How to Hole More Putts (Follow these Putting Tips)
Imagine what your golf score would look like if you holed more putts. I’ve been playing golf 10+ years and I’m excited to share important putting tips that will help you hole more putts.
Start turning bogeys into pars and lower your average putts per round at least 5 strokes as you become better at putting.
#1: Align Your Putts Properly
The number one mistake holding you back from holing more putts is poor alignment. If you had a camera setup behind you to film your alignment, you might discover that you’re aiming your putts left or right of the line you thought you were aiming at.
Proper alignment with your stance and body is so critical with putting because mishitting the ball ever so slightly to the left or right can produce a putt that just misses the hole to the left or right.
A good drill is to check your alignment to learn about your current setup habits. You can also film yourself from a down the line view with a camera. Gather data about your setup and alignment to learn how you could be pulling putts left or pushing putts right due to poor alignment at your target.
Resource: Check out our putting videos and practices we created
#2: Match the Correct Putter with Your Putting Stroke
Having the right equipment that fits your putting stroke is important if you want to hole more putts.
Ask yourself this question, do you put with an arcing putting stroke or a straight back straight forward putting stroke?
An arcing putting stroke follows an arc path as the club swings back and then on the forward swing and follow through.
Straight back straight forward is a putting stroke just like it sounds. The putter goes back pretty straight instead of turning inward on an arc. This is a putting stroke that keeps the face square easier so it can start putts on line properly.
As far as putter equipment goes, you’ll find that evenly balanced putters are best for the straight back straight forward putting stroke and toe weighted putters are best for arcing putting strokes.
Test different putters and find which one feels most comfortable and performs the best. Hit 25 to 50 putts with each putter and track your makes to see how well you do with different putters. Then buy the one that performs best.
Having the right putter can help you make more putts guaranteed.
#3: Practice Speed Control Drills Often
If you want to hole more putts, you need to have speed control dialed in on the putting green. This will allow you to be more aggressive and try to make putts as opposed to laying up short of the hole out of fear of hitting putts to far past the hole.
Seriously think about it. If you knew that you had speed control to where your missed putts would only go 1 foot or less past the hole, wouldn’t you feel more comfortable being aggressive and trying to make putts from 20 feet away and 30 feet away?
As your putting speed control improves, your confidence on the putting green will improve and this confidence leads to making more putts.
A simple drill to practice for putting speed control is to setup tee markers at 20 feet, 30 feet, 40 feet, and 50 feet away from the hole. You can measure off these distances by taking decent strides (3 feet per stride) or using your putter as a measuring tool (34-36 inch putter lengths).
Then hit 100 balls at each distance, trying to get the ball to roll just past the hole and stop within 12-24 inches of the hole on missed putts. During this drill you’ll make a fair share of putts as well, but on the misses, we want the ball to not roll too far past the hole.
Repeat this drill at 10 feet and 15 feet away from the hole as well so you can work on learning the speed to hit shorter, makeable putts from 10-15 feet and build confidence.
Resource: How to Score in the 70’s Golf Training Plan
#4: Take What You Make Putting Drill
This is one of my favorite putting drills that has helped me hole more putts as well as my students.
You’ll start off by measuring and marking putts with a ball marker or tee at 3 feet, 5 feet, 7 feet, 9 feet, and 11 feet.
You’ll begin at the 3 foot putt with 10 golf balls and try to make as many of the 3 foot putts as possible out of 10 attempts.
Let’s say you make 9 out of 10 putts at 3 feet. Now you’ll take 9 balls back to 5 feet and try to make as many putts as possible from 5 feet.
If you make 5 out of 9 putts at 5 feet, then you’ll take those 5 balls back to 7 feet.
So, the point of this putting drill is to work on holing short distance putts between 3 feet and 11 feet. However, it adds a pressure component because you only get to take the balls with you to the next distance that you made at the previous distance.
The goal is to get back to the 11 foot distance putt and have as many out of the 10 original balls as possible. Repeat this putting drill and see what personal best you can score in terms of how many putts you hole at 11 feet.
Spend a solid 30-60 minutes doing this putting drill and you’ll learn how to hole more putts inside 10 feet.
#5: Learn the Green Reading Tricks
To hole more putts, you need to become skilled at reading greens.
Reading the green is a golf term for analyzing the slope of the green, the way the grass grain is facing, and other factors that will affect the speed of the putt as well as how much the putt is going to curve as it rolls across the green.
When you improve your green reading skills, you’ll feel more confident on the green seeing putts, and this confidence will allow you to hit better putts and hole out more.
Find the Low Points
The first step to reading greens is to understand that the golf ball will roll to the low point due to gravity. If the low side of the hole is on the left side and the high side is on the right side, then expect the ball to roll from right to left, towards the low side of the hole.
If you’re above the hole on the high side and putting downhill, then understand the ball will roll faster since it’s going downhill with gravity, compared to a putt that is coming uphill where it will roll slower as the uphill slope adds resistance to the putt.
Find Water Features that Greens Slope Towards
Also look around the terrain nearby the green. If you notice water like a pond or creek, then anticipate that the green is designed to slope towards the water so that rain can drain off the green and run to the pond.
Water collects, forming a pond, due to the pond being the low point in the ground. Use this knowledge to identify a water feature as a low point that the ball will want to roll towards on the green.
Practice Reading Greens
One of the best ways to become better at reading greens is through lots of practice. Every hole you play on the golf course, take your time and study the green with your eyes as well as your feet. Feel the ground firmness and the slope of the green as you walk around the green.
Crouch down to get down low so you can use your eyes to scan the green for slopes, ridges, and changes that will affect which direction the golf ball wants to roll.
Then make your decision of how you see the green and test it by hitting a putt. Use this feedback of seeing how the ball rolled versus how you guessed it would roll to learn and make adjustments in the future.
#6: Make 100-200 Putts Per Practice
The quickest way to make more putts is to hole lots of putts at practice. This trains your brain for how hard to hit putts (speed), how to aim putts, and how putts break after seeing hundreds of putts on the practice green each week.
Over a few months of hitting thousands of putts, you’ll see a huge improvement in how many putts you hole on the golf course.
I start with a rule of thumb that every golf practice day I can’t leave until I’ve holed at least 100 putts.
I like to start at 4 feet from the hole and place 5 tees around the hole in a circle. I’ll make 20 putts from each tee for 100 putts made total (5 spots x 20 makes at each spot).
Then I’ll move back to 6 feet and repeat the drill again, giving me another 100 makes.
Assume it takes about 10-15 minutes to make 50 putts if you’re using a set of 5 balls. Therefore, holing out 200 putts at practice should take you close to one hour. As you get better at making putts from 4 feet and 6 feet, this will go faster, and you’ll start making 200 putts in 45 minutes.
Resource: How to Score in the 70’s Golf Training Plan
#7: Putting Warm Up Session at New Golf Courses
If you’re a golfer who travels around to various local golf courses in your area, then you’ll find that the greens are going to be different at each golf course.
This inconsistency can affect your ability to make putts during your round of golf as you might be used to the green speeds of your home course.
To help you acclimate and adjust to different greens at different golf courses, make sure to allow yourself time to arrive early and warm up on the practice green.
This will give you a chance to work on some speed control drills to learn how fast the greens are rolling and build confidence.
You’ll gain insight into what grain of grass the greens are, how fast they’re rolling, how sloped they are, and more. A lot of practice greens are setup similar to how the greens are going to perform out on the actual golf course.
Overall, these are 7 great putting tips for helping you increase your chances of holing putts out on the golf course.
Start by making sure you have the right putter that fits your putting stroke so you can make a proper putting stroke on the ball, giving it a chance to roll on your intended line and with your intended speed.
Improve your ability to line up putts correctly by practicing your green reading skills and working on checking your alignment and putting stance.
Work on various speed control drills as well as pressure drills that teach you how to make putts under pressure. Holing putts on the golf course takes focus and mental toughness to handle the pressure when it counts for real.
Lastly, warm up when you arrive to new golf courses so you can learn the greens and adjust your speed accordingly to how the greens are rolling.
If you found this guide helpful, check out our putting training programs below.
Golf Practice Plans to Follow
- How to Score in the 60’s Golf Training Plan
- How to Score in the 70’s Golf Training Plan
- How to Score in the 80’s Golf Training Plan
- All Access: Get Every Practice Plan (Lifetime Membership)
Thanks for reading today’s article!
Nick Foy – Golf Instructor
