Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Improve Your Putting

Best Ways to Improve Your Putting Game

Every golfer practices as often as they can, but quite a few of them are practicing the wrong strokes. Putting is one of the most important strokes in the game of golf because it will definitely save you strokes in the long run. You can hit a fantastic yard drive straight down the fairway that will impress all your friends, but if you can’t putt very well, face it – you aren’t going to score very well, either.

Fortunately, there is a way to improve your putting. It’s not expensive – it only takes patience and time. How much of your hopefully daily practice time are you using for putting? You should be spending well over half your time on this one very important stroke. In order to make your practice time count, you should look into purchasing an inexpensive indoor/outdoor portable putting green. You’ll find it will be one of the best investments you ever made to improve not only your putting, but your entire golf game. They are very popular, so most any sporting goods store, virtual or real world, should have them in stock.

You now have your new practice putting green, and you’re ready to improve your putting game! A good way to begin and to get a feel for your new green is to choose a mark on the green about 10 feet away from where you will be standing, not in the cup, but close to it. Practice putting by seeing how close you can get the ball to this mark. As you improve, move back in 10 foot increments, and continue practicing until you can accurately putt right up to the mark.

Next, began to practice hitting the ball towards the cup, but about a foot away from it. This is harder than it sounds, but with practice, your putting game will improve by leaps and bounds. Again, start off by putting from about 10 feet away, then move back until you are 20 feet from the cup, then 30 feet.

It’s now time to see how many balls you can sink in the cup of your practice putting green. Start out by standing about a foot away, and practice until you can sink 3 or 4 balls. Move out another foot, and do the same. Continue sinking and moving back in five foot increments until you can get the ball in the cup consistently from around 20 feet away.

Animal trainers know that when training a dog or horse, it is always best to end a training session on a positive note. This is psychological, and believe it or not, this tactic works on humans, too. You will feel better about your practice session if you don’t stop until you have been successful in one way or another. Set a goal for yourself – see how many balls you can sink in ten minutes right before you quit for the day. Challenge yourself to break your record from the previous day. If you were able to sink 3 balls in a row on Wednesday, sink 4 on Thursday, and so on. Make a game out of the game of golf, and don’t take it all too seriously. Remember, it’s supposed to be fun!

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