To make birdies, you need to make putts. And one of the critical elements to good putting is speed control — from all distances. A lot of players can judge the line correctly but just can’t get the speed right. Here’s how to solve the problem.
Find a flat area on the practice green and place an alignment stick behind the hole. From the hole, walk 10 paces away and place a tee in the ground. Two feet beyond that, place another tee. Then another two feet behind that. Do likewise until you have five tees in the green. From the first tee, roll putts. The goal here is to either make the putt or get the ball between the hole and the stick. Coming up short is a no-no. (Those shots never go in.)
Once you can get three balls either in or past the hole without hitting the stick, move to the next tee. Then continue all the way to tee number 5. Set a time limit— like 15 minutes. When you start seeing putts roll at different speeds from different lengths one after the other, you’ll really start controlling your rolls. I do this with rec players and my Tour students. Works like magic.
Mike Bender runs the Mike Bender Golf Academy at Magnolia Plantation GC, Lake Mary, Fla.
