I think this is a common refrain regarding golfers. Most of us don’t swing reactionary thus minimizing our athletic ability. It’s fine to have data prior to the shot but once you are ready be an athlete.
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Correct - I think that’s a great drill to use to work on your speed, I guess I’m getting back to the original point of walking off distances on the green from the OP (while playing, although he might not have meant that 
). If you had a 20 footer on different days the length/force of your putting stroke will need to change based on green speed/slope.
I guess my overall philosophy is not to be focusing on distance as a number like we do in the rest of the game. I’ve always seen putting as a separate (and often more difficult) part of golf that engages different skills. Many ways to skin that cat though!
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Honestly, I’m not sure what I’m looking for!
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Cue the U2 song 
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Putting is so weird, variable, and personal that anything you can do that will help you step up to the ball and feel confident is good in my opinion (as long as it doesn’t slow things down to much).
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No. Please no. #bluealbum
One of the articles i read with regards to putting showed the percentages that pros and amateurs miss for different putts. I found it very interesting as far as the pros go. One theme of the article was about the distance that we practice our putts at. I agree that you need to practice some at 20 feet or so, and when out on the course you may 3 putt them. With that in mind it is showing that the important practices for putting should be the shorter putts like 3 feet and then the longer putts aim to get it within that 3 foot or 18 inch range to stop the 3 putts. That is what i have been working on so far and it has actually been working. That way i am not as nervous trying to sink the 20 footers. Just my opinion.
I laughed out loud at this.
I’ve been there. Anything, I’ll try anything to make some more putts!!!
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I have a serious suggestion for you: stop calling yourself a terrible putter! You’ll never get better with that negative self talk. There are some cool meditation apps out there that discuss visualizing and realizing your goals and dreams. It starts with positive envisioning and set talk. Seriously visualize and meditate on the thought that you are a GREAT PUTTER. In fact, you’re the best putter you know. You’re the best you’ve ever seen. You make everything. You roll it perfect speed with perfect rhythm, etc. I swear it helps.
I wanted to start driving the ball straighter. I used to to tell myself I was a wild driver and couldn’t hit the fairway. You can’t get better believing that! I started telling myself I was the straightest driver of the ball ever. That I drive it straight where I’m looking every time. That everyone considers me the guy who never misses the fairway. It seriously helped. Confidence went up, but also I started placing more of a premium on accuracy over distance, learning how to square the face better with a neutral path. I honestly believe this is where you should start. Then figuring out how to control your speed will be way easier and more fun!
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Let’s pretend that I haven’t been playing for years… then should I step it off or get more practice?
I have stopped trying to hit my target 
!
Sometimes when you try less, you actually do more.
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You aren’t wrong, but I likely won’t play a round of golf for at least another four weeks. I can switch on positive thinking then.
I’m going to spend the next four weeks practicing.
I never stepped off putts until my buddy did it in a scramble we played and we were all draining everything. I played around with it on the practice green and it’s become part of my putting routine. It absolutely helps with my pace. I have some depth perception issues (I get a little bit of vertigo from time to time) and stepping off my putts has been huge. I’m not a great lag putter. I’m either 10 feet long or 10 feet short and since I started stepping off my lag putts have improved tremendously.
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Yeah that’s what I did - I’m 5’ 7" so my average pace is something less than a yard (I’m using 2.5 ft).
I’ve only recently starting pacing off putt distances - and I’m finding it helpful at getting better to equating my visual guesstimate to the measured distance - and, of course, using the info to calibrate my stroke length for the desired putt speed.
Agreed, but… Still learning to correlate the visual feel to the actual feet 
Also, re: looking at the hole while putting – I find … during practice … it’s an excellent feel builder!
And as mentioned earlier by others – I’ll look at the hole … or my aim spot … while rehearsing my putting stroke, plus one last pre-shot quick look. One thing I’ll add to that last bit - “trace out” the line from the hole / your spot back to the ball with that last quick look 
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I totally agree with that. My only difference is that I think ultimately putting is about estimation (getting line + pace right) and execution (hitting on the right line and pace).
Estimation
I think incorporating fixed distances are good at setting reference points which can help with estimation. Imagine you were a baseball player and you were handed a metal ball. If you were asked to throw it in a basket, you’d probably first estimate how you would throw it with a baseball and recalibrate for the weight. I’m not the best putter, for sure, but it does help me to say “this is 20ft but a little downhill so I’ll hit slightly less than my normal 20ft putt”. It helps me to get “feel” by having some reference point.
Execution Here, i do think putting to a standard distance is a good test here to make sure your technique is right. I see people all the time measuring out 8’ putts, putting down a line and two tees and practicing them over and over again to get better at putting on line. I think there is something similar with pace. Honestly, I’m not the biggest fan of this 8’ drill as something to spend a lot of time on (I prefer putting around a circle rather than the same putt over and over again) but I think it also is a good indicator if you need to work on technique. If you putt 10 8’ putts and the dispersion is 6" in either direction left and right, you may have a technical problem. I think the same thing could be said for distance. My reasoning is that if i can’t hit the same putt the same distance over and over again, i may not be having estimation errors; i’m having execution errors.
I think by far the most important skill in putting is visualizing the line and speed. You can’t do that by practicing solely on hitting 100’s of balls exactly 20ft or 100’s of balls exactly on line. But I do think it can help isolate why you are missing putts and help you improve by getting better at the art of estimation.
That ends my TED talk that i’m fully unqualified to give.
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Interesting thought. I’ve never been one who can spend hours (or even more than 10-15 minutes) on a putting green. I do miss having access to them during COVID before the round to get a feel for the greens, but I don’t think that’s even really “practicing”
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I think there might be a story!
I can’t swing a club right now, so I may as well practice putting.
What has helped me is I’ve been doing the clock drill, I start at a club length, and twice the club length. I have several golf courses that I can go to to practice on the putting greens. By doing this “my” putting has improved by going to different golf courses and putting on their surfaces give me the different “feels”.
I also work on my distances at home, I measure off different distances, like about 20 feet and my goal is to try and putt 25 in a row, once I do that I will choose another distance.
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