Ever wonder how Jordan Spieth, one of the best golfers in the world, practice golf? Is he naturally gifted or is his success on the PGA Tour a product of hard work?
Clearly hard work.
So what does that entail? What practice routine does Jordan Spieth go through each week to improve his game and gain advantage over his competitors?
Below we will review an advanced putting drill Spieth sets up that works on distance control as well as accuracy and holing out putts from long distances, which seems common for him in tournaments as well.
You’ll also find an example routine he goes through outside the golf course which you can read more about in this article here by Under Armor.
Resource: Golf Practice System with Step by Step Practice Plans + Video Lessons
Jordan Spieth’s Putting Drills
1. Spieth’s Gate Drill
Famous American golfer Jordan Spieth has a couple of popular putting drills that you can use for your putting practice. The first one is called Gatecrasher.
In this drill, you basically place the golf ball about 10 feet away from the hole. Then, you place two ball markers approximately mid-way (roughly 5 feet away from the hole) between the golf ball and the hole.
The goal of this drill is to make the putt by rolling the ball through the ball marker “gate” and into the hole. If you do this drill with a friend, then give yourselves half a point for rolling the ball through the two markers and another half point for making the hole.
2. Spieth’s Leap Frog Putting Drill
The second drill is called Leap Frog.
Here, you first place a ball marker on a gentle upslope of a downslope about five feet away from the golf ball. You then hit the ball and attempt to make the ball stop around 6 inches of the ball marker.
But the trick is to predict whether that will happen as soon as you hit the ball.
You have to actually call out loud whether you think that your shot will be successful. The purpose of this drill is to help you develop a feel for your shot.
3. Spieth’s Mirror the Putt Drill
According to an article published on MyTPI and JordanSpiethGolf.com, here is the putting routine he putts himself through to work on lots of longer putts. This practice improves his distance control that helps him make these long range putts at an above average rate compared to tour players.
#1: Starting off, Spieth will find two holes spread apart 30-40 feet minimum.
#2: He then marks a safety zone beyond each hole of approximately 3 feet to allow for some run-off if he misses the putt. But the club he sets down also acts as a backstop to give feedback if he hits the ball too hard.
#3: Spieth then begins putting with 3 balls from 10 feet. This leaves 30 feet to the other hole coming back later.
#4: If Jordan holes all 3 putts then he allows himself to move 3 feet closer on the way back, moving up to 27 feet away instead of 30 feet. If he misses any, he remains 30 feet away on the way back. If he hits a putt to hard an it hits the backstop, he has to move 3 feet further away to 33 feet on the way back.
#5: After hitting all 3 putts from 10 feet. He goes back to his marker and turns the other way hitting to the opposite hole. Now this works on his long range putting after he just worked on his short range putting. If he successfully lag putts all 3 within the safe zone, he can move 3 feet closer again for the next time.
#6: If he got to move up to 27 feet, then coming back later he will putt from 13 feet.
#7: The drill ends once he gets to 10 feet on the opposite putt that used to be 30 feet away.
Overall, it’s a great putting drill that helps Jordan work on both long and short putts by mirror the distances opposite of each other within the 40 feet between the two holes.
Resource: Golf Practice System with Step by Step Practice Plans + Video Lessons
4. Jordan Spieth Putting Drill – Look at the Hole
In this golf putting drill you get to forget about watching the ball when putting and instead you’ll be looking at the cup as you make the putting stroke.
It’s a great drill we like to do on long putts to get a feel for distance control. But it’s even more important on short putts, which is where you’ll be starting off the drill first.
Why look at the hole when putting? Well think about most sports. In basketball you look at the hoop when shooting and in football you look at the receiver when throwing.
Golf is the one sport where you look down at the ball instead of at your target.
But like other sports, you can actually still make putts looking at the hole. This gives your brain distance and target information to help you sink the putt.
And by not looking down at the ball, you don’t have to spend your mental energy focusing on mechanics.
Instead, you develop trust that your mechanics will hold up and perform a successful putt just like a basketball player trusts his shooting mechanics will hold up while he focuses on the rim.
Putting Drill Instructions:
- Measure a 3 foot putt
- Set up to the ball like normal, square the putter face to your line
- Now look at the hole
- Make the putting stroke and trust it
- Make 5 putts like this from 3, 5, 7, 9, 12 feet
- Then make 3 putts like this from 15, 18, 21 feet
- Then work on lag putts from 25 to 50 feet just trying to get within a few feet of hole
Jordan Spieth Driving Range Routine
For range practice, Spieth blasts music to keep his mood and energy up since golf is largely mental. As a golf pro, he also has the advantage of having a Trackman on-site usually to track analytics from his range practice sessions to he can make adjustments to his game over time.
He also has the luxury and money to hire top level, professional swing coaching to fine tune his swing for the challenging PGA Tour golf courses, especially the Masters at Augusta.
Rather than hit balls randomly, every shot has specific purpose and is designed to simulate the real life shot types Jordan will face during tournament play.
There’s also a good mix of mental shots to train his mind and mental game. How to assess and escape situations he gets into on the golf course, like woods, ball sitting in a divot, tough bunker lies, etc.
Looking for more driving range practices? Check these drills out here.
Jordan Spieth Workout Routine
According to the Under Armor article, Spieth works with a fitness trainer and nutritionist to help help recover and optimize his performance on the golf course.
Here are the key takeaways:
- Jordan gets 8 hours of sleep every night as well as during tournaments.
- Workout outside/explore the locations he plays tournaments. Go for hikes, jump in the ocean, enjoy the beautiful scenery of each city and country they visit for tournaments
- Circuit style training that also produces disguised cardio
- Minimum 30 minute warm up to engage muscles Jordan’s about to use
- Bodyweight and band movement exercises
- Train movement, not muscles
- Work linear and lateral
Nutrition Strategy of Spieth:
- Drinks a mix of water/orange juice to stay hydrated
- Eat often, and a lot
- Focuses on whole foods
- Things You’ll Find in His Bag: Granola, Almonds, Pecans, Organic honey, Unsweetened coconut, Virgin coconut oil, Ground vanilla beans, Cinnamon, Little bit of sea salt
Golf Practice System for Lower Scores
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Work hard,
Nick Foy, Instructor