Putting detail and ball position
Ready when: Putting grip and tick-tock (b1) and Pre-shot routine and alignment (i2) done.
What you are learning
Finer putting: eyes over the line from ball to hole, shoulders, hips, knees and feet parallel to it, and the putter face square to the line when it hits the ball. Then judging longer and sloping putts by the length of the backswing.
Words on this card Putter, Green, Hole, Putt, Backswing
- Putter
- The flat-faced club used on the green to roll the ball into the hole.
- Green
- The smooth, very short grass round the hole, where players putt.
- Hole
- The hole in the green, with a flag standing in it.
- Putt
- A gentle stroke that rolls the ball along the green.
- Backswing
- The club going back, the club swinging on past the ball, and the balanced pose at the end.
Show it first for the one teaching
- Lay a straight line of tape from the ball toward the hole.
- Stand with the eyes right over the tape, shoulders and feet parallel to it.
- Putt so the putter face stays square to the tape through the hit.
- For a longer putt, make a longer backswing, not a harder hit.
Your part while they practise
Watch the eyes and the putter face.
Step by step
- Eyes over the ball-to-target line.
- Shoulders, hips, knees and feet parallel to it.
- The putter face square at impact.
- Putts of 3, 5 and 7 m, including uphill and downhill.
How much: 15 putts 10 min a session 3 days a week
Say one thing Pick one line from "What you will see" for today and say only that.
The game: Three lives
A putt that stops in a square round the hole keeps a life and moves you back; a miss loses a life.
Who plays: the child against their own best, or against you.
How to play, turn by turn
- Turns
- Mark a 1 m square round the hole
- Start 3 m away with 3 lives
- A putt that stops in the square scores and moves you 1 m back; a putt outside loses a life
- The game ends when all 3 lives are lost
- Fair play
- A grown-up has 2 lives.
- Points
- 1 point for each putt that stops in the square.
- Fouls
- Lose a life
- The eyes not over the line at the start
- A jab or a hit with no backswing
- Looking up before the ball has gone
- Winning
- Beat your best score.
- 3 points for 1 star
- 5 points for 2 stars
- 8 points for 3 stars
Easier or harder
Short putts.
Slopes and 7 m.
What you will see, and what to say
- the ball pulls left
Face square at the ball
Keep the face looking at the hole. - the pace is wrong
Longer backswing for longer putts
Same rhythm, longer swing.
Self-check
6 of 10 putts from 3 m finish within a putter-head length.
Stop and get a coach when
Back or wrist pain.
Fitness for this
Warm up first: how to warm up, at workonfitness.com. For strength and stretching, its exercise library shows each exercise step by step, with an easier version.
This card trains putting.
awiseathlete.com/sports/golf/golf-i3