Putting Stroke Tempo Drill

Best Golf Drill to Fix Your Putting Stroke Tempo

One of the most important aspects of putting in golf is the rhythm and tempo in which you swing the putter. The ideal putting stroke features a consistent tempo, which allows you to change the distance of your back stroke to adjust for more or less power.

But many beginner golfers change their putting stroke tempo instead to adjust speed control on putts. This is usually a cause of inconsistent putting and poor distance control on the greens, leading to 3-putts as well as missing short easy putts.

The goal of this golf putting drill is to help you develop consistent putting tempo in your putting stroke so that you can confidently stand over any putt. Focusing on keeping proper tempo will also take your mind off of other things such as letting pressure get to you.

For example, when we face a 4 foot putt, the nervousness can elevate in our body causing us to tighten our grip and make a jabby or quick tempo putting stroke. This can lead to missed putts and inconsistent results.

But when we focus on tempo in our mind and during the putting stroke, we no longer think about missing the putt. We stay calm, cool, and collected keeping the putter moving in a smooth motion instead of a quick, jerky motion.

Make sense? I’m sure you’ve had these feelings and thoughts before.

Here are the instructions for how to set up this putting drill and work on tempo.

Putting Stroke Tempo Drill:

  1. Lay down a meter stick on the putting green
  2. Place a ball marker at the 12, 18, and 24 inch marks
  3. Place a ball at the 18 inch mark
  4. Hit putts taking a backstroke to the 24 inch marker
  5. Follow through on the putts to the 12 inch marker
  6. This works on tempo that is equal distance back and through
  7. Repeat this drill moving the 12 inch marker to 6 inches
  8. Now practice taking a 6 inch back stroke and and 12 inch follow through
  9. Learn different tempos and how they feel by adjusting the back stroke distance and follow through distances

Other Recommended Putting Drills:

Here are additional golf drills to help your short game skills improve and lower your golf scores consistently:

  1. Tiger Wood’s Double Gate Putting Drill
  2. Jordan Spieth’s Stare at the Cup Practice Drill
  3. Golf Putting Drills Routine for Speed Control
  4. 5 Best Putting Drills to Practice Like the Pro’s

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Golf Practice Plans:

Try our step by step golf training plans that give you daily practice routines to complete. Each practice routine has putting drills, chipping drills, and golf swing drills for the driving range. Learn more about each.