How Do You Stop Three-Putting?

The short answer: most three-putts are caused by poor speed on the first putt, not a bad line on the second. Fix your distance control by matching the length of your backstroke and through-stroke, read the slope before you get to your ball, and make your goal on long putts a tap-in, not a holed putt.

Why three-putts really happen

Even the best putters in the world miss most of their long putts. Mark Broadie's research on PGA Tour putting found that tour players make only about half of their putts from around eight feet, and the make rate drops sharply from there. From 30 or 40 feet, holing it is a bonus for anyone.

So the job of a long putt is to leave the next one easy. Golfers who three-putt a lot usually leave their first putt six or eight feet away, short or long. From there, even good putters miss often.

Key 1: Control speed with stroke length, not a hit

This is the biggest change I make with most golfers. They are taught to "accelerate through the ball", so they make a short backstroke and then jab at it. The result is inconsistent speed and putts that race past the hole.

Instead:

• Match your stroke. Make your backstroke and through-stroke roughly the same length.
• Keep the same rhythm on every putt. A longer putt needs a longer stroke, not a faster or harder one.
• Let the putter swing. Light grip pressure and quiet hands let the putter keep its natural pace through the ball.

When the stroke length controls the distance, your speed becomes repeatable.

Key 2: Read the slope before you reach your ball

Green reading is the most important putting skill, and most golfers start too late. By the time they are standing over the ball they have already lost the best information.

• Read as you walk onto the green. You see the overall tilt of the green best from 20 to 30 yards away.
• Feel it through your feet. Stand halfway between your ball and the hole, on the low side, and notice which way your weight wants to fall.
• Find the low side of the hole. Most amateurs under-read break. When in doubt, play a little more break and let the ball die into the hole.
• Uphill putts are your friend. On approach shots and chips, try to leave yourself below the hole. Uphill putts are easier to hit firmly and hold their line.

Key 3: Start the ball on your line

Once speed is under control, start line decides whether the short ones drop. Where the putter face points at impact controls most of the ball's starting direction, far more than the path of the stroke.

Drill: the gate. Push two tees into the green just wider than a ball, about 30 cm in front of your ball on your start line. Roll putts through the gate from four to six feet. If you clip the tees, your face is not square at impact.

Three drills to stop three-putting

1. The ladder. Place a tee at 10, 20, 30 and 40 feet. Putt to each in turn, then try to make each ball finish past the previous one but short of the fringe. It trains your feel for stroke length.
2. The three-foot circle. Imagine a circle three feet around the hole. From 30 to 40 feet, count how many putts out of ten finish inside it. Track the score and try to beat it every session.
3. Around the clock. Place six balls in a circle three feet from the hole and hole them all in a row. Clearing your second putts with confidence takes the pressure off your first.

On the course

• Spend most of your practice time before a round on long putts, not short ones. Speed changes from course to course; your stroke doesn't.
• Pick your line, then make a practice stroke while looking at the hole to feel the distance.
• Commit. A confident stroke on the wrong read often finishes closer than a hesitant stroke on the right one.

Common mistakes I see

• Short backstroke and a jab at the ball
• Reading the putt from only one side, at the last moment
• Never practising putts outside ten feet
• Trying to hole every long putt and leaving awkward comebackers

Want a full putting system?

My One Putt Blueprint and the Perform Golf putting library take you through stroke, speed and green reading step by step, with drills you can take straight to the practice green. Start at perform.golf.

Kerrod Gray is a PGA of Australia Professional, Advanced in Coaching, and the founder of Perform Golf.