Peter Krause - Short Game Tips

Did you know that PGA Tour players make 85% of their putts from 3 to 5 feet?  Did you also know they only make 54% of their putts from 5 to 10 feet?  From 10 to 15 feet the percentage of putts made is 26% and from beyond 20 feet the percentage is only 10%.  My point is far too often I see golfers wasting their time practicing the wrong putts.

If you are spending the majority of your time practicing 10 to 15 foot putts, then that tells me a number of things about your game.  One, it says your first putt is not getting close enough to the hole. Second, it says that when you chip or pitch the ball onto the green, you're not getting the ball close enough. And three, it says you happened to hit a reasonable iron into the green and have given yourself a chance to make a birdie.

I suggest you spend the majority of your time hitting as many long putts as possible when you practice and putts within a 3 to 5 circle.  Those are the only putts that really matter.  Say for instance you average three, 3 putts per round and hit 9 greens.  If you eliminate the 3 putts and convert on four of the up-and-ins, you just shaved 7 shots off of your round.  You did not have to make a swing change for this to happen!

The key to becoming a better putter is having the ability to control the direction your putt and the distance the putt needs to travel.  You can immediately start improving both areas with this one simple drill.  Place a tee just outside the toe of your putter and one just inside the heel of the putter.  Place your ball between them and see if you can hit the ball without hitting a tee, this will teach you to strike the putt in the center of the clubface which will produce the true roll on the ball.  If you hit the inside tee, then you struck the ball off the toe, hit the outside tee, you struck the ball on the heel.

Once you are able to hit a solid putt, simply go out and practice from various distances.  Focus on the length and tempo of your swing for each distance.  With a little practice, you will be saving shots on a regular basis.