When you do these drills do you guys just goto the practice area of whatever your home course is and lock up a cup to yourself? I'd guess so but I'm dumb so I thought I'd ask.

Also, marking 3-feet, do you do it like Mickelson and use your putter shaft to measure, marking the spots with some tees? Is it cool to just stab tees into these practice greens?

Thanks, I can't wait to work on my short game like the pros and get super frustrated. I was also thinking of tailoring it to my noob-like skill by doing something like, make ten three-footers in a row, and do that 3 times. Rather than 25/25 or 20/25. This way I can still have that "make or break" moment at the end of each string.

I'm very interested in trying this, but the quoted post encapsulates the problem I have achieving anything away from the putting green. I have the exact same problems as prohornblower. Now of course I could just go onto the golf course and try this, but I doubt my fellow members are going to be too happy with me holding the whole place up nor will the ground staff be happy with me digging up the fairways or making loads of pitchmarks on the greens, lol

I'm in the same boat as you guys.. As a public golfer I am at the mercy of my nearest driving range and/or limited to the practice facilities at whatever courses I am playing.

The putting drills aren't an issue, almost everywhere I practice and play has a suitable putting green. However, working on 50/60/70 yard pitching was practically impossible for me. There is one driving range that I go to that has an amazing short-game area, but they charge an hourly rate for it. Most of the other courses I play at have a "no chipping/pitching" sign on their greens. I did find one of the high-end public courses up here with two greens that are for short-game practice only, but as a corporate golf facility it gets really busy and I have a hard enough time hitting greens from far out, never mind greens that have moving targets around them . There's nothing worse than driving 35 minutes to get there on a weeknight only to find out I don't have the room I want to practice.

My solution last year was to work my short-game practice into my weekend rounds, either before or after the round. I'd find out if the course I was playing at had a suitable short-game practice area and then I would either show up unreasonably early (sometimes as early as 2 hours before my round) and get in an entire putting, short-game and range practice or I would wait until the round was over to practice again. This sometimes had a negative effect as I would tire myself out before or during the round, however, my game got better than ever last year as I really worked hard on short-game.

Most courses or practice facilities won't have an issue with someone putting tees into the putting surface. The surface is designed to act like a sponge and the holes won't be noticeable after you take the tees out. If any of the staff at the facility make a fuss over it, let them know that you intend to repair the holes with a divot tool. However, just make sure you don't forget the tees as they could damage the ground if someone walked into one or a cutting machine rode over it.

I don't see why you would want/have to stick tees in the putting green. That seems totally unnecessary. I just laid my putter down and set a ball there, and had a bunch of balls next to it in a cluster (like 10) so I could just grab one and get at it. Once you hit enough of them it's easy to eyeball. It should also be 3 shoe lengths (though I wouldn't walk it off from the hole). Just eyeball it using your shoe as a 1'-0" marker.

Tees are great though, I use 8 of them to make a circle and then move around it for the putting, so I don't hit the same putt twice in a row. Also a standard 56* wedge is 3 feet long so that is a good way to measure

classic!! Good improvement on the lag putts!

There's a couple guys I know in that area that are great instructors - I'll see if I have their contact info & send you a PM.

Absolutely not a dumb question! I usually try to find a cup that gives me some various breaks and where I can hit some longer putts. I lay the putter down & figure that's pretty close to 3 ft (mine is 34 inches), and I find an imperfection on the green & use that as a spot. You can put tees in the green, that's not a big deal - actually when I have students do the lag putts, I put tees in a 3-foot circle around the hole (I usually use 4-6 tees to make the circle). Sometimes for clinics I'll circle the hole w/tees at 3, 6, 10 feet & wrap some string around each tee so the circles are really visible - great for chipping & pitching!

I think you have a GREAT idea doing 3 sets of 10 to begin! After a couple weeks, work your way to 2 sets of 15, etc! That's exactly what I want - figure out what works best for you & tailor the program to help you improve.

I play off 11 and the putting technique when I was off 20 managed to drop me 4 shots off my handicap in the matter of a few weeks.
Solidly last summer on the putting green from 3-10 feet hours a day, not going on the course and my handicap shot down from 20-15.5 in the space of 3 medals.

Golf is all about practising and consistancy as many of you know.

Top post OP but not the easiest thing to achieve.

Guys, my apologies - I saw that post the other day & completely forgot to reply.

Not having a green shouldn't be a huge problem, we just need to get something that you can pitch towards that will give you some distance control. I completely understand the frustration of not having a practice facility - the course where I grew up didn't have a range, just a very, very small putting green. I'm going to throw out some ideas, some may work, some may not, and if none are workable, let me know & we'll come up with something else.

If you're on the range, you can find an imperfection on the range that's close to the yardage (say, 40 yds), and set some parameters around it (a hill, dark/light spot, weeds, whatever) to make an imaginary green - just try to land it in that area - it doesn't have to be perfect, and don't worry if it rolls, just get comfortable landing the ball on your "green." You can use the same for your irons - see where a decent shot flies, and try to find some reference points around that to create a target green & try to land balls in that spot.

If you have some shag balls, and this is an option, it's my favorite way to do this away from the course - find a park or better yet, a football field, and set some towels out at the yardages and hit shots towards those. A football field is awesome b/c the yardages are already marked off for you - I spent a lot of time as a junior/college golfer on the practice football field in the summer - I'd hit balls from the goal line to the 40 yd line, then to the goal line, then turn around & go the other way. When I wanted to really have fun, I'd hit "field goals" & try to fly balls through the goal posts. Obviously, this might not be a workable solution for everyone, but if you can find a park or field, it's a great way to practice the less than 100 yard shots.

As far as the bunkers go, if there's a bunker on the range, see if you can lay a towel down 15-20 feet outside it, or (if it's not windy) open an umbrella & shove it in the ground & try to fly balls into it. If that's not a workable option, you can try what I did as a junior (the course I grew up on didn't have any bunkers either), I would grab a 50lb bag of sand & dump a little out in a field or park & just hit some shots out of it - it's the same as a bunker - same swing, just a different look to it. Honestly, it may be better sand than some of the practice range bunkers I've seen! Like I said, these ideas may not be perfect, but they may give you a chance to do some short game practice when the facility isn't optimal for practice.

I think hitting a few practice shots on the course in off-peak times is a great way to work on some shots. If no one is behind you, drop 3-6 balls in various lies around the green & try to pitch/chip them inside a flagstick length. You don't have to hit 25 shots from the same spot, just a couple from various lies on each hole will do wonders for you!

Let me know if any of those ideas will work, if not, we'll come up with something else! Once again, sorry for missing the question earlier!

Thanks! You're exactly correct - improving your putting can knock so many strokes off your game in a short time! The great thing is: when as your putting improves, it takes so much pressure off your full-swing - you don't feel like you need to hit approach shots to inside 3 feet if you're putting well. Good putters know they have a chance to make it from anywhere, and that frees up their approach shots because they're not worried about 3-putting - in return because they're relaxed, & there's less pressure, they hit it closer!

Have been doing the inside 3 ft and lag putting for the past 2 weeks after my work on the range (swing changes from lessons), and this has helped me so much.

Just played 9 holes this morning and even while going through a swing change (not striking all my irons solidly), shot a +1 (36)... With just 13 putts! My wedge game is getting really solid, and with the help of the beginning of this routine, my putting is catching up really fast!

I love it!! Great job - keep up the good work - the season is still early!! Can we say "career low this summer!"?

For sure... Playing poker allows me a ton of time to work on my golf game. Feels good to swing "more" correctly after taking lessons (obv I'm not there yet), and to see my practice time around the greens paying off.

Thanks for everything your doing... I also may be coming through the atlanta area when driving back to KY to visit family in the next couple weeks. Maybe I could schedule a club fitting at your facility...

Preliminary analysis after "attempting" to start the routine: This is going to take a long time.......

I think the best I managed to do was like 10 in a row 3 footers.

Absolutely!! Please let me know when you're in the area - I'd love to help!

That's o.k. - take it in small chunks & make 10 in a row your goal at first, then move to 15, then 20, etc.

You'll notice a difference in a short time! Enjoy the journey!

use pennies or ball markers tees are fine in greens though once you don't embed them completely.

since at first i had this issues with the 25 footers, i became a little addicted into putting although i already finished them. Atm i have my 7 Meter (20 feet) line on my Living room carpet to pratice Putting in front of the TV. I try to be online for the 7 Meters on fast and slow putts.
Think this is a good home practice.

you sir, have absolutely nothing to apologise for

The 45 footers are impossible.

Did the 3 footers this morning first time out. massive pressure around 22-23, lol

And the lag putts from 20 foot and 30 foot were fine, but 45 foot was a massive problem. I was hugely inconsistent with my distance and forget about 3 foot, I was regularly leaving it short or long by 6-10 foot.

Being a little dramatic maybe?.. Every single person on this board has the mindset to improve and advance there game in whatever it is there reading about and I'm damn sure every golfer on this board plays with the passion and dedication to get this practice routine done without freaking out.

Plus it's not like were going to our 9/5 here, golf is fun and if you can't have fun doing this practice routine then your doing it wrong in the first place imo.



OP I"ll be guinea pig #2. Started playing in May, best rounds a 92, average 100, and this routine is exactly what I've been looking for, even a step ahead because all I worked on yesterday was lag putts after reading about how important they were.
Gona do this routine every day that I get a chance to sneak into my grandpa's golf club which will hopefully be 3 days a week.
I'll report back after my routines are done an.d I played a round on the following weekend

We found the "weakness" in your game - well, that and a good pint of Guinness, right?

Work those long lag putts - it will get better quickly!

Nice!! Let's do it! Keep me posted - I'm looking forward to some great results! I love your attitude about having fun!

I tried the 45 foot lag putts yesterday as well. I think the best I could do was 5 or 6 in a row inside 3 feet. It wasn't too bad though because when I missed it was only by a foot or two at the most outside the 3 foot circle.

For the 3 footers, the best I could do was 18 out of 20. I was satisfied with that and moved on to lag putts haha.

And I did the 8 out of 10 chips first try.