Beyond The Magazine

Now, everyone reading this has likely seen or heard that I am not a huge fan of tips. They can be incomplete, misguided, or just plain not useful. However, my goal was to change that when asked to provide a tip as a part of the most recent Golf Digest Best Young Teachers list. If you haven't seen the print version, you can check that out HERE.

But as subscribers and supporters of Preston's Putting, I can't leave you with just the tidbit they shared though it is pretty solid. That said, take a look beyond the magazine at the full article!

THE STOREFRONT

Poor speed management is the top cause of three putts. Instead of exclaiming “I hit it too hard!” or “I decelerated” after your next misjudged putt, we need to focus on two easy steps to improve speed. The Key Concepts that determine how far a putt travels are size and tempo.

Small, medium, and large strokes.

First, we need to establish some reference points for the size of stroke. Place a tee next to the ball at address. Then, measure one putter grip length in front of the ball and place a second tee. This provides a visual stopping point for the putter head and creates our small stroke. Place two additional tees each one putter head length beyond that. Those form our medium and large strokes. Next we’ll establish a concept for tempo. Players generally accelerate through the ball with too long a follow through. Instead use a moderate tempo and change the size of the swing to vary distance. To determine a moderate tempo, observe how the putter head is stopping at each reference point. If the putter aggressively recoils at the reference point, it is moving too quickly and likely over accelerating. If it stops short, the putter might be moving too slowly or decelerating.

This drill provides a way to effectively use tees.

A great visual for finding this tempo is picturing your putter head as a car parking by the curb in front of the store. Calmly pulling into the parking space is much more effective than accelerating past the stopping point and driving into the storefront.

To best incorporate this exercise into your practice, hit a series of five putts with a desired stroke size. Then, measure the dispersion of those putts by marking each one with a ball marker. To challenge yourself even more, stop all five putts within a single grip length.

The image on the left demonstrates the perfect way for players to create some feedback for each size of stroke and measure if they are creating the one thing golfers desperately seek - consistency.

HOW CAN I MEASURE THE DISPERSION?

That's a great question. Most golfers are working on their speed by hitting putts to a hole. But if the ball keeps going in (nice theory, right?), how can you see the most important part of speed feedback? That's right. You can't see where the ball stops. And that's a problem. Good news for you is that I have a solution.

Head over to my store and grab your own set of ghost holes and ball markers to start working on your speed with The Storefront exercise today! BUY NOW!