Getting to grips with putting distance control is one of the quickest ways to sharpen up your short game and eliminate pressure on your second putt. Improving your putting distance control comes down to two things: focus on stroke length and practising the most effective putting drills for distance control.
There are two options for putting stroke lengths:
- Short back, longer through = back 30/40% length, through 70/60% length
- Equal back and through = back (50% length), through (50% length)
Both are equally effective but I prefer a short stroke length back and longer stroke length through. I believe it promotes commitment and confidence through to your target line. The important thing is to choose one and commit to it.
Get Your Ball in the Hole or 2 Feet Past
When I coach putting drills for distance control, my goal is to help you get your ball to the hole or two feet past every time. Even if you miss, when you hit past the hole, you know you’ve given your putt a chance at going in. A short back/long through putting stroke will most certainly do this.
It’s also important to acknowledge the more pace we have on the putt the less break there will be on the green. Be mindful when reading greens that your goal should be to reach the hole or two feet past, no more or less.
Now, let’s move onto the most effective putting drills for distance control.
Distance Control Holing Speed Drill
All you need is your putter, a ball, a hole and one tee.
- Choose a straight, uphill putt.
- Place a tee into the back of the hole so it is still sticking out 2cm of the cup.
- Set up 1m away from the hole. Your goal is to hit the tee with your ball rather than letting the ball drop in the middle or front of the cup.
- Hole 20 of these putts in a row before moving back another metre.
Distance Control and Holing Pace Drill
All you need is your putter, a ball, a hole and 11 tees.
- Choose any sloping putt.
- Start 1m away from the hole, placing tees at 1 metre intervals until you have tee markers from 1m-10m.
- Place one tee on the other side of the hole just two feet past.
- The idea here is to succeed at each station before you move back to the longer putt.
- To pass each station, you must either hole the putt or finish past the hole but no further than the tee on the other side.
You can make this drill easy or hard depending on how quickly you move back.
Level 1: Give yourself as many chances as you need before moving back.
Level 2: Hole or finish past the hole consecutively. If you fail, then start the ladder from the beginning again.
The Secret Behind the Best Putting Drills for Distance Control
Have you noticed that all my putting drills for distance control feature distance measures 1 metre apart? I believe this is the secret to the best putting drills. If we train our muscles and mind to attach thought process to distances during our practice it injects confidence and clear process that we can follow on the course.
So, what’s the deal with distance control? I believe it comes down to making confident decisions and committing to your stroke length control and holing speed – aiming to be at the hole or two feet past. These two things will eliminate so many errors and doubts.
Next up we need to learn about the engine that drives distance control and consistencies. That is, the tempo we adopt during our putting stroke.
Read next: How to improve your putting through tempo drills