You're Correct!

There are two key elements that get missed by most golfers when it comes to big breaking putts, and this is why you approach them with a fear of three putting.

The first one is the speed of the putt, whilst the second is the amount of break you need to allow for, so lets take a look at these key elements in a little more detail.

Speed is king

The number one factor for taking three or more putts is getting the speed wrong, and the reason for this is down to a lack of consistency in your putting stroke. Most golfers dont know how far in the back stroke their putter travels, and they also speed up their putter at different rates on every single putt they hit. Until you create a formula to control this you will alway struggle with a putt like this.

The best way to create your formula is to set up to a putt with your feet shoulder width apart and move your putter back to a point that is two to three inches outside your trail foot, then smoothly and at the same tempo make your forward stroke and hit the putt. Now pace out the distance. This will give you a formula for this length of putt. You can repeat this for both shorter and longer length back strokes. With this more consistent stroke you can control the speed and distance of you putts.

Allow for more than you imagine

The number two factor is that perhaps you never allow enough break and always miss the putt on the low side. In fact, most golfers only see around one third of the true break on a putt. This means on a putt that has eight feet of true break you will only see a break of around two and a half to three feet. When you miss on the high side, you may believe that you have mis-read the putt when in fact you have both mis-read and got the speed wrong.

The one thing that every golfer must remember is that the speed of your putt will determine the line of the putt. The slower you hit it the more it will break and vice versa.

If you have a putt which is going to break then hitting it straight at the hole will only result in you taking at least three putts and in some cases even more. Make sure you allow for some break, even if its not enough its better than none.

The speed of your putting is the most important factor you must get right. If you think that just hitting the ball harder will help you on a longer putt, the only consistent thing about your putting will be the number of three putts you have every round.

One of the biggest problems is not allowing enough break, but going to the opposite end of the spectrum is just as bad. If you allow too much break then you need to hit the putt with less speed and this will result in you leaving yourself a very difficult second putt every time.