Putting Tip From A Great Golf Caddy

I was reminded today of a great tip that I got from a caddy about twelve years ago. It’s geared towards the struggle that I believe most golfers have at some point. Missing those short putts between 3 feet and 5 feet out. And I’m not talking about the yips. Just when you keep missing to the left, to the right, not consistently to one side or the other, but just missing way too many of these putts and costing yourself tons of strokes on the golf course. And when I was struggling with this, a great caddy who has since then gone to the great golf course in heaven gave me a great drill to fix this.

This is a really simple drill but it goes to the heart of the problem on short putts. On all putts, really catching the ball square in the middle of the putter head is important. But it’s absolutely crucial on the short strokes and will help you make more putts on the green.
Here is a way to see how you are making contact with the golf ball and to practice getting it right quickly and simply. First you need a piece of contact tape. You can get this from any golf pro or a golfing supply store. Put a piece of the tape on the face of your putter.
Now hit 10 putts and check the impact tape and see where you are making contact. There should be some type of pattern on the putter face. Look at how spread out the pattern is. If the impact pattern is pretty spread out from the dead center of the putter face, you aren’t stroking your putts consistently in the center or sweet spot of the putter face.
Now work on 10 putts without impact tape focusing on making contact in the center of the putter face with a smooth stroke. Then take 10 more putts with impact tape again on the face of the club again. Check your pattern again.
Do this for a few days and you should see a definite improvement in your short putts!
Good golfing out there golf nuts!