Best Way to Practice Long Putting in Golf

Good long purring is all about judging distance rather than judging direction. Remember that if you three-putt it will nearly always be because you hit the ball the wrong distance and not because you have hit it crooked.

Before every long putt, always have one or two practice swings to try to feel the distance. The length of your practice swing should rehearse your intentions with the ball. The longer the putt the longer the swing. The swing should be made predominantly with the arms and shoulders — not just the shoulders — but with reasonably firm wrists.

One of the worst things you can do with the ball is to brush the ground. The ball won’t run truly. So make sure your practice swing is as close to the ground as possible without touching it. Most players tend to underswing on a long putt. The feeling should be of a long, smooth, stroke without any added hit at the bottom of the swing. Think of the timing of a long, slow brush stroke.

It is important to make a good strike on the back of the ball. Remember that you ate very unlikely to lose a ball with a putt. The occasional ‘pro’ has been seen to putt off the green into a water hazard, but it is very unusual. Learn to look at the ball as you hit it. Practice holding the finish of the stroke and counting ‘one, two, three’, before you look up. You soon become aware of seeing the ball out of the corner of your left eye. Staying down will encourage you to get a good strike on it. You can often feel the quality of your putt simply through the contact. Different golf balls respond differently. On a perfectly flat green of reasonable speed, a soft-covered ball can travel one metre shorter than a harder ball on a 10 metre (11 yard) putt. Get used to one make of ball. They do respond differently.

Don’t try to hole a long putt. Simply concentrate on getting it as close as possible. In this way you are more likely to think about the distance than the direction. If you become obsessed with the line of the putt, it is easy to target the distance. Unfortunately most men judge distance better than most women. That is why they become better racing drivers -particularly in the club car park!

On a sidehill putt, assess whether you have to hit the ball slightly to the right or slightly to the left. Remember that with someone attending the flag you can always ask them to stand whichever side of the hole you prefer. You may find it easier to feel you are aiming slightly towards their feet than to the hole itself. But once you are allowing to the side, still concentrate more on your distance than on the line. Just concentrate on hitting a straight putt to the point you have chosen but focus more than anything on the length of your stroke and rolling the ball at the right speed.