Why It's Important To Have A Solid Putting Routine

A solid putting routine is a huge key to maximizing your chances of success on the putting greens. It is important on all your golf shots to follow a routine. Putting is the same way. Just because a putting stroke is the shortest stroke you make or the simplest swing motion, don't forget to follow your routine every time you are on the greens.

Following a routine before every putt is critical for a couple of reasons. First, with a good routine, you'll be able to get back on track quicker if you are having an off day on the greens. It is common for players to lose focus and get lazy by not going through their routine when they aren't having a great putting day. When you are having an occasional bad day, this is the most important time to follow your routine to get back on track quicker and eliminate missing more putts than you already are. Secondly, following a routine will help you stay focused on the process and be less concerned with what score you are going to get.

There are some keys that are helpful in a putting routine which will help you prepare to putt your best. First, make sure you look at your putt from both sides of the hole. Oftentimes, your putt will look like it's going to break one way from behind the ball. But another look at it from the other side of the hole can often give you the opposite view. You'll occasionally run across this problem where the putt looks different from two different sides. Remember to pick the read from the lower point whether it is from behind the ball or across on the other side of the hole.

Aside from that, it's always good to walk around the hole and look at your putt from a few different spots. Paying attention to the overall terrain or shape of the greens will give you significant information on how the ball will move after you hit your putt.

One common element which constitutes a strong putting routine consists of reading the greens well. Make sure to take in the contour or terrain of the entire green, while focusing on low or high areas around the hole or in or near the line of your putt. Look for water and bunkers next to the green as these will tend to be built near the lower sections of the putting green. Remember that when there is water next to a green, the golf ball will almost always break towards the water. The same is true of bunker hazards. These also tend to be built on the lower areas of the ground around the putting greens.

Another element in a good routine taking good practice strokes. Once you have read your putt and made a decision on how hard it's going to break, now you can prepare to actually hit your putt. I recommend taking a couple to a few practice strokes next to the golf ball before hitting your putt.

These practice strokes should be focused. You want to look at the hole several times and take your practice strokes with the goal of trying to simulate the actual putt itself. So feel how hard you want to hit your putt and try to make your practice stroke the same way you actually plan to hit your putt. Avoid simply taking practice strokes without focus just to go through the motions.

When you hit your putt, you will simply just copy the last practice stroke you made. This method will give you the best results if you follow it consistently. The goal here is to eliminate any last second indecision that so often plagues golfers especially on the putting greens.

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