I’d love to hear ideas on how to make practice putting more useful to scoring well. When I’m on the practice green, the putts roll smoothly and almost always get to the hole or a foot beyond. When on the course, the putter seems to be a different club than the one I used on the practice green. It does all sorts of things never done in practice. I even hit behind the ball once in a while. The feeling that I need to get this one close, or that i “ought” to make this one, or that “I’ve got to make this to avoid a double” seems to disable my putting stroke. The stroke becomes a slap or a push in the effort to control the ball. That feels nothing whatever like the feeling on the practice green.
Anyone care to comment on how you make the transition from confident putter during practice to confident putter on the course?
I’m no expert but a few ideas that may work
- gamble on the putting green with friends (enough to make you focus)
- don’t just hit putts on the putting green. go through your full routine on each putt. it’s more than just the stroke
- go out and practice on the course and play games - play every hole from 100 yds
- read the putting stats on the tour - you “shouldn’t” make everything. tour average is 50% from 8 feet. keep that in mind at all times (also 8 feet is a lot closer than you think it is - step it off).
The simplest answer: create pressure in your practice.
I’m a big, big fan of the PuttOut training aid. But whatever you use, instead of just rolling putts to the hole, have some kind of scoring system and some kind of target score that you have to make. Simulating the sense of pressure is key to meaningful putting practice.
Take a breath and make the stroke that you always do. I know it is easier said than done, but here is something outside of the box. Go to a local mini golf place and play a round. Take some people that don’t usually play golf or know the mechanics of it and watch them. They will have a great time, laugh, smile and while you may be the golfer of the group and putt much better than them, you can learn from them! Kids are perfect for this, as well as your wife or GF. You can take the pressure off of yourself if you just remember that you are having fun on the course. Putting is much less about mechanics and ability as it is in your head. Scuffing a putt under pressure isn’t in your putting stroke its because you want to make that putt too much. Play some putt putt and see if it helps with some of your woes!
100%. Make practice harder and more focused. It’s easy to go out and find that uphill ten footer that’s just inside the right edge and hammer that puppy over and over. There IS a use for that if you’re simply struggling with getting the ball rolling on intended line, but to really create a stroke that translates and holds up to pressure - make it hard.
I second PuttOut. Such a seemingly simple tool that has produced massive gains in my confidence.
Give this video a watch if you haven’t already:
https://practical-golf.com/decade-foundations/
Big relevant point for this topic is “Stop Trying to Make Putts”. So for practice, it is all about speed control, not putting the ball in the hole. Get speed somewhat down and you’ll make a bunch more or at the very least avoid those confident killing three putts. For your post, seems like there is a mental side to it as well, so try creating a routine that puts your focus on the action of hitting the correct speed, not the “result” of making the putt. You influence that result, but don’t control it, so have to somewhat let it go.
I like the Decade link above. I joined this year and it has greatly helped my understanding of how to score. I broke 80 for the first time and have been consistently 5-6 strokes better than last year using the practice drills and overall strategy from Decade.
Highly recommend DECADE Foundations!
Already well-said by others, but my $0.02
*Please note I am a recreational hacker and not offended if you cheerfully ignore my comments 
But what works for ME (noting that everyone is different - find what works for YOU)…
First, the Don’ts –
-
Don’t obsess over the “value” of the putt; eg. This is for Par or Make this I make Birdie.
…as soon as you do that you cannot focus on anything else required to make a good putt!
…you also introduce tension = the exact opposite of what you need to make a good putting stroke! -
Don’t obsess over the line.
…you will second guess yourself as you’re standing over the putt and lose confidence and lose focus on the primary variable = speed!!
Do –
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Practice practice practice speed / distance control (they are flip sides of the same coin).
…the first putt is 90% speed control!
…then practice some more, and constantly shift distances, targets, uphill / downhill, etc. … ie. Randomized (not “block”) practice.
… develop a calibration of putting stroke lengths + speeds to varying putt distances - something reliable that you can bring to the course. -
Develop a pre-putt routine.
…make it yours, make it simple and repeatable, make it meaningful to the way you putt. Always do it. -
Walk off distances.
…match your stroke/speed calibration to the given putt distance. -
Find your putt stroke tempo.
…every putt count off to yourself, “one … two …” -
Look at AimPoint.
Hope some of this helps!
Sounds like you may be too outcome-oriented on the course and more process-oriented on the practice green. On the course focus on your routine and your process and your rhythm and making a good stroke that rolls the ball end over end at the proper speed and don’t worry if it goes in or not! Focus on what you can control and see what happens!
Love this advice devonpetersen. Makes me look forward to my next tournament round!
You need to practice ‘scoring’ on the practice green… lag putting a few balls up to the hole is easy compared to Hitting one ball from 9 different locations, holing out and keeping score. If you take 18 shots from 20 feet move back to 30, if you can only manage 21 shots you have a target for next time.
Yes! The classic Around The Clock drill is the best! And best done, imo, on a gentle slope so you get a different break each putt (but not too much). Keep count each go-round and work to improve on it each time.