Instruction
Research Shows Golfers Should Spend More Time Practicing Short Putts
Putting is an important 40 percent of the game at virtually every level of play. In 2016, the average PGA Tour player needed 29 putts to shoot their average score of 70.85 (41 percent of their strokes). The average 17-handicap golfer needs 34 putts to achieve their average score of 89 (38 percent).
Clearly, not many of us have the physical skill to drive the ball like a Tour player, but almost anyone can putt like a Tour player with the right equipment, technique and practice. There’s been a lot written on the equipment and techniques golfers should use to putt better. What’s not talked about as much is how golfers should practice putting… and from what distances?
For the answer, I studied our ShotByShot.com database recorded at a 17 Slope Adjusted Differential (this was the 12,000-plus rounds when the golfers actually played exactly to their 17 handicap). I had a stronger motive for this research than writing this article. We have added a new product to our ShotByShot.com Strokes Gained analysis: a putting skills test and practice app. Our goal is to provide an additional, simple but intelligent application to accurately test putting skill and focus practice time for meaningful improvement.
Through our research, we learned that a 17-handicap male golfer’s average round includes the following.
Long Game: Only 4.7 GIRs with an average putting distance of 26 feet on these successful GIR’s.
Short Game (shots within 50 yards of the hole):
- 10 chip/pitch shots, successfully hits eight on the green (two errors or missed greens) to an average putting distance of 14 feet.
- Two sand shots. When he successfully hits the green (only 68 percent of his sand attempts), his average putting distance is 17 feet.
Putting (34 total putts including):
- 1-Putts = 3.7
- 2-Putts = 11.8
- 3-Putts = 2.25
- 4-Putts = once in every 20 rounds.
50 Percent Make Distance: The distance from which he will make 50 percent of his putting opportunities is 5 feet. By comparison, the PGA Tour player’s 50 percent make distance is 8 feet.
2-Putt Range: The distance from which he will average 2 putts is 16 feet. This means that outside of 16 feet, our 17 handicap will 3-putt with a greater frequency than 1-putt. The PGA Tour’s 2.0 distance is 34 feet.
I used the data above along with the array of putting opportunities below (first, second and thirds putts) in combination with the putting performance from each distance to project recommended practice. As you can see below, 68 percent of the average golfer’s putting opportunities fall from 15 feet and closer and 41 percent from 5 feet and in.
The chart below displays our average 17 handicaper’s 1-putt and 3-putt percentages by distance range.
Finally, I charted the 1-putt percentages from 3-10 feet for the average 17- and 10-handicap golfers.
Practice Recommendations
- Time? Putting is worth 40 percent of the time you are willing to devote to your golf practice.
- 70 percent of your practice putting time should be devoted to increasing your 1-putt percentages on short putts and extending your 50 percent make distance.
- 30 percent of your putting practice time should be spent improving your distance control on lag putts in the 20-50 foot ranges and extending your two-putt distance.
Short Putts: Star Drill
Distance Control: Lag Putts
Place a tee 20 feet from a target or hole. Use two or three balls and practice lagging them back and forth until you can consistently get the balls to the target, but no farther than 2 feet past the hole. Repeat the drill from 30 and 40 feet trying to leave the putts no farther than 3 feet from the target.
You can test your putting skill and record your practice at www.shotbyshot.com.
There may be no more painful affliction in golf than the “yips” – those uncontrollable and maddening little nervous twitches that prevent you from making a decent stroke on short putts. If you’ve never had them, consider yourself very fortunate (or possibly just very young). But I can assure you that when your most treacherous and feared golf shot is not the 195 yard approach over water with a quartering headwind…not the extra tight fairway with water left and sand right…not the soft bunker shot to a downhill pin with water on the other side…No, when your most feared shot is the remaining 2- 4-foot putt after hitting a great approach, recovery or lag putt, it makes the game almost painful.
And I’ve been fighting the yips (again) for a while now. It’s a recurring nightmare that has haunted me most of my adult life. I even had the yips when I was in my 20s, but I’ve beat them into submission off and on most of my adult life. But just recently, that nasty virus came to life once again. My lag putting has been very good, but when I get over one of those “you should make this” length putts, the entire nervous system seems to go haywire. I make great practice strokes, and then the most pitiful short-stroke or jab at the ball you can imagine. Sheesh.
But I’m a traditionalist, and do not look toward the long putter, belly putter, cross-hand, claw or other variation as the solution. My approach is to beat those damn yips into submission some other way. Here’s what I’m doing that is working pretty well, and I offer it to all of you who might have a similar affliction on the greens.
When you are over a short putt, forget the practice strokes…you want your natural eye-hand coordination to be unhindered by mechanics. Address your putt and take a good look at the hole, and back to the putter to ensure good alignment. Lighten your right hand grip on the putter and make sure that only the fingertips are in contact with the grip, to prevent you from getting to tight.
Then, take a long, long look at the hole to fill your entire mind and senses with the target. When you bring your head/eyes back to the ball, try to make a smooth, immediate move right into your backstroke — not even a second pause — and then let your hands and putter track right back together right back to where you were looking — the HOLE! Seeing the putter make contact with the ball, preferably even the forward edge of the ball – the side near the hole.
For me, this is working, but I am asking all of you to chime in with your own “home remedies” for the most aggravating and senseless of all golf maladies. It never hurts to have more to fall back on!
Over the last couple of decades, golf has become much more science-based. We measure swing speed, smash factor, angle of attack, strokes gained, and many other metrics that can really help golfers improve. But I often wonder if the advancement of golf’s “hard” sciences comes at the expense of the “soft” sciences.
Take, for example, golf instruction. Good golf instruction requires understanding swing mechanics and ball flight. But let’s take that as a given for PGA instructors. The other factors that make an instructor effective can be evaluated by social science, rather than launch monitors.
If you are a recreational golfer looking for a golf instructor, here are my top three points to consider.
1. Cultural mindset
What is “cultural mindset? To social scientists, it means whether a culture of genius or a culture of learning exists. In a golf instruction context, that may mean whether the teacher communicates a message that golf ability is something innate (you either have it or you don’t), or whether golf ability is something that can be learned. You want the latter!
It may sound obvious to suggest that you find a golf instructor who thinks you can improve, but my research suggests that it isn’t a given. In a large sample study of golf instructors, I found that when it came to recreational golfers, there was a wide range of belief systems. Some instructors strongly believed recreational golfers could improve through lessons. while others strongly believed they could not. And those beliefs manifested in the instructor’s feedback given to a student and the culture created for players.
2. Coping and self-modeling can beat role-modeling
Swing analysis technology is often preloaded with swings of PGA and LPGA Tour players. The swings of elite players are intended to be used for comparative purposes with golfers taking lessons. What social science tells us is that for novice and non-expert golfers, comparing swings to tour professionals can have the opposite effect of that intended. If you fit into the novice or non-expert category of golfer, you will learn more and be more motivated to change if you see yourself making a ‘better’ swing (self-modeling) or seeing your swing compared to a similar other (a coping model). Stay away from instructors who want to compare your swing with that of a tour player.
3. Learning theory basics
It is not a sexy selling point, but learning is a process, and that process is incremental – particularly for recreational adult players. Social science helps us understand this element of golf instruction. A good instructor will take learning slowly. He or she will give you just about enough information that challenges you, but is still manageable. The artful instructor will take time to decide what that one or two learning points are before jumping in to make full-scale swing changes. If the instructor moves too fast, you will probably leave the lesson with an arm’s length of swing thoughts and not really know which to focus on.
As an instructor, I develop a priority list of changes I want to make in a player’s technique. We then patiently and gradually work through that list. Beware of instructors who give you more than you can chew.
So if you are in the market for golf instruction, I encourage you to look beyond the X’s and O’s to find the right match!
Most pros take months, even years, to win their first tournament. Lottie Woad needed exactly four days.
The 21-year-old from Surrey shot 21-under 267 at Dundonald Links to win the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open by three shots — in her very first event as a professional. She’s only the third player in LPGA history to accomplish this feat, joining Rose Zhang (2023) and Beverly Hanson (1951).
But here’s what caught my attention as a coach: Woad didn’t win through miraculous putting or bombing 300-yard drives. She won through relentless precision and unshakeable composure. After watching her performance unfold, I’m convinced every golfer — from weekend warriors to scratch players — can steal pages from her playbook.
Precision Beats Power (And It’s Not Even Close)
Forget the driving contests. Woad proved that finding greens matters more than finding distance.
What Woad did:
• Hit it straight, hit it solid, give yourself chances
• Aimed for the fat parts of greens instead of chasing pins
• Let her putting do the talking after hitting safe targets
• As she said, “Everyone was chasing me today, and managed to maintain the lead and played really nicely down the stretch and hit a lot of good shots”
Why most golfers mess this up:
• They see a pin tucked behind a bunker and grab one more club to “go right at it”
• Distance becomes more important than accuracy
• They try to be heroic instead of smart
ACTION ITEM: For your next 10 rounds, aim for the center of every green regardless of pin position. Track your greens in regulation and watch your scores drop before your swing changes.
The Putter That Stayed Cool Under Fire
Woad started the final round two shots clear and immediately applied pressure with birdies at the 2nd and 3rd holes. When South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim mounted a charge and reached 20-under with a birdie at the 14th, Woad didn’t panic.
How she responded to pressure:
• Fired back with consecutive birdies at the 13th and 14th
• Watched Kim stumble with back-to-back bogeys
• Capped it with her fifth birdie of the day at the par-5 18th
• Stayed patient when others pressed, pressed when others cracked
What amateurs do wrong:
• Get conservative when they should be aggressive
• Try to force magic when steady play would win
• Panic when someone else makes a move
ACTION ITEM: Practice your 3-6 foot putts for 15 minutes after every range session. Woad’s putting wasn’t spectacular—it was reliable. Make the putts you should make.
Course Management 101: Play Your Game, Not the Course’s Game
Woad admitted she couldn’t see many scoreboards during the final round, but it didn’t matter. She stuck to her game plan regardless of what others were doing.
Her mental approach:
• Focused on her process, not the competition
• Drew on past pressure situations (Augusta National Women’s Amateur win)
• As she said, “That was the biggest tournament I played in at the time and was kind of my big win. So definitely felt the pressure of it more there, and I felt like all those experiences helped me with this”
Her physical execution:
• 270-yard drives (nothing flashy)
• Methodical iron play
• Steady putting
• Everything effective, nothing spectacular
ACTION ITEM: Create a yardage book for your home course. Know your distances to every pin, every hazard, every landing area. Stick to your plan no matter what your playing partners are doing.
Mental Toughness Isn’t Born, It’s Built
The most impressive part of Woad’s win? She genuinely didn’t expect it: “I definitely wasn’t expecting to win my first event as a pro, but I knew I was playing well, and I was hoping to contend.”
Her winning mindset:
• Didn’t put winning pressure on herself
• Focused on playing well and contending
• Made winning a byproduct of a good process
• Built confidence through recent experiences:
- Won the Women’s Irish Open as an amateur
- Missed a playoff by one shot at the Evian Championship
- Each experience prepared her for the next
What this means for you:
• Stop trying to shoot career rounds every time you tee up
• Focus on executing your pre-shot routine
• Commit to every shot
• Stay present in the moment
ACTION ITEM: Before each round, set process goals instead of score goals. Example: “I will take three practice swings before every shot” or “I will pick a specific target for every shot.” Let your score be the result, not the focus.
The Real Lesson
Woad collected $300,000 for her first professional victory, but the real prize was proving that fundamentals still work at golf’s highest level. She didn’t reinvent the game — she simply executed the basics better than everyone else that week.
The fundamentals that won:
• Hit more fairways
• Find more greens
• Make the putts you should make
• Stay patient under pressure
That’s something every golfer can do, regardless of handicap. Lottie Woad just showed us it’s still the winning formula.
FINAL ACTION ITEM: Pick one of the four action items above and commit to it for the next month. Master one fundamental before moving to the next. That’s how champions are built.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “The Starter” on RG.org each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more Tips!
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hoa
Dec 30, 2017 at 11:20 am
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Dec 30, 2017 at 11:20 am
That was very accurate for me. Thanks for the reminder!
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tivi
Jul 12, 2017 at 1:28 pm
Great article. I’ve always shot between 81-86, with the occasional trip into the high 70’s if I get the opportunity to play more. I ended up breaking my 3, 5, and 7 iron and never got them fixed. It may seem obvious, but when I came back from a long layoff, not having those clubs in my bag had almost zero impact on my scores. This just made me realize even more definitively that I need to work on my approach shots and putting if I want my scores to improve
linh vat phong thuy
Jul 6, 2017 at 6:41 am
A departure from “traditional stats,” the program provided analysis with answers, supported by comparative data.
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Jun 7, 2017 at 5:03 am
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vncoupon
May 21, 2017 at 10:48 pm
Great article with the stats to show comparisons 🙂
sharemagiamgia
Apr 27, 2017 at 4:55 am
Good article with the stats to show comparisons.
nam giam can
Apr 24, 2017 at 10:04 am
Golf is a sport for the nobility
vach ngan ve sinh chong am
Apr 21, 2017 at 5:17 pm
So I ageee with the writer that working on lag putting and short putts in combination makes a lot of sense.
tien dola am phu
Apr 5, 2017 at 11:51 am
Differential (this was the 12,000-plus rounds when the golfers actually played exactly to their 17 handicap). I had a stronger motive for this research than writing this article. We have added a new product to our ShotByShot.com Strokes Gained analysis: a putting skills test and practice app. Our goal is to provide an additional, simple but intelligent application to accurately test putting skill and focus practice time for meaningful improvement.
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Apr 3, 2017 at 9:54 pm
I’d ask myself why I’m so far away from the hole so frequently when I’m not on the green in regulation. Bad short game. The 17 capper probably puts it in the 6-10 foot range while chipping on his “good” chips. A great chip gets within 3 feet, and a bad one is probably 15+ feet. Why would he spend a ton of time on those 8 footers instead of working on getting closer to the hole? If your good chips turn into 3-5 footers, your great chips are now kick-ins, and your bad ones are now 10-15 feet away, you’re going to start making more putts without even having to make more 8 footers based on the fact that you’re now closer to the hole the majority of the time. Then he can work on those 8 footers after he starts improving his short game.
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Apr 3, 2017 at 6:24 am
Again, I’m not saying that working on your putting is a bad idea by any means; pretty much everyone should do it more than they do. Obviously making more 8-footers is a great thing for anybody’s game, but that definitely wouldn’t be my go-to for this type of player. Unless he’s going to start hitting more greens in regulation (then he’d need more help lag putting most likely), he’d be much better served working on getting his average short game shot down from that 14 foot distance. He’ll likely drop significantly more strokes doing that than making 20% more of his 8 footers.
HW
Mar 16, 2017 at 2:06 pm
Great article. I’ve always shot between 81-86, with the occasional trip into the high 70’s if I get the opportunity to play more. I ended up breaking my 3, 5, and 7 iron and never got them fixed. It may seem obvious, but when I came back from a long layoff, not having those clubs in my bag had almost zero impact on my scores. This just made me realize even more definitively that I need to work on my approach shots and putting if I want my scores to improve.
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Mar 14, 2017 at 1:42 pm
This is really necessary for the goft player. This information is useful to me. Thank You!
chinchbugs
Mar 11, 2017 at 8:54 pm
In other news….water is wet
Nick
Mar 11, 2017 at 11:53 am
I love the star drilled. I was taught that when I was in college and still use it religiously. I usually try to make 15 before I move a foot back. I’ll start with 3 balls at 3 feet and after I make 15 straight, I’ll go back a foot. Another drill I think is really good is the 3,6,9 drill. Place tees at 3, 6, and 9 feet and the goal is to make three in a row before moving to the next tee. In college we used 10 balls and had to make 10/10 at 3 feet, 8/10 from 6 feet and 6/10 from 9 feet. I saw the new method on one of the golf channel academies with Jim furyk. Once you practice these drills, there won’t be as much pressure on your chipping. These are few additional drills but for a scratch golfer I still do them every time I practice my putting.
Tim
Mar 11, 2017 at 10:33 am
In other news, studies show apples are good for your health and should eat more of them….
Iutodd
Mar 11, 2017 at 8:04 am
I do the “cross” drill where I put balls every 18″ or so out to about 5′ (3-4 balls) and I have to make every one before I rotate 90 degrees and do it from side. I like it because you’re going to make ~100% of your first putt and it’s helpful to see the ball go in the hole.
Radim Pavlicek
Mar 11, 2017 at 4:57 am
Excellent, now I would like to see 6hcp and scratch.
Peter Sanders
Mar 12, 2017 at 11:51 am
Thanks Radim,
All the comparative data is part of the program: shotbyshot.com
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Kelvin Kelley
Mar 10, 2017 at 9:25 pm
Good article with the stats to show comparisons.
Jim
Mar 10, 2017 at 3:54 pm
Um, no kidding. As most weekend golfers just show up swing a couple of times and tee off this isn’t exactly ground breaking news. That said I’ve noticed practicing my putting over the past few years has really paid off along with practicing chipping as well. As more than half your shots are around the green it only makes sense over just bashing your driver anyway.
Jack Nash
Mar 10, 2017 at 2:04 pm
If you’re talking inside the “Circle of Friendship”, that’s good, pick it up.
BallBuster
Mar 10, 2017 at 12:43 pm
The concept is simple to understand, but most of all it worked well for me. I bought one of those Butch Harmon Inside Down the Line putting tracks (I believe this is the method he taught Tiger Woods years ago as Tiger and Butch have both referred to it later in publications after I bought it to confirm it’s legit value for training to me). I used that nightly down my basement putting from 4-10 feet and often hitting up to 60-70 putts at night… plus at the course on a practice green too. I saw my putting stats drop by about 5 strokes on average, which obviously translated to lowering my hcp. I found the lag putting practice wasn’t as necessary as I once thought since my confidence to hit 4 and 5 footers after a mediocre lag putt helped save an extra stroke on that green. As they say, there’s never a bad first putt when you make the second… unless you miss a gimme I suppose!
Tom
Mar 10, 2017 at 12:06 pm
This is news to me?
N. D. Boondocks
Mar 10, 2017 at 11:37 am
Maybe it’s just my home course, but I’d be seriously angering a lot of other golfers also trying to use the practice green if I used that putting drill.
Steve
Mar 10, 2017 at 11:20 am
Maybe I’m missing something, but to me, it looks like research shows that golfers need to work on their short game and lag putting more than their short putts…
If the player is 3-putting from 30ft, I’d argue that it’s not really because he missed a 5-10 footer for his 2-putt; it’s because he left himself a 10 footer for his second putt instead of a tap-in to begin with.
TR1PTIK
Mar 10, 2017 at 11:42 am
Agreed. Using Game Golf, I’ve learned that my best scores come when my short game is dialed and my putting average changes very little.
Using Game Golf’s Strokes Gained feature vs. Scratch for example, my best round (78) showed that I was 1.25 strokes worse off the tee, 2.12 strokes worse on approach, 2.65 worse on short game, and 2.29 worse on putting. My best round so far in 2017 (88) on the other hand has me at 1.1 worse off the tee, 4.61 worse on approach, 9.75 worse on short game, and 2.34 worse on putting.
I’m generally a good lag putter, and have made several putts outside of 10′ even 15′ from a variety of slopes and lies. I’d be much closer to a single-digit handicap if I put more work in on my short game.
Ian
Mar 10, 2017 at 12:35 pm
you may do better to track this one stat – http://www.golfwrx.com/285949/the-truth-behind-greens-in-regulation-and-scoring/
TR1PTIK
Mar 10, 2017 at 4:16 pm
I remember that one. That was very accurate for me. Thanks for the reminder!
Iutodd
Mar 11, 2017 at 9:39 am
I missed that one somehow. That is interesting. You kind of have to work backwards – and honestly if you’re trying to break 80 or 70 you need all aspects of your game working right?
But if I need to hit at least 7 gir to break 80 (on average) that probably means I need to hit 6-7 fairways and you figure you’ll hit 1-3 of the par 3 greens. I don’t know what percentage of greens are hit from the fairway but if you’re in the trees all the time I’m guessing your percentage of GIR go way down.
But to me even if GIR is a key stat – you’re going to be 30-40 feet away so lag putting is very important. And if you scramble 11 times a round making five footers is also really important.
So I ageee with the writer that working on lag putting and short putts in combination makes a lot of sense.
Peter Sanders
Mar 11, 2017 at 10:57 am
Ian,
I agree that GIR’s is the best of all the old, traditional, 1-dimensional stats. It signifies 2 positives: 1. One’s game has been efficient enough to get there and 2. It is always a birdie putt of some length. The problem with GIR’s is also two fold: 1. The avg. golfer hits less than 5 per round and 2. It provides no answers as to the cause of all the NON-GIR’s.
Peter Sanders
Mar 11, 2017 at 10:52 am
TR1PTIK,
Please correct me if I am wrong but isn’t Game Golf analyzing your putting based upon # of putts? GPS is only accurate to about 8 meters (25 feet) so the GPS systems cannot get short game or putting distances. Putting analysis based upon # of putts is as accurate as balancing one’s checkbook based solely upon the # of checks written.
DW
Mar 10, 2017 at 12:06 pm
I think the argument is saying the golfer in this example has very few 30 ft putts anyway, so being able to 1 putt from 8 feet rather than 2 putt is a gamechanger.
Steve
Mar 11, 2017 at 12:39 am
Well yah, making more putts is obviously a good thing. But how much improvement can you realistically expect? Even the best players in the world are only making around 50% of putts from 8ft… The graph above shows the 17 capper making about 30% of putts from that distance. So even if he becomes as good as a professional from 8ft, which is extremely unlikely no matter how much he practices because he probably plays on muni greens, then he MIGHT pick up a couple strokes per round. Wouldn’t he be better off figuring out why he’s around 8+ft from the hole so frequently, especially when he’s only hitting 4-5 greens in regulation?
If I’m a 17 capper looking at the statistics and see that a pro is only taking 5 less putts per round than me despite shooting 17 strokes lower on average, I’m not thinking, “Oh, he must be making more 8 footers than me.” First, I’d realize that the pro is hitting SIGNIFICANTLY more greens than me, hence the reason he’s only taking 5 less putts per round (2-putts aren’t a bad thing if you’re on the green in regulation). So the obvious solution would be to hit more greens in regulation. Obviously that’s not the world’s easiest task, especially for a 17 capper. So assuming that won’t change much, what’s an easier way to lower my putt total (and total score)?
1) The player in this example is averaging 2.25 3-putts per round. Unless he’s playing on some REALLY difficult greens, he’s not a very good lag putter. A realistic goal would be to try to get that down to 1 3-putt per round. There’s a shot off your score, and you don’t have to make an extra 8 footer to do it.
2) I’d ask myself why I’m so far away from the hole so frequently when I’m not on the green in regulation. Bad short game. The 17 capper probably puts it in the 6-10 foot range while chipping on his “good” chips. A great chip gets within 3 feet, and a bad one is probably 15+ feet. Why would he spend a ton of time on those 8 footers instead of working on getting closer to the hole? If your good chips turn into 3-5 footers, your great chips are now kick-ins, and your bad ones are now 10-15 feet away, you’re going to start making more putts without even having to make more 8 footers based on the fact that you’re now closer to the hole the majority of the time. Then he can work on those 8 footers after he starts improving his short game.
Again, I’m not saying that working on your putting is a bad idea by any means; pretty much everyone should do it more than they do. Obviously making more 8-footers is a great thing for anybody’s game, but that definitely wouldn’t be my go-to for this type of player. Unless he’s going to start hitting more greens in regulation (then he’d need more help lag putting most likely), he’d be much better served working on getting his average short game shot down from that 14 foot distance. He’ll likely drop significantly more strokes doing that than making 20% more of his 8 footers.