1. Ladder Drill
There is a good reason it is so popular…it just works !!
The setup is simple. Choose a putt of at least 15-20 feet that is relatively straight. Uphill or downhill is ok though. The reason for this is to eliminate as many factors as possible from the drill (other than speed). That way your mind is 100% focused on speed control. Any good drill should break down to focusing on a single element of your swing in as much isolation as possible. That way you can see if you are making progress in that area. It also helps you get better at breaking down a putt on the course into its separate components to make it easier to read.
Then begin lining up balls starting at about 3-5 feet and going back in a straight line as far as you want. Don’t go too far though because you want to be able to set this up repeatedly relatively quickly.
Then start with the closest ball and try to make each putt going from the closest to the farthest.
2. Safety Zone Drill
This one actually comes from Jordan Speith. He was doing this at a tournament and talked about it in an interview.
The focus of this drill is to become comfortable hitting into that zone I talked about in the intro above where you are giving yourself the best opportunity to make the putt. So the first step is to decide where that zone is for you. If you are comfortable making 4 foot comeback putts then you can be more aggressive with your first putt. But if you hate those, then perhaps focus on a less aggressive strategy.
So let’s say for purposes of this drill your ideal zone is 3 feet past the hole. You know you can make those 3 footers the vast majority of the time.
Take an alignment stick and lay it down about 3 feet past the hole. Now that you have your safety zone set, the plan is simple. Try to get the ball past the hole but within the safety zone.
3. Looking At The Hole Drill
It doesn’t get more simple than this drill. You simply practice your putting while looking at the hole rather than the ball.
So why does this help?
Try this… Pick up the ball and toss it towards the hole. Chances are you got it to stop pretty close. Chances are you also were looking at the hole when you tossed it. You used your own senses and intuition to throw the ball pretty close to the hole without much more information than simply visually gauging the distance. Human senses are really cool like that.
When you look down at the ball, your senses lose all connection to the hole and are now focused on the ball. So you are giving up all that great natural instinct built into your senses.
Remember…the ball doesn’t move. If you have a repeatable, consistent stroke, then you probably should be able to hit the ball on the center of the putter face without staring at it.
The benefit of this drill is that you are now taking all that natural instinct and feel and associating it with the motion that your body is using to make the putt. When you look back down at the ball, you will remember how that felt and be able to replicate it.
Now, after practicing like that for a while, when you are on the course, take your practice swings while looking at the hole. Try to recreate the feeling you had on the practice green when you were actually hitting the ball looking at the hole. Then step into the putt (look at the ball this time) and repeat that feeling.
You’ll start to learn how to engage your natural touch and feel for every putt.
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