The shortest club in your bag has the biggest impact on your score, yet the putter is often the least understood. Mastering this club isn't about raw power, it's about control, feel, and a repeatable motion. This guide will walk you through everything you need to know, from your grip and setup to developing a reliable stroke that will save you shots on the green.
Before we get into the technique, it's important to understand the putter's a singular job: to roll the golf ball smoothly and accurately into the hole. Unlike every other club in your bag, the putter has very little loft (typically 2-4 degrees). Its design isn't meant to get the ball airborne, but to create a 'true roll' as quickly as possible. When you putt well, you're not hitting or scooping the ball, you are sending it on a journey across the green with the right speed and on the right line. Thinking of it as a rolling implement, not a hitting one, is the first step toward a totally new mindset on the greens.
Consistency in putting starts before you ever take the club back. A solid, repeatable setup is the bedrock of a great putting stroke. If you set up differently every time, you’ll have a different stroke every time.
Your grip is your direct connection to the club, controlling the clubface direction. While there are several popular styles, the goal is always the same: to keep the wrists from becoming too active and to keep the clubface square at impact. Experiment and find what works for you.
Your key takeaway shouldn't be about which grip is "best," but which one helps you feel the most stable and allows your bigger muscles to control the stroke. Pick one, stick with it, and build confidence in it.
Your setup provides the stable base from which the stroke is made. Here’s how to build a solid one.
A good putting stroke is a simple motion. People get into trouble when they try to use their small, twitchy muscles (hands and wrists) instead of their big, reliable ones (shoulders and torso).
The best putting stroke resembles the swinging motion of a pendulum on a grandfather clock - smooth, rhythmic, with no sudden acceleration or deceleration. The engine for this motion should be the rocking of your shoulders.
Imagine a triangle formed by your shoulders and arms at address. During the putting stroke, your goal is to maintain that triangle and just rock it back and forth. Your lower body should remain completely still. No hip sway, no rising or falling. Lock in your lower body and let your upper body do the work. The wrists should stay passive, simply going along for the ride.
You can execute a perfect stroke, but if your speed is off or you're aimed in the wrong direction, you're going to miss. Improving these two areas is where you’ll really start to see your scores drop.
Speed is arguably more important than line. A putt with the wrong line but perfect speed will finish right next to the hole, leaving an easy tap-in. A putt with perfect line but bad speed could leave you with another six-footer - or worse, roll right off the green.
Distance is controlled by the length of your backstroke, not how hard you hit it. For a longer putt, you need a longer backstroke. For a short putt, a shorter backstroke. The tempo and rhythm should stay the same regardless of the putt's length. Practice this by hitting putts of 10, 20, 30, and 40 feet. Pay attention to how far back you need to take the putter for each distance. Over time, you’ll develop a powerful internal feel for how much stroke is needed for any given length.
Reading the green is a skill that takes practice, but here are some fundamentals to get you started:
Practice with purpose. Five minutes of a focused drill beats 30 minutes of aimless putting.
The simplest way to check if you're starting the ball on line. Place two tees on the ground just wider than your putter head, creating a ‘gate.’ Position your ball in front of the gate. Your goal is to swing the putter through the gate without touching either tee on your backswing or follow-through. It gives you instant feedback on your stroke path.
Excellent for distance control. Place three tees at 15, 20, and 25 feet from you. Start by hitting a putt to the 15-foot tee. On your next ball, you must putt it past the first tee but short of the second one. On the third ball, you need to land it between the 20 and 25-foot tees. This forces you to feel different stroke lengths and develops your touch.
Builds confidence on the putts you should make. Place 4-6 balls in a circle around the hole at a distance of about three feet, like numbers on a clock. Go around the circle and try to make every single one. If you miss, start over. This drill simulates pressure and trains you to confidently stroke every short putt into the back of the cup.
Improving your putting comes down to building a consistent setup and a simple, repeatable stroke powered by your shoulders. By focusing on getting your speed right with a consistent tempo and a well-judged backstroke length, you'll eliminate those costly three-putts and begin to look at every green as an opportunity.
That on-course uncertainty, like whether a putt breaks left or more left, is precisely what we designed Caddie AI to help with. When you're second-guessing a read, you can get immediate, data-driven analysis of the situation and strategic advice, taking the guesswork out of the shot so you can step up and make a confident, committed stroke every time.
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