Make no mistake, putting is hard. It is even harder when you need to cover vast spans of green to get to the hole. Long distance is more suited for AT&T, not the putting green. But if you work on a few techniques, your improved Lag Putting will lower your scores.
The Art of the Lag
The lag putt is one skill that all golfers need to focus on. The ability to get a putt close enough to the hole is a trait all great putters have. Watch the Masters this week and pay attention to how close the leaders get their long putts. The greens at Augusta will be firm and fast, and lag putting will more than likely determine the winner. When greens are soft, Tour Pros can dial it in on the flag. They are basically shooting darts to the pin, when green conditions firm up, they are left with longer putts (and according to Dave Pelz they make less than 50% of their putts over 6 feet and a little over 10% of putts of 24 feet). The tools you need to improve your lag putting are simple. Judge the speed, and find a target. To judge the speed you need to understand what direction the ball will travel. Is it going uphill or downhill? When will break come into play? To achieve your goal of lag putting, you must decide where you have the greatest chance of success for the…next putt or your target. The idea of a target is another way of removing the thought of the “hole” from your visual context. By putting towards a target, you can focus on making a stroke without the pressure of hole-itus…
What to work on
When you are faced with a long putt what do you think about? Are you trying to make it? Are you fearful of three-putting? Can you even see the hole?
I tend to think of long putts as those over 24′ which is approximately 3 flag lengths. Putts inside of this distance are ones that I feel confident in making some of the time. Putts outside this distance are ones not holed often. Add these techniques to your putting tool box (Shot IQ) and watch your scores plummet!
- Walk off the distance of your putt
- View the putt from the side, notice the way the ball will behave around the hole
- Pick the best spot for your next putt
- Find your comfort zone on short putts
Walking off the distance: this will give your mind a specific distance. The more numerical information you can give your “brain” the better. If you guess at the distance, so will your “brain”.
View the putt from the side: by getting a better “lay” of the land, you can visually see how the putt will act upon reaching the hole. Factors like uphill or downhill will move the “target” area of your lag, as will right to left or left to right breaks. It is always better to have an uphill putt, and one that breaks (if any) from right to left for a right handed golfer.
Pick the best spot: this is subjective, and relies on your ability. But the closer you can get to the hole, the more likely you will hole the next putt. If you practice making short putts from 2′ and can achieve a 80% success rate, your target area is within a 2′ circle. If your 80% rate is 3′ then your target area expands. Think of the rings on a dart board. Lagging should be a set of measurable objectives that are attainable.
Find your short putt comfort zone: The key is finding what distance you can make a high percentage of putts from. These are the “no-brainers” the putts you have super confidence making. Find your distance by starting out at 2′ from the hole and putt 10 balls. If you can make more than 8 of 10, move back to 3′ and putt again. Find out where your ability falls below 60%. This is the outer edge of your comfort zone. To be a better lag putter, zero in on placing your first putts inside this comfort zone, and adjust your target accordingly.
Lag putting is a non-glamorous skill, but if you take some time and work on getting these types of putts closer, you will find that you have less three putts. And that means your handicap will surely lower!
