First, understand that putting is very much an “individual” aspect of the game.

There are many different ways to hold your putter, most of which are perfectly acceptable.

Different putting “stances” can be effectively employed.

So, as long as your grip and stance are repeatable and consistent and your hands work together during the stroke, you are really on your own there.

Hold your putter and stand to the ball the way you feel most comfortable.  Make sure your eyes are directly over the ball, as this is key in that it makes the stroke more effective.
 

Having your eyes over the ball while putting, helps to eliminate pushing or pulling the ball off line.

As in all golf shots, it is imperative in putting that you not hit at the ball.  You must be accelerating the putter head as it reaches the ball and continue that acceleration down the line after the ball is gone.

You will control the speed of your putts by the length of your backswing.  The key thing in good putting is acceleration through, not at, the ball.

Just make sure your consistent in those areas.  Repeatability breeds comfort and comfort helps breed confidence.

Believe me, thinking and “feeling” like you’re going to make putts actually helps you do it.  So, have a positive attitude about your putting.

Putting itself is simplistic in its concept, yet PGA Tour professionals miss approximately 50-percent of their putts from 6 feet.

As you get farther from the hole, the “make” percentage goes down exponentially.

You might say, “Wow.  Thanks.  That really helps my confidence!”  Actually, it should.

If the best players in the world are considered “great” if they can make a little more than half their putts from 6 feet you should feel confident in your ability to be, at least, almost that good.

So, why does something that looks that easy, end up being difficult?

Well, there are actually quite a few factors working against us making putts.

By the way, we’ll talk more about this later, but those same pros we know miss half their putts from 6 feet, make about 95-percent of their 3-foot putts.

So, let’s move on to the factors that don’t help us be better putters.

Well, for one thing, most of the greens that amateurs play on are not in fabulous condition.  Seldom are surfaces that are supposed to be flat, flat.

Bumps, undulations, footprints, barely discernable changes in topography, un-repaired ball marks and unevenly mowed greens can all work against our making putts.

These things can be overcome however. Not always, mind you, but I’d say, oh, about half of the time.

You overcome these negatives with the one positive you can own: a solid, repeatable putting stroke.

Okay, let’s look at some other factors that will help us putt better on course.

We are probably all aware that green conditions change from course to course.  This is yet another thing that works against us, however we can often compensate by using the time before we tee off to use the practice putting green.

I would suggest that you spend no less than 15 minutes practice putting.

Here’s a great routine for “feeling out” the greens of the course you’re about to play:  Take 3 balls and attempt at least 12 practice putts from about 50 feet.

Then, take 12 putts from 15 feet, then 12 putts from 3 feet.

Repeat this procedure at least twice changing holes.  The reason we need to do this is this will give us a feel for the “speed” of the greens.

Speed, the rate the ball is traveling toward the hole, is the most important factor in putting.

Learn to control the speed of your putts and you will get better very quickly.

Why is this so?  Well, let’s talk about this for a moment.

Most players are far too concerned with the “line” of the putt (where they’re aiming).

Knowing where to aim is important of course, but agonizing over the line of a putt isn’t the answer to better putting.

We’ll talk about “reading” greens in a bit, but for now, let’s talk about speed, which is far more important.

Assuming you pick what you feel is a perfect line, it does you absolutely no good, unless you roll the ball on that line at the correct speed.

Without correct speed, line is meaningless.  The ball simply will not go in the hole.

Ask yourself this:  When was the last time you missed a fairly straight putt by 6 feet right or left of the hole?

I’d venture to say that you don’t do that very often, if at all.  However, I bet you can certainly remember putts that you hit 6 feet past, or left 6 feet short of the hole.

Therefore, line without correct speed is worthless.

If the ball never reaches the hole it will certainly never find the bottom of it.

In the same vein, a putt that does reach the hole, but is traveling at too high a rate of speed, only has a slightly better chance of going in and that chance will be pure luck.

Don’t count on luck.  No percentage there.

So, what our pre-round, practice, putting routine does, is help us gauge the speed of the greens we’re about to play.

This gives us the best chance to make the most putts.  Speed is vitally important because that is what you will most often get wrong.

It’s hard to miss a putt 6 feet wide of the hole, but it’s easy to leave one that short, or that far by.

Get your speed right and you will do the next most important thing besides making your first putt, which is, leaving yourself an extremely short and highly make-able second putt.

You should be able to make a very high percentage of short putts.

The key is to make your second putt, should there be one, simple and easy to make.  This takes the terror out of putting.

Therefore, speed control is the answer to better putting and lower scores.  It’s really that simple.

Attempt to roll all putts at a speed that, should you miss it, it end up 12 inches past the hole.  This way, you give the ball the best chance to hold the intended line and use the entire cup.

In other words, at that speed, even putts that aren’t exactly in the center of the hole still have a chance to drop.

Okay, we’ve worked on our stroke and feel good about it.  So we’re on to the reading of putts.

Seldom will you have a putt over 3 feet that is dead flat and dead straight.

Most putts will either be left to right or right to left, uphill, or downhill.

Sometimes a combination of all those things!  Putts that are not dead straight are said to have “break” in them.

Break meaning "turning" of some kind.  This is caused by the contour or slope of the putting green.

Sometimes the break of a putt can be extremely subtle or extremely severe.  Balls can turn as little as 2 inches or as much as 10 feet depending on the green being played.

In reading a putt, there are several factors to consider.  Is it uphill?  Is it downhill?  Left to right, right to left?  Is there more than one break?

Sometimes you’ll be going left, right, uphill and downhill all on the same putt.  This is known as a “double or triple breaker.”  Mostly, it’s a "heartbreaker."

Thankfully, most times things won’t be so be so severe.

Since a putter has a nearly flat face and no grooves with which to impart spin, you cannot make a putt turn or curve.  In reading a breaking putt, we need a vivid imagination.

We have to see the slope and find its apex.  The apex of a breaking putt is the point at which we feel the ball will begin to turn as the result of the green’s contour.

The goal is to hit a straight putt to the apex and then allow contour and gravity do the rest and take the ball to the hole.

So what I am telling you is that on any significantly, breaking putt, your aiming point cannot be the hole, itself.

You have to pick the spot at which you feel the putt will turn and hit a straight putt to that point.

As a matter of fact, many times the aiming point is not the center of the cup at all.

Sometimes we need to be looking at the sides of the hole for our ball to gain entry.

For example, as we look head on at a putt that breaks two feet from left to right we need to visualize a putt that will have our ball rolling into the left side of the cup.

On a putt such as this, if we are looking and aiming at the front of the cup, our ball will miss the hole to the right.  The slope will take it away from the hole.

So we must aim our putter two feet left of the hole, align our body parallel left of that, stroke a straight putt and allow the break to take the ball into the left side of the hole.

Try to practice breaking putts as often as you can.  Doing this, will help you develop a keen sense of what your ball will do, when faced with a similar breaking putt, while playing.

Great putting takes vivid imagination, good eyesight, and great feel, or touch.  You can develop all those attributes.  All it takes is some practice.

Just remember, sometimes, the hole is not your aiming point!  Meaning that you have to pay attention to the break and stroke your ball accordingly.

Understand that just like a road trip, you have to pay attention to the road.  You can’t just focus on the destination.

What happens when the road turns and you’re only looking at your destination?  Hope your car has airbags.  You get my point.

When reading a putt, you cannot just look at the hole.  You must pay attention to what’s happening slope-wise between your ball and the hole.

When on the course, begin to “read” the green even as you approach it.

See how it is tilted.  Is it higher in back and sloping down to the front?  Is it tilted right to left?  Left to right?  Is there a “bowl effect” in the middle?  Take in as much visual information as possible as quickly as possible.

After you have committed to the direction you need to aim, stick to it!  It’s very important that you trust your read.

Know this: your first read is usually the correct one.  Don’t agonize over the line of the putt.

For every second you stand there analyzing your line, your chance of making that putt goes down dramatically.  Doubt will destroy you.

Pick your line and be decisive about it.  That allows you to stroke the putt with confidence.

Stand behind the ball and look at your aiming point, which, as we now know, may or may not be the hole and take a few practice strokes to try to visualize the speed at which you need to roll the ball.

Obviously, uphill putts will need to be struck more firmly while downhill putts will require more delicacy.

You want to be sure to spend almost all your setup time, looking at the green and almost no time looking at the ball.

It’s a bad mistake to get set up and spend time looking at the ball.  It’s the same as it’s always been.  Nothing has changed.  Forget the ball.

Soak up the terrain.  Set yourself, take one last look at your target and putt the ball.

Don’t stand there for more than a second or two.  Look a last time and stroke the putt.

If you wait any longer than that to pull the trigger you forget your line and more importantly, the feel for the speed.  Line ‘er up and go!  You’ll make more putts this way, I promise.

The next thing that helps you become a better putter is a “routine.”

That simply means that you read, prepare for and stroke EVERY putt, the same way, every time.

By definition, the word routine means: simple, easy, stress free and familiar.  So, why have a routine?

If you have a putting routine from which you never deviate, every putt will “mean” the same to you.

What am I talking about?  There will come a time when you will be faced with crucial putts.  Whether those “crucial” putts are for a tournament win, a club championship, a bet with friends, or for your best score ever, you will have them.

What having a “routine” does for you, is take your focus off the “meaning” of the putt.

You concentrate on your routine and that relaxes you.  You don’t have time to focus on the meaning of the putt because you are concentrating on your routine.

Suddenly, that “knee rattler” for birdie or par, becomes, well, routine.  So, develop a routine and stick to it ALWAYS!