Putting Tips For Beginners

All golfers were once beginners in the game, and many experienced players will tell you that putting can be one of the trickiest skills to perfect.

Having access to the best putting tips and putting drills will make a huge difference to your progress, but you could also go one step further and invest in one of the best putting mats or putting aids to take your practice mobile and maximise your opportunities to put in the hard work.

In order to guide anyone who is just starting out in this magnificent game, we asked Golf Monthly Top 50 Coach Gary Allis to share his best putting tips for beginners...

Putting Tips For Beginners: Set-up

The first fundamental aspect you must get right is set-up, as if you allow bad habits to embed themselves at this stage you will always struggle – even with one of the best putters on the market in your hands.

The idea is to make contact slightly on the upstroke of your swing, which can be made easier with the correct ball position. Set-up with the ball a fraction forward of centre, in line with your left eye.

You can check this easily by holding the ball in front of your left eye in your set-up, and dropping it towards the surface. This will give you a great indication of rough ball position for the putting stroke.

Meeting the ball with the putter at the correct point in the swing will promote solid contact and a better roll, allowing the ball to start on the correct line and help you to control your distance better.

Stroke length

A common mistake beginner golfers make when putting is around stroke length. I see plenty of new players make the backstroke much longer than the follow-through, causing a deceleration through impact. This makes it very tricky to judge distance accurately, and can lead to costly 3-putts or worse.

There is a simple fix, however. Place a tee just outside your right foot and the other around double that distance outside your left foot (as shown in the video).

Hit some putts by taking your swing to these markers on the way back and through, and forget about the hole for a second. This drill focuses on improving your stroke length, which will ultimately help you to sink more putts when we bring the hole back into play.

Rock the shoulders

One of the keys to putting is that the club is controlled by a rock of the shoulders and not by a flick of the wrists or a separation of the arms and the body. In order to keep the arms, shoulders and wrists in unison, you should try practising with something tucked under both arms, such as an alignment stick or a towel.

By simply rocking the shoulders, the stick or towel will stay in position, allowing your body to move as a cohesive unit for more consistency.

Know your stroke

Identifying the type of stroke you have will also help you work out how to choose a putter that is suited to your game. A great way to do this is to put two tees in the ground about four feet apart, and either balance an alignment stick on top of them or tie a piece of string around them.

Place your putter underneath this line and make some practice strokes. It will be very clear to see whether your stroke tracks straight back and through, or if it has a slight arc or strong arc.

The result will highlight whether you need a toe-hang or face-balanced putter, or something in between. If you have a straight-back-and-through stroke, a face-balanced putter would be best; if you have a stroke with a slight arc, you're better with a mid-hang putter; and those with a strong arc will benefit from a toe-down putter.

If you've done this test and you're still unsure, ask a PGA pro to help you find a make and model best suited to your game.