Nothing in putting is worse than leaving the ball short. It’s an awful feeling knowing that no matter what would have happened, you’re ball wouldn’t have made it to the hole, even on the perfect line. So how do you gage the right speed of a putt? How do you practice this? In the following Easy Golf Tip, I will cover a simple way to judge the speed of a putt, and how you can practice until you are a pro.

I am sure you have noticed that if you play golf in the morning the grass might be shiny and if you play in the afternoon the grass might look dull. If you see shiny grass, this means you will be putting with the grain. Putting with the grain will create a quicker ball speed, thus you need to lay back a little on the putt. If you see dull grass when putting, this means your ball is moving against the grain. Putting against the grain means your ball will move slower and you will need to putt with a bit more force.

I know a great tool used to practice judging the speed of a putt. You first need to lineup for a putt about 4 ft away. Lay your driver on the green directly in front of the hole so the shaft of the driver is blocking the way in. Make sure the shaft is on the ground and not elevated. Take aim at the hole and hit your 4 ft putt. If you hit the putt too lightly, the ball will either not reach the shaft of the driver or it will hit the shaft and stop rolling. If you putt the ball too hard, the ball will hit the shaft and go right over the hole and keep rolling. The perfect putt will hit the shaft, hop over it and fall right into the cup. The perfect speed of a putt will want to stop about a foot past the hole.

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