⛳️ Do this for better putting speed control!

It’s Thursday and that means you’ve got 3 things coming,

⛳️ One Golf Tip on Putting Speed Control (no more 3 putts)
🧠 One Quote from a Hall of Famer
🔥 Something extra (more putting and a skill-testing question!)

We’re next up on the tee, let’s go!

ONE TIP
Speed control is the leading cause of 3 putts, let’s fix it!

Players often leave their first putt way too short or hit it way too far, resulting in a second putt that is excessively long and, unfortunately, unlikely to be made. One of the main reasons for this is our routine and practice; they often fail to emphasize how crucial it is to be aware of the distance to the cup when putting.

When you're in the fairway, hitting a shot to the green always requires knowing the distance. This allows us to make informed decisions. Similarly, when we're putting, we must apply a similar approach. We need to gauge the actual length of the putt and develop a feel for it. By doing so, when we look at the target, we can accurately judge the distance to the cup and apply the right touch to ensure excellent speed control.

Click here, if you want to watch me break this down on video.

Here are a couple of ways we can work on developing speed control on the putting green.

• On the practice green, know the distance!

  If you're planning to work on your putting, the first thing you need to do is determine your distances. Take a couple of tees and pace out 10, 20, 30, and 40 feet. Now that you know your distances, the next step is to spend time looking at that distance when making your rehearsal stroke. It's not so much about the technical aspects of your stroke, but more about understanding the required force to make a 30-ft putt as an example. This is an excellent starting point for many players. Let's become experts at knowing exactly how long these putts are and use our eyes to calibrate the necessary force to get the ball close to the hole.

• Pre Round warm up, option #1

  One common mistake many golfers make before a round is randomly hitting putts to different cups without paying attention to the actual distance. This sets us up for failure and represents a missed opportunity to develop the skill of speed control. When I go to the putting green, I drop three golf balls in one spot and pace out three cups from where those balls are. Once I have these distances, I go through a few repetitions, making rehearsal strokes while looking at a specific cup, knowing, for instance, that it's 34 feet away, and then hitting that putt. I encourage all of you, before your rounds, to understand how far these putts actually are.

• Pre Round warm up, option #2
  Let's say you're short on time or the putting green is quite busy with no access to cups. In this situation, use the fringe. Stand at one end of the putting green, perhaps off to the side to avoid interfering with others, and pace out the distance to the other edge. This way, you have two distances: the length in feet from one edge of the fringe to the other and the distance to the middle. Even if you only have time to hit a few putts, by doing this, you'll have an idea of how far they are before heading to the first tee.

So let’s summarize if we want to get better at distance control:

1) We need to practice hitting putts knowing our distances
2) We can do this both when we are practicing and also pre-round
3) See #1 ;)

*In the video above I give some great visuals on all of these, make sure to check it out!

🎙️ Have you checked out my Podcast? Find it here

ONE QUOTE
Bob Panasik Wisdom

“What goes in your mind is the results you will achieve. Poor thoughts, poor performance”

I was revisiting some old notes, and I stumbled upon this gem that I screenshot from Bob Panasik's Facebook page several years ago. It's a constant reminder of how profoundly the way we talk to ourselves and think about ourselves affects our performance on the golf course. Keep this in mind the next time you're out playing and, most importantly, be kind to yourself!

THIS WEEK’S SOMETHING EXTRA
A putting practice template you can use

Continuing our discussion about putting, this week's 'something extra' includes a putting practice template you can implement.

First and foremost, I recommend dedicating some time to fine-tune your distance control, particularly with longer putts. Once you feel confident with your distance control, you can seamlessly move through this putting template.

The term 'daily work' is in quotes because the first three levels are actually part of a practice plan followed by a PGA Tour player on a daily basis. Here's a little hint: this golfer is an alumnus of the University of Florida and proudly holds a FedEx Cup championship title. If you think you know who this player is, simply reply to this email with your guess!