The Golfers Clinic Golf Tip Library

Do you realise why most amateurs three-putt more times on their first nine holes than on their last nines holes? Because by the time they get to the last nine holes they have the feel of the greens!

An underlying contributory factor to that statistic is that the vast majority of amateur golfers do not practice their putting prior to the start of their round. Most golf courses have an area put aside for putting practice and it is here, perhaps over a fifteen-minute spell prior to the tee-off, that various putting distances should be run through so that by the time the first green is reached and the putter withdrawn from the bag a feel for the greens has already been established.

However, in order to become a great putter you must have the ability to read greens. And you must also have a great touch. The two abilities are unavoidably inter-linked. You have to develop your touch in order to control your speed. How may times have you asked a golfing partner after they have hit their putt if they thought the putt was going uphill or downhill. Most respond with that they forgot about the speed! Simply, most amateur golfers struggle more with the speed element than with the direction element.

An important consideration in putting is to remember that 90% of all putting greens in the world are built low in the front and high in the back. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, the green will hold the shots that are coming onto it and secondly for practical drainage purposes.

So, knowing this means that the majority of putts hit from the front of the green going to the back are going to be slower than putts hit from the back of the green going towards the front. And that also means that when you are facing the green, putts from the right side of the green will have a tendency to break to the left and putts from the left side of the green will have a tendency to break to the right.

An amateur golfer can take up to 43% of their shots just on the putting greens. So if you can putt more consistently imagine how your overall golf score will benefit.

Nigel
www.golfers-clinic.com