PUTTING
DO THIS Green-reading is a very important skill. Tour pros spend hundreds of hours learning systems like Aim Point, playing practice rounds and working with their caddies to get the path to the hole just right. But if you want to improve your putting much more quickly, you should be spending a lot of practice time working on solid con- tact and judging speed. I like to do this by taking the hole out of my practice and focusing on hitting straight putts to a much smaller target like a tee ( right ). The goal is to roll putts that lightly glance off the tee and stop just centimetres from it. This drill is just as valuable for five-footers as it is from 10 or 20 feet. Try to hit putts at a speed where they stop no more than 15 centimetres from the tee. When you can consistently hit putts solid and control distance, then you can put some more time back into green-reading.
green-reading.
NOT THAT If you’re judging practice by the putts you make and/ or ignoring how far your misses stop from the hole, you’re neglecting a crucial part of this skill. Distance control is huge. If your read on a 20-footer is way off but you hit the putt with great speed, your leave will be a lot closer to the hole than if you mishit the ball or your speed is way off. Getting those things wrong is where all of those imminently missable four- and five-foot comebackers are created.
98 GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA
JULYAUGUST 2024
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