Answer: The goal of a long putt is not actually to knock the ball into the hole. That would be great, of course, but it isn’t going to happen very often. Even professional golfers are surprised when they make a long putt, as there is a significant amount of luck involved, along with plenty of skill. So, since you aren’t really trying to make the first one, you need to be ready to handle a second putt. Specifically, after hitting a good first putt, you need to have confidence in your ability to knock a short putt into the back of the cup to finish off the hole.

In this article, we are going to provide you with some simple short putting tips.

• Use aggressive speed. In most cases, it is going to be a good idea to keep your speed up on short putts. Instead of just letting the ball drip in over the front edge, give it enough pace to tap the back of the cup before it falls to the bottom. Using aggressive speed is going to help the ball hold its line, meaning you won’t have to worry as much about reading break on your short putts. Of course, this can be a risky strategy on fast greens, as a miss may race by the hole and leave you with an even longer putt coming back. You’ll have to weigh the risk against the reward, and you may want to slow down your short putts when the greens get quick.
• Keep your head perfectly steady. You always want to keep your head still when hitting putts, but that point is especially important when dealing with a short putt. You don’t have much margin for error here – if the ball starts off line, it is almost certainly going to miss. By keeping your head as steady as you can, you will be improving your odds of hitting the target line. There is no point in looking up early, as doing so is not going to do anything to keep the ball moving in the right direction. Keep your eyes down, your head still, and your mind focused on making a great stroke.
• Forget the misses. Unfortunately, missed short putts are just a part of this game. From time to time, you are going to send one by the edge, even if you feel like you made a good stroke. Missing one from time to time really isn’t a big deal, unless you let it get to you. It’s important that you manage to keep your confidence high even after a miss, knowing that those misses happen to the best golfers on occasion. By spending plenty of time in practice working on your short putts, you can build up confidence that will serve you well on the course.

Breaking your long putts down into segments is a great way to accomplish the goal of two putting in these situations. We hope the advice provided in this article will help you lag the ball up close to the hole time after time, even when a poor approach shot leaves you all the way on the other side of the putting surface. Wasting strokes on the greens never feels good, so fine tune you long putting skills to the point where you only three putt on the rarest of occasions. Good luck!