Two great short putting drills

Golf Monthly Top 25 coach, Peter Dawson, suggests two great short putting drills to really sharpen up your game in that vital 6-8ft range...

(Image credit: Tom Miles)

Golf Monthly Top 25 coach, Peter Dawson, suggests two great short putting drills to really sharpen up your game in that vital 6-8ft range...

Having watched many playing companions over the years, I'm convinced that most golfers would improve their scores tremendously by holing those crucial six- to eight-footers more regularly. Drills are a great way to go about building the confidence needed to stand over the ball and really believe you're going to hole it, and these are two of the best short putting drills I've used over the years.

These two short putting drills will help to really hone your stroke

These two short putting drills will help to really hone your stroke

The first drill involves setting up a number of balls close to the hole about a foot apart. I've got five balls here, but you can have six, eight or however many you want.

You must then hole them all in sequence. As soon as you miss one, it's time to start again! It’s a really great drill for both concentration and confidence, especially if you promise yourself a little treat when you’ve holed them all, like a coffee or maybe even a beer!

Short putting fault fixer

The second drill requires six tee pegs. Two of them are used to form a smaller gate for the ball to go through a couple of feet out from the hole; the other four are for a bigger gate for the putterhead to pass through.

The idea is to putt the ball through the little gate and into the hole without clipping any of the tee pegs with your putter, and obviously missing the two tee pegs in the smaller gate as they will deflect your ball off-line.

The key is to listen for the ball to drop rather than looking up early, as looking up invariably causes you to clip the tee pegs with your putter and miss. This drill really improves your concentration, encourages you to keep your head still with your eyes over the ball, and promotes a real pendulum stroke.

Watch more of our putting tip videos

1 Hole them all Incentivise things by promising yourself a coffee or a nice cold drink once you’ve managed to hole all five, six or however many you’ve laid out in one go.

2 Start again As soon as you miss one, retrieve all the balls and start again! Seeing ball after ball dropping into the hole will do wonders for your confidence.

Miss one and I'm afraid it's time to start again!

Miss one and I'm afraid it's time to start again!

3 No peeking The real key to the double gate drill is to keep your head still and your eyes over the ball rather than anxiously looking up early to see if you’ve holed it.

 

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