How To Practice Putting, Before I Go To The Course (Video) - by Pete Styles
How To Practice Putting, Before I Go To The Course (Video) - by Pete Styles

I think the answer to this question is pretty obvious. Should you practice your putting before you got to the golf course? Well of course you should. I think the reality really for me is well how much should you practice your putting, and how can we use that precious time before we play better? Then when you look at the pros you appreciate that when they get to the first green on the golf course they’re almost playing that first green as if it’s the 9th, 10th, 11th green. They’d been on the putting green for so long before they’ve gone out to play that they know exactly how that first green on the golf course will react. So the hope is that the practice putting green at the start of the round is similar to the rest of the greens on the golf course.

If that’s not the same, then treat it differently, or the practice putting greens new or whatever. That’s bit of a shame, but hopefully, you can use the practice putting green to get a real good gauge and a real good feel of how the greens will react on the golf course. The other thing to that make sure that you do, is buy yourself enough time. Get to the golf course early enough that you can do all the pleasantries and then saying hi to everybody and grabbing yourself a coffee and a score card and all those things; but then just try and take yourself away to one side, to have 15, 20 minutes quite time on the putting green, really working on your stroke but also understanding the speed of the green for that day, the slope of the greens. Now you might say well this is a course I’ve played a lot of times, this is my club course, I know exactly how fast the greens are, but the greens change speed and pace nearly every single day. Be it the weather conditions, how much water they’ve had, how the green keepers have cut them or how the green keepers have treated them. So it’s really important that you spend 15, 20 minutes before every single around the golf, whether you’ve play that course or not gauging the feel and the speed of the greens. You’d start off with a few long putts; you then take a few shorter putts and then take a few really close to the hole just a few tap in’s to really to build that confidence. You’re going to be having a look at your putting stroke, but really, you’re not there to necessarily practice your stroke over and over again. The putting you do before you go out and play, is much more about getting a feel for the speed of that green for that day. Once you’re confident you’ve gauged the speed downhill, you’ve gauged the speed up hill, you’ve gauged the amount of break, then you can walk to the first green and the first tee now when you’ve given yourself the best chance, that way when you faced with a tricky 20 footer on the first, it doesn’t feel like your first putt of the day or even putt of the week. If it’s a week between the rounds of golf, and you get to the first green tricky 20 footer thing, well I haven’t putts since last Saturday, you’re going to be really struggling, but if you think well I have this putt not more than five minutes ago on the putting green, gives you a lot more confidence to hold that putt. So if you can spare 15 20 minutes for every round of golf before you go out on the putting green, you’re putting scores will improve massively. 2014-10-07

I think the answer to this question is pretty obvious. Should you practice your putting before you got to the golf course? Well of course you should. I think the reality really for me is well how much should you practice your putting, and how can we use that precious time before we play better? Then when you look at the pros you appreciate that when they get to the first green on the golf course they’re almost playing that first green as if it’s the 9th, 10th, 11th green. They’d been on the putting green for so long before they’ve gone out to play that they know exactly how that first green on the golf course will react. So the hope is that the practice putting green at the start of the round is similar to the rest of the greens on the golf course.

If that’s not the same, then treat it differently, or the practice putting greens new or whatever. That’s bit of a shame, but hopefully, you can use the practice putting green to get a real good gauge and a real good feel of how the greens will react on the golf course. The other thing to that make sure that you do, is buy yourself enough time. Get to the golf course early enough that you can do all the pleasantries and then saying hi to everybody and grabbing yourself a coffee and a score card and all those things; but then just try and take yourself away to one side, to have 15, 20 minutes quite time on the putting green, really working on your stroke but also understanding the speed of the green for that day, the slope of the greens.

Now you might say well this is a course I’ve played a lot of times, this is my club course, I know exactly how fast the greens are, but the greens change speed and pace nearly every single day. Be it the weather conditions, how much water they’ve had, how the green keepers have cut them or how the green keepers have treated them. So it’s really important that you spend 15, 20 minutes before every single around the golf, whether you’ve play that course or not gauging the feel and the speed of the greens. You’d start off with a few long putts; you then take a few shorter putts and then take a few really close to the hole just a few tap in’s to really to build that confidence.

You’re going to be having a look at your putting stroke, but really, you’re not there to necessarily practice your stroke over and over again. The putting you do before you go out and play, is much more about getting a feel for the speed of that green for that day. Once you’re confident you’ve gauged the speed downhill, you’ve gauged the speed up hill, you’ve gauged the amount of break, then you can walk to the first green and the first tee now when you’ve given yourself the best chance, that way when you faced with a tricky 20 footer on the first, it doesn’t feel like your first putt of the day or even putt of the week. If it’s a week between the rounds of golf, and you get to the first green tricky 20 footer thing, well I haven’t putts since last Saturday, you’re going to be really struggling, but if you think well I have this putt not more than five minutes ago on the putting green, gives you a lot more confidence to hold that putt. So if you can spare 15 20 minutes for every round of golf before you go out on the putting green, you’re putting scores will improve massively.