by Andre Sanchez

One of the most rewarding aspects of your game to concentrate on is how to improve your putting. Your putting can make or break your game, and one simple missed putt from three feet can make that 400 yard drive totally meaningless.  It might as well have been a 4 yard drive.

The strange aspect of this is that golf players can spend all day bashing balls down the golf range, yet restrict their putting practice to a few balls before they head off home, satisfied that they have put in a great day’s practice.  They then go off to the medal competition, get on in the green in regulation every shot, and end up five or six over. Surely that should send some message, but no!  There they go, the following week, hours on the driving range and ten minutes on the putting green.  Another great day’s practise put in!

If putting makes up well over 35% of your scorecard or even more, why give it so little focus in your practise?  A good putter is one that can develop a repetitive stroke putt after putt, so that all that need be done is judge length and borrow. How much would you give to shave four or five strokes off your card every round?  Don’t answer that, but what I will say to you is that a repetitive putting action is the key, and to develop that takes a lot of repetitive practice.

Since putting practice is very much a matter repetition, then you can do it anywhere.  Sure, enjoy your day on the range, but also spend some time at home on the carpet or in the office practising your putting. Make sure you use your regular putter, and you are all set.  Aim at a table leg or use a ball trap, but practise regularly, and you will eventually develop a putting action that you can use repetitively without thought.  You have too much to do when putting to worry about your action.

Posture is very important, and you stand loose and relaxed with your knees slightly bent.  Your arms and shoulders should form a triangle and you should feel properly balanced and relaxed with no tension.  It is important to practice at developing a relaxed posture or otherwise you will be likely to snatch at the ball. Another important aspect of putting is that you can only hit the ball straight.  You cannot cut or fade it, so practise aiming at a target, and hitting the ball straight to the target every time.  Then your success will depend only upon your reading of the green, and you need not worry about putting out of true.

If you find that a putting aid might help you then there are many on the market.  You should be able to check them out at your golf store, and also give them a try to determine if they are going to help you or not.  If you find you like the way any of them operate, then by all means go for it, but keep in mind that your two objectives are a good regular stance and a putting stroke that you use time after time without change.

However, the simple putting aids are often the best, and all you need do is practise putting into a glass lying on its side on the floor – aim for the open end!  It helps if your carpet is not too thick or you are not putting over a wooden floor that tends to have quite an excessive borrow.  Then again, that might just be what you need for practise!

A very useful training aid is a golf putting matt that is designed to provide the speed of an average putting green (whatever that is) while maintaining as straight and flat a surface as you can get.  Naturally, it depends on how flat the base is, but it is better to use that on a wooden floor than using the floor itself.

The answer to good putting is practise, practise, practise and to build yourself a good repetitive putting action that comes naturally without thought.  You should be able to walk up, assume the position and shoot without any thought other than the run of the green.  That is how to improve your putting.

How To Improve Your Putting was originally published at http://www.golfplayernow.com