Now that old man winter is here, how do you get to improve your score without suffering through a cold, windy practice?
You don't have too. If you follow the tip below and practice just 30 minutes a week, at home and at your convenience, I guarantee you will be a much better short putter when spring arrives, and your scores will reflect it from the very first round.
Most people with putting problems only experience them when they are close to the hole. The point when the body controls the entire stroke rather than the momentum of the clubhead.
If you want to be a great short putter, you should start by learning to control the ball on the shortest of putts. By that I mean the distance you actually hit the ball.
How good are you at hitting a putt exactly twelve inches? Six inches? Probably not very good. You have never tried to hit the ball that far.
Take some of the indoors time you have this winter and practice hitting the ball very short distances with your putter on a regular putting matt. Try six inches, a foot, and everything in between.
Just do it for a few minutes a day. Five or ten should be plenty.
What this does is effectively lower what your body considers your minimum stroke. It will gradually become accustomed to handling the task of hitting a ball a very short distance.
Your two foot putts will no longer be your minimum stroke. If you are not a target putter, that will help you minimize the impact reflex and its effect on your stroke.
Even if you are a target putter and don't have to worry about the impact reflex, you will be better able to control the distances on your short putts if you have a bigger distance gap between the shortest distance you can consistently hit a putt and the one you have to make.
In all of putting, speed is king. You should have full control over the ball whether you need to hit it six inches or sixty feet. The better you are at hitting the ball six inches when you want to, the more three footers you will make.
