Getting the right read on any putt is important. So is dialing in the correct speed, which, at times, has more to do with your success on the greens than gauging slope.
Here’s a fun way to groove your rolls while challenging yourself at the same time. I call it the “Five Tee Drill.” Find a flat part on the practice putting green and set a tee three paces from the hole. Then another two paces beyond that. Then three more, each two paces from the last. Finally, drop a club or an alignment stick three feet past the hole. Now go to work. (Scroll down for a photo of how it should look.)
Starting at the closest tee, roll three putts. Your goal isn’t to make each one (but, if you do, great) but rather to get each putt to finish in the cup or past the hole — but not hit the stick. You need three successful attempts at each “station” before you can move to the next farthest tee. If you come up short or hit the barrier, start over. And you have to complete the test in 15 minutes.
Any golfer can hit a putt at the correct speed one time, but when you get good at doing it three times in a row from various distances, you’ll always be around the cup.
Mike Bender operates the Mike Bender Golf Academy at Magnolia Plantation GC in Lake Mary, Fla.
