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Putts account for about half of the total strokes in a round of golf, so statistically it makes sense to focus on the flatstick if you want to drop your scores and have a big breakthrough this season.
Luckily, there are only a few things you need to know to improve your stroke, boost your feel and eliminate three-putts. Check out the guide below to level-up your putting and tap into your true potential.
Check your setup
When you hit the practice green, one of the best things you can do is to check your setup. It allows you to build a good foundation that increases your chances of making a consistent stroke every time.
And, in a video with Titleist, Brad Faxon, eight-time PGA Tour winner and putting coach to Rory McIlroy, shared that it’s one of the keys he concentrates on with his students.
So what does a good address position look like?
According to Faxon, every great putter has a four things in common:
1. Proper stance and body alignment
Faxon breaks down body alignment, which you can check in a full-length mirror, into two sections: lower body and upper body.
For proper lower body alignment, Faxon looks for ankles, knees and hips to be about the same width apart and in line with each other. He explains that a narrow stance can help encourage this setup.
For good upper body alignment, he says he likes when a player’s nose, shirt buttons and belt buckle are in line.
2. Weight and ball position slightly forward
“Most of the best putters in the world have slightly more weight on their left side or their lead side,” Faxon says.
He says to imagine that your weight is divided 55-45, which is not a huge difference, but just enough to get you moving the putter level through impact.
“You want to have a little bit more weight and pressure tilted towards that left side,” Faxon says, “If you get too far forward, you might hit down. If you get too far back, you might hit up.”
As for ball position, Faxon says to play the ball slightly inside the lead heel.
3. Getting forearms square to the target line
One setup key Faxon mentions is getting your body square to the target. You can practice setting up square by placing an alignment rod parallel to the target line. This will allow you to check that your knees, thighs, hips and shoulders are square.
Don’t stress if you aren’t perfectly square. Faxon says to get as close as you can, but that there’s one area you should focus on most.
“It’d be nice if your knees, thighs, your hips and your shoulders are square,” Faxon says, “But what I really like to see the most is the forearms square to the target.”
“For me, that gives the chance for the putter to be the most repetitive,” Faxon says.
4. Correct distance from the ball and eye position
The final thing Faxon says all great putters do is stand the correct distance from the ball and have the proper eye position — which you can use a putting mirror to calibrate.
To check your distance and eye position, Faxon says to place a putting mirror down, square to your target line. Now, place a ball on the mirror and set up to it.
Faxon explains that your eye position should never drift outside the ball. Ideally, your eyes will fall just inside the ball and parallel to the target line, or, on top of the ball and even with the target line. Play around with different eye positions to see what feels best for you.
Adopt the 60-40 technique
A huge misconception that golfers have about putting is that they need to accelerate through their stroke. This thought often stems from the fear of decelerating on a putt and usually leads to the player making a short-to-long stroke.
But, research (below) from Joe Hallet and Joe Plecker, two GOLF Top 100 Teachers, proves that accelerating through the stroke, or the short-to-long method, is actually working against you.
You can watch Hallet and Plecker give an in-depth explanation of their findings here, but their research revealed that the short-to-long stroke actually led to shaky acceleration, which reduced speed and putter face control — and even caused players to develop the yips.
Instead, Hallet and Plecker say that the 60-40 technique, or a longer backstroke and shorter through stroke, is the way to go. Their research showed that when players switched to the long-to-short stroke, they had less shaky acceleration, minimizing face rotation through impact and increasing speed control.
To try it out, place two tees into the ground to mark the length of your stroke. One should represent the length of your backstroke, which should be two-thirds the length of your through stroke. For example, if your backstroke is six inches, your through stroke should be about three inches. It might be helpful to mark your ball position to figure out the distances for each.
Now, place a ball down just parallel to the hitting station you’ve set up. Take the putter back, stopping your backstroke at the corresponding tee. From here, let your putter “fall” into the ball, and stop your through stroke at the forward tee.
Hitting a few putts using this method, you should start to notice that your putts come to rest a few inches from each other. And, over time you should make more consistent, center-face strikes that lead to better distance control and improved feel on the greens.
Learn to read greens
A proper setup and a solid stroke will get you pretty far, but if you want to be a really great putter, you have to learn to read greens. And this super easy approach from Carly Schneider can help.
To use Schneider’s method, just ask yourself two questions:
Is it uphill or downhill?
Is it moving left or right?
You can answer these questions by giving your putt a look from the side, from the opposite side of the hole or even with a handy green reading book — just remember to check if they are allowed in any events you may play in.
When you can understand the contours of the greens and how they will impact your putt, you will leave your putts closer to the hole and reduce those pesky three-putts.
Practice, practice, practice
Now, I know I said there were only three keys, but in order to become a great putter you have to put all of these into practice. There are tons of helpful drills that will help you dial in your distance control, nail the short putts and even feel more confident over those tricky sliders.
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