Putting drills: how to practise putting at home and on the green
Short answer
Work on start line at home and pace on the green. On a carpet or mat, use the gate, coin and one-handed drills for 15 minutes a few times a week. On the practice green, add the clock drill, lag putts and a scored game. Once a week, test yourself from 3 and 6 feet and on 30-foot lags, and write the scores down.
Rolling balls at a hole feels like practice, but with no target and no count you can’t tell afterwards whether anything changed. Every putting drill here has a score. Do the home drills on a carpet or putting mat a few times a week, take the green drills to the course before or after a round, and write the scores down.
What a carpet can and can’t teach
A carpet or mat is good for start line and a steady stroke. It is poor for pace and break, because carpet rarely rolls at the speed of a green and has no slopes. So split the work: line at home, speed on the green.
For home practice you need a putter, three or four balls, a few tees, a coin and something to aim at. A cup on a mat, a tee pushed into the carpet or a book lying flat will do. A hallway gives you the longest straight run.
Putting drills for home
Gate drill
Push two tees into the carpet either side of the putter head at address, one by the heel and one by the toe, with a little room at each end. On a mat, stand two pens or two books there instead. Make 20 strokes through the gate without touching either tee, and move the tees closer as it gets easier. Then put a ball in the middle, add a second gate about 3 feet ahead, a little wider than a ball, and count how many of 10 putts go through it.
The first gate catches a path that cuts across the ball or swings out, because the putter clips a tee straight away. It can’t tell you about the face, which is what the next drill is for.
Coin drill for start line
Put a coin on the carpet 12 inches (30 cm) in front of the ball, on your line to the target. Roll 10 putts and count how many cross the coin. Over a distance this short, a ball that misses the coin was started off line mostly by the face at impact. Aim for 8 out of 10, then 10 in a row.
For a harder version, stand a tee 2 feet ahead and try to roll the ball just past it on the left, then just past it on the right.
One-handed putts
From 3 feet, hit 10 putts with your lead hand only, then 10 with your trail hand only. Keep the grip light and let your shoulders move the putter. This quietens a handsy stroke and shows you which hand takes over. Expect to hole fewer at first. Write down both scores and watch the gap between them close.
Ladder for feel
Down a hallway, push in tees at 5, 10 and 15 feet, or as far as the room allows, and use the skirting board or a book as the end of the ladder. Putt the first ball to stop just past the first tee, the next just past the second, and so on. If a ball stops short of its tee or reaches the next one, start again from the first. Your score is how many rungs you climb in a row. On carpet you are training a repeatable length of stroke, not the speed of a green.
Putting drills for the practice green
Clock drill
Put four or eight balls in a circle round a hole, all at 3 feet, like the numbers on a clock. Hole them all in a row, and if you miss one, start again. Once you can clear 3 feet, do the same at 4 and then 5 feet. Pick a hole on a slope so you get uphill and downhill putts and both breaks. Your score is your longest unbroken run.
Lag putting to a circle
Take three balls to 20, 30 and 40 feet from a hole. Putt each one and count how many finish within 3 feet (a putter’s length is about right). Lay a second putter or two tees behind the hole so you can see when a ball runs well past. The number to keep is 10 lags from 30 feet, scored out of 10.
Pressure games with a score
Give a session a par and you can compare one week with the next.
| Game | How it works | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Par 18 | 9 holes round the green, one ball each, from 10 to 40 feet. Hole out every one. | Total strokes against a par of 18. Anything under 18 is very good. |
| 3-6-9 | 3 balls from 3 feet, 3 from 6, 3 from 9. | 1 point for each make from 3 feet, 2 from 6, 3 from 9 (18 max). |
| Up and down the ladder | Hole one from 3 feet, then 4, 5, 6 and on. A miss sends you back one step. | Longest distance reached in 10 putts. |
| 50 in a row | 3-foot putts round one hole, moving to a new spot each time. | Longest run before a miss. |
Treat the last putt of each game as if it were for the match. It’s the nearest practice gets to a 4-footer on the 18th.
A 15-minute home putting routine
| Minutes | Drill | Target |
|---|---|---|
| 0 to 3 | Gate drill, stroke only | 20 strokes without touching a tee |
| 3 to 6 | Coin drill | 8 of 10 over the coin |
| 6 to 9 | One-handed, 3 feet | 10 with each hand, note the makes |
| 9 to 12 | Ladder in the hallway | Longest run of rungs |
| 12 to 15 | 3-foot test | Makes out of 10, with your full routine on each |
Do it three or four times a week. With only five minutes, do the coin drill and the 3-foot test. For a longer plan that takes in chipping and swing work at home, see how to practise golf at home, and for the putts to hit before a round, the golf warm-up routine.
How to measure your progress
Run the same short test once a week, on the same surface:
- 10 putts from 3 feet (1 metre), one ball at a time, full routine
- 10 putts from 6 feet (2 metres)
- 10 lag putts from 30 feet (9 metres) on the green, counting those that finish within 3 feet
To put your numbers in context: in Tour figures published by GOLF.com, PGA Tour players hole 99.4% from 3 feet and about 70% from 6 feet. Amateur data reported by MyGolfSpy puts scratch golfers at 87% from inside 6 feet and 25-handicappers at 73%. The gap is wider on long putts. A scratch golfer three-putts about once every 39 holes and a 25-handicapper once every 7.6, so over 18 holes the scratch golfer three-putts about every other round and the 25-handicapper two or three times a round.
As targets for a club golfer, aim for 9 or 10 from 3 feet, 6 from 6 feet and 6 of 10 lags inside 3 feet. If your lag score is low and your short putts are fine, move more of your practice time to pace. To measure putting on the course rather than the practice green, Golf Scout explains strokes gained putting.
Keep a note of it
Scores are only useful if you can see last week’s next to this week’s. A notebook works. So does Golf Journal: log each session as a practice session with putting as the area and your test scores in the notes, and keep the gate, coin and clock drills as drills that carry from one session to the next. Start the practice timer when you begin and fill in the rest at the end. If you log your rounds hole by hole, the putts on every hole are recorded too, so you can see whether the practice is reaching the course.
Questions people also ask
What are the best putting drills to do at home?
The gate drill and the coin drill. The gate keeps your putter path straight and the coin shows whether the face starts the ball on line, and a carpet or mat teaches both as well as a green does. Add one-handed putts from 3 feet for a steadier stroke. Leave speed for a real green, because a carpet rolls differently.
Can you practise putting on carpet?
Yes, for start line and stroke. A low, tight carpet works best, and a hallway gives you the most length. Don't trust it for pace: carpet speed rarely matches a green, so a putt that is perfect at home may come up short or race past at the course.
How long should I practise putting each day?
Ten to fifteen minutes is enough at home, as long as every putt has a target and a count. A few short sessions in the week do more than one long one at the weekend. On the practice green, 30 to 45 minutes split between short putts, lag putts and one scored game is plenty.
How do I practise distance control in putting?
On the practice green, push tees in at 10, 20, 30 and 40 feet and try to stop each ball past one tee but short of the next. Then putt 10 balls from 30 feet and count how many finish within 3 feet of the hole. At home, a shorter ladder down the hallway trains a repeatable length of stroke, though not the speed of a real green.
How can I tell if my putting is improving?
Run the same test every week: 10 putts from 3 feet, 10 from 6 feet and 10 lag putts from 30 feet. Write down the scores. After a month you'll see whether the numbers have moved, which tells you more than how a single round felt.
What is a good make percentage from 6 feet?
PGA Tour players hole about 70% from 6 feet. Amateur data reported by MyGolfSpy puts scratch golfers at 87% from inside 6 feet and 25-handicappers at 73%, but that range includes the tap-ins. On a practice green, 6 out of 10 from 6 feet is a good score for a club golfer.
Sources
Keep it all in one place
Golf Journal logs your rounds hole by hole, your practice sessions and drills, and follows your handicap estimate.
