Welcome to Play Smart, a regular GOLF.com game-improvement column that will help you play smarter, better golf.
On almost every hole you’ll ever play, you’ll pull the putter out of your bag. With such a high frequency of use, it’s wise to get plenty of practice with the flatstick.
For a lot of recreational players, practicing putting is an afterthought. The most work they get in on the practice green is rolling a few putts before they head to the first tee. But if you really want to turn your putter into a weapon, it’s important to spend plenty of time on the practice green.
Just mindlessly rolling putts with no purpose won’t do you much good, though. If you want to really get the most out of your practice time, you need to have a plan.
One great — and easy! — putting practice method was recently shared with me by GOLF Top 100 Teacher Joe Hallet. And the drill involves an unconventional training aid. Check it out below.
Use a tennis ball to practice putting
If you see a tennis ball on the practice green, you might assume someone shanked it there with a racket from the nearby courts. However, if you’re clever, a tennis ball can be a great training aid.
Set up about three feet from the cup like you would for any other short-putting drill. But instead of rolling a golf ball toward the hole, use a tennis ball. This might look unconventional, but putting with a tennis ball has a few great benefits.
“Unless the ball is struck properly, it will bounce and it will not make it to the hole,” Hallet says. “The other thing is, if it does not go in the center of the cup, it’s not gonna go in.”
After rolling a few putts with the tennis ball, you’ll start to get the hang of how you need to hit it to make it drop into the cup.
On your next series of putts, replace the tennis ball with your golf ball. When you look down at the ball and over to the cup, it’ll give you a renewed sense of the size difference between the cup and the ball.
“It just puts everything into perspective,” Hallet says.
Try it out next time you’re on the practice green. If you can teach yourself to make a few putts with a tennis ball, you’ll be amazed how much easier it seems when you replace it with your golf ball.