How to Stop Pulling Those Putts

It’s early spring, and I am way out of sync with my golfing game. I’m pulling those putts!

It’s more than time to get back out to the driving range and putting green. I joined a golfing friend for a week in sunny Florida a few weeks ago. We played golf five days out of seven. My expectations for my game were pretty low. After all, I’d been a couch potato all winter. I wasn’t hitting my drives very far, but most of them stayed in the fairway. My putting was a different story. Every putt missed left. My ball was kissing the lip on almost every hole.

What gives? I concentrated, picked out my line, was sure to hit the ball in the center of the face, kept my head quiet, didn’t look up, and still the ball went left. Finally, I asked my friend to watch me very carefully. Guess what?

I was actually turning my whole body towards the hole. From the ground up, legs, hips, shoulders, head… I was making a very subtle move towards the hole. Everything was turning. No wonder I was pulling putts!

If you’re having this trouble, here’s a simple drill from GolfGameTips you can try next time you are on the putting green at your club.

Grab a handful of golf balls, your putter, and a wedge and head over to the practice putting green.  Pick a hole to practice putting to and drop your balls 6-12 feet away.  Line up to one of the balls with your putter as if you were about to hit it toward the hole.  Next grab your wedge and place it against your back leg so the head is on the ground and the end of the grip is just above your knee.  The shaft should be at about a 45-degree angle from the ground.

Once you’ve got your wedge positioned against your back leg stroke a few putts toward the hole.  If your wedges falls it means you are moving your body toward the hole, so pick it up and try a few more putts focusing on keeping your body still through impact and using your shoulders to swing your putter back and forth. This simple drill will help you gain more consistency on the putting green and get you on the way to sinking more of those makeable putts!


Do you pull your putts? Think your body is staying still through the putt? Double check your body next time you putt and try this drill. I’ll bet that wedge drops to the ground more than once. Check it out and add your comment below. Do you have a good drill to fix this putting flaw?

 

  1 comment for “How to Stop Pulling Those Putts

  1. Nydia G. Marquez says:

    Good putting tip. I tried the drill and I am not moving my body as you described. I am just not taking the putter back and following through smooth enough for my putts to stay online. I just need to work more on my putting. Thanks for the great tip!

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