Learning how to putt consistently - and how to teach it - comes down to simplifying your approach and focusing on a few core fundamentals. Mastering the flat stick is the fastest way to slash strokes off your score, and it's far less complicated than many golfers believe. This guide will walk you through the essential elements of a reliable putting stroke, from the setup and motion to green-reading and drills that build real skill.
Before touching a putter, it's helpful to understand that every single putt you'll ever face is a combination of just two skills: speed and line. That’s it. Your ball has to travel at the right speed (or pace) to reach the hole, and it has to start on the correct line to account for any slope (or break).
Every drill we cover and every technique we discuss will be designed to improve one or both of these essential skills.
Your putting stroke starts before the putter even moves. A consistent, comfortable setup is the repeatable foundation that allows a good stroke to happen. Let’s break it down into simple, manageable pieces.
Unlike a full swing, the putting grip is all about stability and minimizing unwanted wrist movement. You want your hands to work as a single, stable unit. While there are many popular grips, their objective is the same: to prevent your hands from getting "flippy" or overly active during the stroke.
Don't be afraid to experiment to find what feels most natural and gives you the most control. There is no single "correct" grip, only the one that works best for you.
Your stance provides the stable base for the rocking motion of the stroke. Here’s how to set it up.
Where you place the ball in your stance influences the quality of your strike. For a pure, consistent roll, you want to strike the ball at the very bottom or on the slight upswing of the putting stroke.
With the setup dialed in, the putting stroke itself becomes much simpler. The goal is to create a smooth, repeating pendulum motion, powered by the big muscles in your back and shoulders, not the small, twitchy muscles in your hands and wrists.
Think of a grandfather clock. The pendulum swings back and forth from a single pivot point at the top, moving with a steady, unhurried rhythm. In putting, your shoulders and upper chest form a triangle with your arms and hands. Your goal is to rock this triangle back and forth.
Imagine a fixed point at the base of your neck. The entire "triangle" unit should pivot around this point. Your head should stay very still, and your lower body should remain quiet. When done right, the wrists will stay passive, simply going along for the ride.
Rhythm is essential for solid contact and distance control. A jerky or rushed stroke is a recipe for disaster. The backswing and forward swing should take roughly the same amount of time. You can develop this rhythm by counting in your head: "one... two..." or "tick... tock..." The backstroke is on "one"/"tick," and the stroke through the ball is on "two"/"tock." Find a tempo that feels smooth and repeatable, and stick with it.
This is one of the most important concepts for mastering speed. You do not hit putts harder to make them go farther. You simply make a longer stroke. For a short putt, the backstroke might only be a few inches. For a long lag putt, the backstroke will be much longer, extending past your back foot.
By using the same tempo on every putt and only varying the length of your stroke, you bring incredible predictability to your distance control. The "tock" of your stroke should always be at least as long as the "tick" - never stop your putter at the ball.
Reading the green is simply the process of determining which way, and how much, a putt will curve due to slope. It's a skill that improves with experience, but here are some tips to get you started.
Feel it in Your Feet: Your feet are great slope detectors. As you walk toward your ball on the green, and especially when you stand behind it, you can often feel if you're standing on an uphill, downhill, or sidehill lie.
Look from the Low Side: The best view of a putt's break is often from the low side - the side the ball is going to curve toward. Crouching down from this vantage point can help expose the true slope.
Find an Aim Point: Once you determine the break, don't aim at the hole (unless the putt is dead straight). Instead, pick a spot - a blade of grass, an old ball mark - on your intended starting line, and focus on rolling the ball directly over that spot. This simplifies your task. For big-breaking putts, you can visualize an "apex," which is the highest point of the putt's curve, and make that your target.
Knowledge is great, but putting is a motor skill that improves only through practice. These drills directly target the core competencies of line and speed.
In the end, effective putting isn't about some secret technique but about mastering a few simple fundamentals. Build a solid, repeatable setup, use your shoulders to create a smooth pendulum stroke, and practice with drills that give you clear feedback on your speed and line. Making that your focus will unlock more confidence - and lower scores - on the greens.
As you work on these fundamentals, questions will always pop up on the course or at the range. To help you get clear answers when you need them most, you can use our app, Caddie AI, to get instant, a personalized golf coach right in your pocket. Whether you're standing over a double-breaking putt and need help with a read, or you’re practicing at home and have a question about grip pressure, you can ask for expert guidance and get the right tip right away.
Thinking about hosting a golf tournament fundraiser is the first swing, executing it successfully is what gets the ball in the hole. This guide will walk you through the entire process, step-by-step, from laying the initial groundwork months in advance to watching your happy golfers tee off. We’ll cover everything from securing sponsors and setting your budget to planning the on-course fun that makes an event unforgettable.
A golf handicap does more than just give you bragging rights (or a reason to demand strokes from your friends) - it’s the game’s great equalizer and the single best way to track your improvement. This guide breaks down what a handicap is, how the supportive math behind a handicap index a is, and exactly how you can get one for yourself. We’ll look at everything from Course Rating to Adjusted Gross Score, helping you feel confident both on the course and in the clubhouse.
The compression of a Pinnacle Rush golf ball is one of its most defining features, engineered specifically to help a huge swath of golfers get more distance and enjoyment from their game. We'll break down exactly what its low compression means, who it's for, and how you can use that knowledge to shoot lower scores.
Figuring out which spikes go into your new (or old) pair of Puma golf shoes can feel like a puzzle, but it’s much simpler than you think. The key isn't the brand of the shoe, but the type of receptacle system they use. This guide will walk you through exactly how to identify your Puma's spike system, choose the perfect replacements for your game, and change them out like a pro.
The Golf Genius app is one of the best tools for managing and participating in competitive golf events, but figuring it out for the first time can feel like reading a new set of greens. This guide cuts through the confusion and shows you exactly how to use the app as a player. We’ll cover everything from logging into your tournament and entering scores to checking the live leaderboard so you can enjoy the competition without any tech headaches.
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