Putting

Putting accounts for roughly 40% of your strokes, and yet it's the easiest part of the game to practice — you can do it on a carpet at home. Small gains here show up on every single hole.

A stroke you can repeat

• Eyes over the ball, hands under your shoulders, gentle grip.
• Rock the shoulders like a pendulum; keep the wrists quiet.
• Equal length back and through. Let the through-stroke match the backstroke so tempo stays smooth.

Speed is king

Three-putts come from poor speed far more often than poor aim. Practice rolling putts to a fringe or a tee so the ball finishes within a foot — distance control is the skill that erases three-putts.

Reading the green

Most beginners under-read break. Walk to the low side, look at the slope between ball and hole, and trust your first read — overthinking ruins more putts than misreads do.

A pre-putt routine that takes ten seconds

Good putters don't think more than beginners — they think the same way every time. Steal this routine:

1. Read from behind the ball. Crouch, pick the line, and choose a spot a metre in front of the ball to roll over.
2. One practice stroke looking at the hole. Not at the ground — at the hole. Your hands calibrate distance from your eyes, like tossing a ball underarm.
3. Set the face behind the ball, one last look, go. The longer you stand over it, the more tension creeps in.

Distance drills that actually work

• The ladder. Put tees at 3, 6 and 9 paces. Roll one ball to each in turn, then back down. Miss the rhythm and you start over — it teaches feel, fast.
• The clock. Four balls in a circle one putter-length from the hole. Hole all four, move to two lengths. Short putts become boring — which is the goal.
• Leapfrog. Roll a ball, then roll the next one just past it, and the next just past that. How many can you fit inside six paces? Pure touch training.

Common errors and what they cause

Decelerating — a long backstroke with a timid strike. The ball bounces off line and dies short. Think short backstroke, accelerating through.

Flicking the wrists — adds loft and randomness. Distance control disappears. Let the shoulders move the club; the wrists just come along.

Peeking early — lifting your head to watch pulls the face open or shut. On short putts, keep your eyes down and listen for the drop.

Practice on your carpet

The floor at home is a perfect putting lab: put two coins down as a gate just wider than the ball and roll putts through it toward a table leg. If the ball passes the gate cleanly, your start line is true — and start line plus speed is the whole game. Ten quiet minutes a week beats an hour of range balls.