Part One
The three checkpoints.
Putting is the most forgiving part of golf when you keep it simple. Three things make a stroke you can trust — and these are the three to check before every putt.
01 · Setup
Eyes over the ball, body still.
Comfortable and balanced, eyes directly over or just inside the ball, arms hanging softly from your shoulders. Light grip pressure, ball a touch forward of centre. Once you're set, stay still — the body is just a stand for the stroke.
02 · Stroke
Rock the shoulders, quiet hands.
The stroke is a pendulum from your shoulders — back and through, the same length each way, like a clock. Hands and wrists stay quiet; they don't hit at it. Same smooth tempo on every putt, long or short.
03 · Roll
Start it on line, trust the speed.
Keep the putter low and moving through toward your target, gently accelerating — then hold the finish. Pick your line, roll the ball over a spot just in front, and let it go. Don't steer it and don't peek.
Part Two
Read it. Roll it. Trust it.
Good putting is mostly good speed. Here's the simple routine we ran today — it gets your eyes and your stroke working together instead of fighting each other.
01
Read
From behind the ball, see which way the green tilts. Pick your line and a spot a few inches in front of the ball to roll over. Commit to it.
02
Speed
Speed is king. Picture the ball dying at the hole — or trickling 12 inches past. The length of your stroke sets the pace: longer for longer putts, never harder.
03
Roll
One look at the hole, one smooth stroke, start it over your spot — and trust it. Listen for it to drop instead of looking up to watch.
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Speed controls everything. Get the pace right and the three-putts disappear.
Part Three
What we did today.
A recap of the hour, in order — so you can mentally rewalk it on the putting green and remember what each piece felt like.
The Why
Half the game lives here.
We started with the math: nearly half of your shots are putts. No part of the game gives back strokes faster — and it asks for zero power, just a little care.
The Setup
Eyes over, body quiet.
We built a still, balanced setup — eyes over the ball, light grip, arms hanging — so the stroke had a steady base to swing from. Calm body, calm stroke.
The Pendulum
Equal back, equal through.
We rocked the shoulders with quiet hands and used a gate of tees to groove a stroke that goes back and through the same length, on the same path.
The Speed
Lag putts to a zone.
Long putts, trying to die each one at the hole or just past — learning that pace, not a perfect line, is what kills three-putts.
The Send-Off
Short ones, made with belief.
We finished inside three feet, starting each putt over a spot and listening for it to drop — building the kind of confidence you carry to the first green.
This Week
Your homework.
Four small things between now and your next round. Do these and the green stops being scary — it becomes where you win shots back.
i
The gate drill.
Set two tees just wider than your putter head and stroke through without clipping them. It grooves a straight, on-path stroke faster than anything.
ii
Speed ladder.
Putt to 10, 20, and 30 feet, trying to die each one at the hole. Don't aim — just dial pace. Speed is the whole game on long putts.
iii
Spot putting.
Pick a spot a few inches ahead of the ball and roll it over that, not at the hole. Start line becomes automatic, and your eyes stay quiet.
iv
The three-foot circle.
Ring a hole with balls at three feet and hole them all before you leave. Confidence on the short ones changes how the whole round feels.