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Having the right mind set is a critical factor when it comes to the way you approach long putts. Do you go for it and try to hole it or do you try and lag it up close to the hole for a two putt?

The indecisive thought patterns usually result in either hitting your putt past the hole whilst trying to hole it or leaving it short in trying to lag it up. Both of these will see the number of three putts you have in a round increase.

A little research into the percentage of putts holed on the PGA Tour shows that from 20 to 25 feet, 10% of putts are holed, from 25 feet and over only 4% of putts are holed. With this in mind, if you have the mind set of trying to hole your putts from these distances, you are more likely to increase the number of three putts you have. If youre a mid-handicap or high handicap golfer and you approach your putts with the thought of getting your ball to finish in and around two feet from the hole then you are less likely to three putt and will instantly start to lower your scores.

If your handicap is between 5 and 13 then you should be looking at putts from over 25 feet as no more than a two putt and maybe you will hole the occasional one here and there. With your putts of around 20 feet, you should be looking at trying to hole each putt you face. You may not hole any, and you may hole a few but the fact that youre looking to hole the putt, youre more likely to see the putts you miss finish 18 to 24 inches past the hole. If your handicap is below 5 then have the mind set of holing all your putts within 30 feet of the hole.

Having the mind set of holing every putt you face is all well and good but you will find yourself having more three putts than one putt this way, especially if you continue trying to hole putts the further away you are. Try to get all of the putts you face over 30 feet to finish within two feet of the back of the hole. This way, your speed is good and you might just knock a few in.

Not only every putt you face from 10 feet and in should you be looking to hole, but even putts from 15 and 18 feet as well. Once you start to get beyond 25 feet, the chance of you holing putts starts to diminish, so try to get the speed of your putts to roll your ball in and around two feet behind the hole. This will leave you a relative tap in for your two putt.

Looking to lag your longer putts into an area around the hole is all well and good, but the size of the area youre looking at lagging to needs to be relatively small. If you think of hitting puts from four feet, you are likely to miss a few, leading to some three putts where if your area is only a two foot radius then you will hole almost all of your putts from here.