Best Putting Drills For Speed & Alignment [Indoor/Outdoor]

Putting needs practice and discipline, if you are not trying to enhance your putting and not practicing it then there is no chance that you can improve on it.

Everyone wants to shoot lower scores and bask in glory, but only a few understand the importance of practicing and spend time on that. So just stop wasting your time on hitting more 7-irons on the range and bombing more drivers, then one thing you should focus all your energy on is putting.

In fact, the number of greens and fairways you hit doesn’t matter after a certain level. Phill and tiger are considered the most successful players on tour yet their fairway hits are much lower than other players. As experts, they know that it is to hole putts and scoring that matter the most.

In the words of Tiger woods how I pay golf- his autobiography “I am at least as captivated by putting as I am the full swing that is why I practice so much”  

So here is a guaranteed best putting drill that would ensure that you would improve on the goldfields.

Top 6 Putting Drills Listed Below

Types of Practice Drills:

Before moving any further on the topic of best putting drills, you should understand the different ways through which you could practice putting. So given below is the list three min drill ways:

➽ Warm-Up For Pre-Round:

When you are going around you should make sure to get familiar with the speed of the greens. You should never try to make any big tweaks or try to improve your putting stroke. In this practice, you should not even make long putts and shouldn’t worry you either.

Your aim should be to get maximum short puts, reach the hole, and get the right speed. This practice would boost up your confidence ahead of the round. You should try and give your best on making putts and avoid any three-putts.

➽ Block Practice:

Block practice is all about focusing on your technique and form instead to hole the putts. Block practice doesn’t even require you to have a target. In this, you are focusing on mechanics and fundamentals so you must in fact stay away from targets completely. 

It is all about learning and making new moves you try to ingrain. In other words, when you focus on your stroke when putting a hole, you are in reality training yourself in missing putts. Your aim should be to avoid trying to make it and concentrate on becoming a better putter and making changes for that.

When you work on things like putting topspin on your putts and aiming the putter your block drills improve.

➽ Competitive Practice:

Last but certainly not least is the competitive practice. It is where you bring out your best putting drills. This drill is not about just aimlessly putting around but in this, you have a goal and you are focused on that.

The goal and set drill adds a competitive feel and enhances your focus to your session even when playing alone. Of course, the competition increases with a friendly wager or even a golfing friend.

The best thing that sets the competitive apart is that instead of per-round warm-up or simple block practice this requires a more green reading.

The Best Putting Drills For Speed & Alignment

1. Block Practice or One-Handed Putting Drill:

This drill is best to improve your stability of hands and also make you more attentive to putter face along the stroke. It teaches you to learn more about the feeling of putter face release in a stroke.

This drill needs no targets, just use it if you had bad rounds and are resting your stroke or on new greens.

2. Phil’s Circle Drill:

Phil Mickelson is undoubtedly one of the most talented players of all time and the circle drill is used by him. This drill boosts up the consistency and confidence from the 3 ft range.

For guaranteed improvement in your game try to make more than 90% of your three footers. It would also relax you on your long putts as you have trained yourself for close ranges in case of a miss.

For this drill

➽ Around the hole place 10 balls in a circle at a distance of 3 feet.

➽ Try to putt all of them in the hole, if putt misses start again.

➽ You should start with 20 or 30 putts in a row and then go on till you reach 100.

This is Phil’s secret as he does this before each round in the competition, which is really awesome. You should schedule to do it once in a week, with putts that matter to you most.

3. Short Putting Drill in a Line:

One of the best drills to improve under pressure short putting, it is very helpful in competitive practice. Here is the routine:

➽ Forming a straight line place balls at 3, 4,5,6,7 from the hole. Select a putt that has a little break and is straight.

➽ Now putt the ball from 3 feet and then walk back to the 7 feet placed ball.

➽ Always try to putt all five puts in a succession, if you fail try over.

This drill is really crucial and helpful in stimulating the pressure putts in the short-range and seeks your attention when you make them.

4. Clock Drill:

If you want help in testing you’re putting from 6 feet and less then clock drill the best, here is how it is done:

➽ At 2-3-4-5-6 feet intervals insert tees into the putting greens, in 4 lines around the hole.

➽ The make 1 putt from every tee in succession.

➽ Then go for 4, 5, and 6 footers. If missed then do it again.

5. Alignment Rod Putting Drill:

This drill is best if you want help with mid-length putts or for finding the perfect speed. It is a favorite drill for many PGA tour players and web.com to get speed on the new greens every week of play.

➽ 18 inches behind the hole lay an alignment rod.

➽ Find a putt that is 25 to 30 feet using ten balls. For a total of thirty puts try this 3 times by using the scoring system.

➽ Now try to put every ball near the hole but just short of the alignment rod.

➽ Now the scoring:

➽ 2 points for the hole the putt

➽ 1 point for short of the rod but past the hole

➽ -1 point for past the alignment rods

➽ 0 points for less than 2 feet short

➽ -1 point for shortly more than 2 feet

The ideal score would be for 30 putts scores of 20. With improvement and practice change the difficulty of the putt and adjust the score.

6. Lag Putting Drills:

We should always avoid to lag it inside 3 feet when wanting to get long putts closer to the hole. This error or habit makes the gofer lethargic and would not let them pick a target. This habit for wanting long putts leaves a golfer with more 4 and 6 footers than you need in around.

To get closer to your second putt try to use the lag putting drill:

➽ To start from the hole pace off putts of 10-30-40-50 feet from the hole. But do not put all in the same row.

➽ Now hit 1 putt from each space, do it until you get all 5 putts in succession in a 3-foot radius to the hole.

➽ If you miss the putt within three feet, do it again.

Drills Before The Round Putting:

If you get the chance before your tee time, do observe how most golfers try to warm up. You would be amazed to find that almost 99.99/5 of them start like this:

➽ Without putting any prior putts to gauge speed, they would throw down 3 to 5 balls and would start putting at holes.

➽ Then I would make some long ones and try putts that would set them for 3 putts.

➽ In 5 minutes of this activity, they would get bored and straight away head towards the 1st tee, range, or bar. Are you the same?

This is a sure shot cocktail for failure on course. You should not fall to this trap and should only focus on one thing achieving the speed of the greens and gaining confidence.

So here are the perfect putting drills meant for your success before your first tee.

➽ To Warm Up Distance Control Putt to The Fringe:

This drill is all about learning the speed of the greens without trying to make it or thinking about the direction. In this drill, you should not be concerned about putting a cup instead of putt towards the edge of the fringe at twenty to thirty feet in many directions. This drill ensures you’re hitting putts from many directions and not focused on making it.

➽ Draining The 3 Footers

Now once when the speed gets down the ball would head to the cup. Don’t commit the mistake of practicing with 15 and 30 footers which are even difficult for the PGA players. Try to make more 3 footers as much as you can. Start with at least 30 before each round like me.

➽ For 20-30 Footers Putt to a Tee:

Once you master the ball onto the hall in the short-range, you should try and master the putts of mid-range. Now you must hit a tee instead of putting it in the cup. The reason for this is that the smaller the target the more would be your focus and emphasize speed.

Best Putting Drills Final Conclusion And Thoughts:

I believe that now you have the insight on what and how to practice and avoid wandering onto putting green. Focusing on you religiously would improve your game at any level.

By using the above stated new pre-round routines and competitive practice drills you are all set for success. You would definitely shoot lower scores and that too regularly if you do the putting practice. One final advice is that you should get yourself a good putting green indoors so that you can practice these drill at the comfort of your home in spare time.