I immediately imagine the path the ball makes and determine whether the stroke was too strong too light or just right. I keep taking that practice stroke based on my imaginary path until I can imagine the path of the ball passing over the center of the cup to a spot 18 inches behind the cup. Then I step forward 5 inches and repeat the stroke sending the ball on it's way.

With this as your routine you can then work on the practice green with actual targets making your imagination and reality match.

Is that a better? I understand what you are saying and what you said before and if you feel that this is ideal and works for you, then do not change. However, I would wager that if we video taped your routine and the actual stroke, there would be an observable difference. Likewise, if we could measure the force you put into the practice stroke to get it 18" past the hole, and then measure the actual stroke to get it the same distance, the measurements would be different.

In part, the reason is FEAR. When making a practice stroke there is no emotional element and the stroke is smooth and accurate. When making a real stroke, where there is fear, and we all have fear to some extent, the stroke changes. After missing a 4' putt for a par and then placing the ball back in the same spot and reputting, most golfers "NEVER" miss, because the fear element is gone.

The key to success is to develop a sound, mechanically correct stroke, a huge amount of practice on the practice putting green to teach your subconscious how to judge distance, and then to putt on the course thinking about something other than the stroke, the target or the results.
Can you carry on a conversation about the Sens winning the Stanley Cup
and at the same time putt a 40 footer close to the hole? When you can, you will have it. Why is it that a young, 2 handicapper I play with takes 5 beautifully smooth, Loren Roberts like practice strokes, and then when he strokes the putt he hits it like Tom Watson? IMO, on course practice strokes are a waste of everyone's time. Just aim and fire for better putting.

[luv2kruz]

One thing that helped my long (and mid distance) putting is a thing I call "calibration". On the practice green before a round. I will pace off a 20 foot, 40 foot and 60 foot put. When I draw the putter head back, I take note where in relationship to my back foot it was to make it go the correct distance (on that particular putting surface). For example, just inside my left foot (I'm a lefty) would be 20 feet, on my left foot would be the 40 footer and slightly beyond my left foot would be the 60 footer. Obviously tempo has to be the same for each stroke and your stance has to be the same as well.

When I get on the course, I pace off the distance to the hole for the long putts and remember where I need to draw the putter head back to and let it go.


Worked for me.

[landlord]

I don't understand trying to get it within 3' of the hole. That's way too vague IMO. Why not try to sink it? The smaller the target, the better.

Under ~20' I give it a good run (try to weight it so a miss ends up no more than 2' past the hole); more than ~20' I try to die it in the hole.

Nothing else makes sense to me.

[Ben Hogans]

The following has worked for me quite well.

I work on putts from 5-7 feet from the pin by practicing at home ( my putting green). Within this distance, I feel that I will be able to benefit from the others in my foursome to possible give me a better idea of break/line...if applicable...and, the more comfortable I am with 5-7 footers, the more confident I am to laggin a putt. In solidifying my putts from this distance (5-7), I am now able to lag better as I believe a 3 foot radius is too small...meaning the pressure is off to get it closer.

One drill I start with on the practice greens before rounds is to place balls on the green and putt to the fringe versus putting to a hole. If I putt to just off the fringe it tells me that I'm getting the ball past the hole. Then I take that mindset to putting to a hole. Depending on time, the Phil Drill works for me as well.

Lastly, putting out on 5-7 footers...I pick my point behind the hole, follow thru while not looking up and never 2nd guess myself. Meaning, I'm not thinking "I got to make this long putt to save...."

I guess what I am trying to say is, perhaps work on your putting from a larger radius than 3 feet.

[Big Shooter]

One thing that I've learned about putting is, DO NOT LEAVE IT SHORT!! (unless there's reason)....leaving it on the "pro side" of the hole, should allow you to see which way it breaks for the 'comeback' putt!

and NEVER EVER leave a Birdie/Eagle putt short: "Never Up, Never Know!":cool:

[el guapo]

"Aim small, miss small"
I am always aiming my putts for the hole, not a general area around it. I used to lag all of my longer putts. Using the "general area" mentality, I would consistently wind up 3-4 feet short and quite often left or right of the hole. This would always leave me with a "knee-rattler" putt where I didn't know the break or speed. I can't count the number of lip-out 3-4 footers I had because of that. Now, I only aim for the hole. My speed is much improved. If, as is most often the case, I miss the hole, it typically passes on the high side and rolls slightly past the hole. By watching the putt once it is past the hole, I KNOW and am completely confident of what the 1-3 footer will do on the way back. I now rarely 3-jack any hole (now watch me 3-jack ALL 18 tomorrow).:)