This practice putting routine was thought up by ex-PGA tour player Brad Faxon. He is widely renowned as being one of golf’s greatest putters.
I frequently share this routine with pupils when they tell me that they are struggling to convert makeable putts from inside of ten feet.
The routine itself is very simple and takes only a matter of minutes to set-up. As well as highlighting inconsistencies in technique, the drill simulates the mental pressure you feel when faced with an important putt.
For purpose of explanation, I have used 8 white golf balls to indicate the par putts from four and six foot and have used a yellow ball to indicate the birdie putts from 8 foot.
SET-UP
Select a hole on the practise green and imagine that it is the centre of a compass.
Then, set up twelve golf balls in lines of three as shown in the image.
- One at four foot from the hole
- The next on the same line six foot from the hole
- Finally the last ball on the same line eight foot from the hole
Do this at compass points North, East, South and West.
THE DRILL ITSELF
You begin at level par – all of the putts from four and six foot are par putts. If you miss a par putt you automatically go one-over par, two-over par and so on. The four balls placed at eight foot (yellow balls in the image) are birdie putts – hole one of these and it counts as one under par and reduces your overall score – holing all four birdie putts will take 4 strokes off of your total.
You can putt the balls in any order you choose.
Your ultimate goal is to hole all 12 putts in succession. Although the chance of doing so is unlikely, with practice you will be able to achieve it. It’s nice to be able to measure progress and improvement – this drill enables you to do so.
The perfect score (holing all 12 putts in a row) will give you four under par (8 pars and 4 birdies).
Set yourself a target – maybe one under par to begin with. Repeat the drill until you achieve your target. Remember your personal best and then try to beat it (or repeat it if you’ve holed them all).
While performing the drill you will notice the pressure you feel increases as you get closer to beating your record. Learning to cope with this pressure will help you when faced with an important putt out
on the course.
Tom Long
Golf Professional
