Peter Finch: Pressure Putting Practice

Peter Finch suggests a great pressure putting practice drill in which you stop aiming at the hole itself and aim at something on your line closer to you

pressure putting practice

Peter Finch suggests a great pressure putting practice drill in which you stop aiming at the hole itself and aim at something on your line closer to you

PRESSURE PUTTING PRACTICE Many golfers have trouble over short putts when the pressure is on. They feel comfortable from 20ft, but the pressure builds from close range as they feel they should be holing it from this distance – the psychology of golf!

Forget the hole To take your mind off this added pressure, I would suggest that you stop aiming at the hole itself, and rather aim at something on your line closer to you.

In practice, focus on something closer to you rather than the hole, such as this tee gate

This will help take your mind away from the ultimate goal of holing the putt and give you an intermediate target to roll the ball over. It’s amazing how quickly this can change your mindset.

Watch all 7 videos in Peter's 'Keys to Consistency' series...

The tee gate You can practise this either by picking out something on your line, or actually creating a small gate with tee pegs, as I’ve done here, through which your ball must pass if you’re to hole the putt. Set up to the hole, then have a quick glance at it simply to tell your brain how hard you need to hit it.

Focus on rolling your ball between the tees - if you do that, it will go in!

Now, forget the hole and focus only on getting the ball rolling through the middle of your tee gate. There’s nothing more of it then that. If you can do that, then as long as your pace is okay, your ball will find the bottom of the cup.

 

Jeremy Ellwood
Contributing Editor

Jeremy Ellwood has worked in the golf industry since 1993 and for Golf Monthly since 2002 when he started out as equipment editor. He is now a freelance journalist writing mainly for Golf Monthly. He is an expert on the Rules of Golf having qualified through an R&A course to become a golf referee. He is a senior panelist for Golf Monthly's Top 100 UK & Ireland Course Rankings and has played all of the Top 100 plus 91 of the Next 100, making him well-qualified when it comes to assessing and comparing our premier golf courses. He has now played 1,000 golf courses worldwide in 35 countries, from the humblest of nine-holers in the Scottish Highlands to the very grandest of international golf resorts. He reached the 1,000 mark on his 60th birthday in October 2023 on Vale do Lobo's Ocean course. Put him on a links course anywhere and he will be blissfully content.

Jezz can be contacted via Twitter - @JezzEllwoodGolf


Jeremy is currently playing...

Driver: Ping G425 LST 10.5˚ (draw setting), Mitsubishi Tensei AV Orange 55 S shaft

3 wood: Ping G425 Max 15˚ (set to flat +1), Mitsubishi Tensei AV Orange 65 S shaft

Hybrid: Ping G425 17˚, Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro Orange 80 S shaft

Irons 3-PW: Ping i525, True Temper Dynamic Gold 105 R300 shafts

Wedges: Ping Glide 4.0 50˚ and 54˚, 12˚ bounce, True Temper Dynamic Gold 105 R300 shafts

Putter: Ping Fetch 2021 model, 33in shaft (set flat 2)

Ball: Varies but mostly now TaylorMade Tour Response