You're Correct!

One of the most common mistakes made by golfers is the pace at which they hit the ball into the hole. The majority will hit their putts with too little speed, whilst there is a small percentage of golfers who will hit their putts with much more conviction.

The minority of golfers are doing this better than the majority. The ideal speed for your putt to go into the hole is when the ball runs into the back of the cup. If you are slower with your speed then you might hole a few putts, but the vast majority of them will either fall across the front of the hole or stop a few inches short and right in the jaws of the hole as the ball runs out of steam.

The best way to get your putts running with the right amount of speed is to practise hitting your ball into a tee in the back of the hole. What you need to do is get a tee and push half of it into the soil at the back of the hole just above the top of the cup. Take three balls and start from two feet away and hit your putts into the hole with the intention of pushing the tee fully into the soil at the back of the hole. This will ensure that you are hitting your putts with the correct amount of speed for the distance of the putt.

Keep hitting two footers until you have had to re-adjust the tee at least three times. Move back another two feet and repeat the drill again, still looking to push the tee into the soil at the back of the hole. The one thing you will notice is that your putts are now rolling into the hole with more conviction and speed. This will see you stop hitting putts that finish short of the hole or dive across the front of it due to a lack of speed. You will instead see your ball hit the back of the cup as it runs into the hole in a positive manner.

The last thing you want to be doing is trying to drop your putts in the front door, only just about falling over the edge. Instead, why not imagine the hole you are actually aiming for is 12 to 18 inches further away from you. This would give you the perfect speed for your distance instead of leaving most of your putts short.

The one thing you can count on is that if your speed is a little too fast, the chances of your ball finding its way into the bottom of the cup are massively reduced. Although you dont want to be leaving them short all the time, you should try to gain more of a feeling for the length of stroke to maintain the right amount of speed to hit your putts the required distance.

If you hit a putt that stops short of the hole to leave you with a tap in then you are going to at least two putt every green. What you need to practise is pacing out your distance and then practise making the length of backstroke to hit your putt the right distance. This will improve your speed control, which is the key to getting your putts into the hole and if you dont hole it you finish 12 to 18 inches beyond the hole.