First place a ball about 3 feet from a hole and then position the putter head behind the ball as though you were going to hit the putt in the hole.  Before you putt, place a tee on either side of your putter head and set a goal of hitting 20 balls between this ‘gate’.  If you hit the tees then start again.

If you can hit 20 putts consecutively without hitting the tees then you are returning the putter squarely back into the ball.   BUT if you can’t do this you simply need to keep putting until you reach your goal and if a goal of 20 is too hard then make your first goal 5 consecutive putts.

Whatever your first goal is, or subsequent goals for that matter, make sure you leave the practice putting green having achieved it/them.  Never leave the practice putting green without achieving your goal, NEVER!

This is a great putting drill to do anytime and it teaches you to bring the putter head back square at impact, and this is obviously crucial to consistent putting.  So keep practicing and always look to improve, i.e. raise your goals so that you raise your standards and as a result you’ll improve.

One last point.  This is also a great drill to do at home, anytime you have spare because it gives you instant feedback about your stroke and that will make your practice time so much more worthwhile and beneficial.  So get out your putter and do this drill NOW!

If I had to pick just one way to score better I’d say, “improve your putting.” Because it’s a simple formula. If you shot a 100 in your last game of golf and you had 8, 3 putts in that score then it doesn’t take a genius to work out that if you could turn those 3 putts into 2 putts then you’d score 8 shots better.

Ok, we’ve worked out that you need to practice your putting, but how?

Well it’s been proven that the better the putter is the better they are at long putts, so that’s where you should spend most of your time practicing. And don’t just practice your putting line but rather practice hitting putts a correct weight. Because it doesn’t matter if your ball is on the correct line if it’s 10 feet short or long. And think about how often your putts are 10 feet wide of the hole. It’s not often is it?

So practice long putts and one of the best drills to improve your putting touch is to putt balls to the edge of the putting green. Get about 5 balls and start about 30 feet away from the fringe and try to putt the balls so they end up as close to the fringe as possible.

During this exercise don’t worry about direction, only speed. Keep doing this and vary the distance from the fringe for each 5 balls you stroke. Do this at least 6 times so you practice at least 30 putts.

Also, to make this exercise more effective, putt with your eyes closed. And after you’ve hit each putt guess how close the ball has come to your target (i.e. the fringe). Once your ball has stopped rolling, open your eyes and see how correct you were.

Now here’s another great distance control putting drill.

On your practice putting green measure 30 feet from the fringe. Then place about 15 balls down there. Then putt your first ball and try to get it at as close to the fringe as possible. Once you’ve done this then hit your second putt and try to get it to finish as close to your first ball as possible without going past it. Then hit your third putt and try to get it to finish as close to your second ball as possible, without going past it.

Keep doing this and see how many balls you can get between yourself and the fringe. But if any balls go past the previous ball then it’s game over. You have to start again.

This is a fun putting game to see how many balls you can get between the fringe and yourself and it will improve your distance control at the same time. Plus you can keep record of your personal best and try and beat it.

Doing putting drills like this allows you to concentrate solely on feel and weight without worrying about whether the ball has gone in the hole. And if you improve your long putting your scores will improve and it will be easier than working on your swing.

You see, there’s no point in hitting the ball great but then 3 putting. So improve your putting first and then work on improving your swing.