How To Adjust Putting Speed Video

Putting speed and technique are one of the hardest things to perfect in golf. Learn more about putting and lowering your scores in this video.

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Read the speed
Walk off putts
Aim 1 foot past
Practice

About this Author

Jay Golden has been a PGA Member since 1982 and was selected for the PGA National Teaching Committee in 1988. He has taught golfers of all levels ranging from stark beginners to professionals on the PGA and LPGA Tours. He has written hundreds of instruction articles and a book with the all-time winningest golfer of official tour events, Kathy Whitworth, entitled "Kathy Whitworth's Little Book of Golf Wisdom." He has also made numerous appearances on TV, has lectured on the topic of "How To Teach Golf" to PGA Members, and is an accomplished golfer and long driver.

JAY GOLDEN: Putting the ball the correct speed is unbelievably important. We have all heard stories how if you hit it on line and you are five feet short, or you hit it on line and you hit it five feet long, it is a bad putt. But how often are you five feet left or five feet right to the hole on your putt? Not very often. Yet, people are so involved in the direction and so less involved in the speed and how hard to hit the ball, that distance control is a problem. There are a few things that I believe that are very important in terms of distance control. The first is to read the speed. In other words, I am going to walk off this putt to see if it feels uphill, downhill. And in general this feels downhill, now it feels more downhill, now it really goes downhill. Okay, so I have a downhill putt. It is going to be a fast putt. But my thought is to stop the ball a foot and a half pass the hole, and I put a tee there. So while I am addressing this, it is a fairly straight putt that I already know, so I will aim fairly straight. But while I am stroking, while I am putting, my mind is over there. I want to stop the ball by that tee. That is what I am thinking. So, I am lining up, but my thought, "Stop it by the tee over there. Over there. Stop it by the tee, stop it by the tee, stop it by the tee." Pretty good speed. Now I am going to do that again. While I am stroking, my mind is over there. Right over there, stop this by the tee, by the tee, by the tee, by the tee, by the tee. I am thinking over there. Again, good speed. Dave Pelz has done a lot of experimentation, saying that, "The best speed for a ball to go in is 17 inches past the hole," and that is approximately where that is. But I am thinking of the speed. I am not thinking of, "Oh, I want to hit it on line, I hope to make this putt." I am thinking of that tee, that tee. When I was a kid we would pitch pennies closest to the line, and that, by the way, would have been a little too hard. But as if you are pitching pennies to the line or flipping cards or horseshoes, think speed, think where you want to stop the ball and you will improve your speed when you are putting.

How to Adjust Putting Speed Video

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