Improve Your Putting: Five Easy Golf Tips To Sink More Putts

Improving your putting is the best—and the fastest—way to cut strokes off your golf handicap.

It has such a bearing on how you play that if you can only practice one phase of the game, putting is the phase you should work on.

That makes sense when you think about it because you hit more putts per round than any other shot.

If you two-putt every hole you’ll hit 36 putts during the round.

If you shoot 100, that’s 36 percent of your shots.

If you’re serious about improving your game, master putting.

It requires practice to improve putting.

It’s not easy to become a better putter by just playing.

But you can also improve putting without ever visiting the practice green.

Studying putting golf tips, such as those we have in our golf tips newsletter, can make you a better putter if you apply them.

Below are five golf tips that we’ve gleaned from past newsletters that will help you not only improve your putting but also chop strokes off your golf handicap.

Putting Tip #1: Develop A Routine

Better golfers all have routines.

It doesn’t matter what type of a shot it is, they have a routine for it.

When it comes to putting, having a routine is imperative. It’s necessary for making consistent strokes.

That’s why we encourage players in our golf instruction session to develop one.

What kind of routine should you have?

That’s up to you.

It’s your routine.

You can incorporate anything you want into it but make it quick.

The routine should never take more than a minute or two. And make sure you do it before every putt.

Watching students in golf lessons practice putting is instructive.

Many start with long putts, say 45 feet or so.

While these are fun, how practical are they?

You could go a whole round and not have a putt that long.

So while you want to put time in on those long putts, make sure you practice the shorter putts.

Odds are the vast majority of your putts will be from about 15 feet or so in.

So start there and work your way in.

Force yourself to make three in a row before moving to a shorter distance.

Confidence is a big factor in putting.

If you lack confidence when putting, you won’t sink many.

So if you’re putting poorly these days, work on getting your confidence back.

One way to do this is to make a change.

Try a new grip, for example.

You could try a claw grip or a low left-hand grip.

Just make it different.

New grip styles take the focus off your stroke itself—and often that helps.

Also, work on making solid contact on short putts.

That’s something we focus on in golf lessons.

If you don’t hit the ball on the sweet spot, you’ll miss many of those short putts that we all need to make to drive down our golf handicaps.

Putting Tip #4: Relax When Putting

If you’re tense when you hit the putt, you’ll probably be tenser after you’ve putt.

You can’t be tense and be a good putter.

If your arms and hands are too tense, you’re more likely to make a quick, jabbing strike through the ball, rather than a nice flowing stroke.

To release tension, take a few practice strokes.

Focus on feeling the weight of the club-head.

Try to lag it behind the ball on the forward stroke.

This promotes better speed and direction control. It also helps feel.

Putting Tip #5: Use Alignment Aids

Every putter has some sort of alignment aid.

It could be something as simple as a line on the putter.

Don’t be afraid to use them.

Confirming your aim helps you focus on other equally important things, like speed and making solid contact.

Align the alignment aid with a mark on the ball from behind the ball.

Make sure it’s aiming at either the hole or where you want to start you’re putt.

Using alignment aids increases your chances of hol-ing more putts.

These five golf tips will help you sink more putts.

That in turn will impact your scores and golf handicap.

But you do have to put some time in on the practice green.

So try to set aside some time each week to practice your putting and incorporate these golf tips in each of your practice session.

Also, practice the putts you’re most likely to see during a round. Regular practice will pay off.