PUTTING DRILL – SPIRAL

A simple drill to build confidence in your putting

Hi, Robin here. What I’m always encouraging my students to do is to divide their putting practice into three sections. First of all, a straight putt, three to four meters, where they can work on their technique using multiple balls.

Second part would be using one ball, hitting random putts from different lengths, different slopes, different, there are obviously different breaks – uphill, downhill. The goal is to go through your full routine and try to make the putt.

Then the last part of your putting practice routine, I’m always encouraging my students to play a game. Something where they simulate a little bit of pressure, like they would feel in the golf course. There’s lots of different ways to do that. Simply, what I’m showing you here in this video is one game which players can play to put a little bit of pressure on themselves to finish off their practice putting routine.

We call it the “spiral putting drill.” Hopefully you can see why. The balls are spiraling away from the hole. What I like about this is that each putt is slightly different in length, and each putt has a slightly different break. It’s just a good way to practice. To put a little pressure on yourself, simply challenge yourself to finish all six balls in consecutive order. If you miss, start again.

When I explain a drill like this, many people ask me, “Well, exactly how many balls should I use, and how far should be balls be spaced apart?” There’s no rules. Make it up. You could 6 balls, you could use 10 if you wanted to. You could put the balls a little closer together, a little further apart. There’s really no rules. Most of the good players I’ve met in my life, actually come up with their own drills, their own variations. So, don’t get too caught up with the exact position and how many balls you should be using.

Let’s give it a try. I probably won’t make six out of six here but just to give you an idea of what it would look like. I’m not going to do it here just to keep the video length a little shorter, but I do encourage players to try to go through as much of their routine as possible. Don’t just try to get it over with and finish as fast as possible.

Drills like this, for me, teach me the importance of my alignment part of my routine, having that little bit of detail. The part of my routine where I’m getting a feeling for distance. They teach me the importance of that. I can’t get lazy in that. Often when I play with people, you know give course lessons, they miss because of lazy routines, not taking their time aligning the putter face, getting a feel for the speed of the putt. Go. I have to start again.

So, spiral putting drill. Great drill to finish off your practice putting routine. Get that little sense of pressure; it’s important. Well, to finish off, as always, if you have any comments, anything you’d like me to put together a video on when I get a little time, please let me know. Give this drill a try. I hope it helps, and until next time, thanks for watching.