Putting with a purpose: a session for start line, distance and useful feedback

Ten balls beside a hole do not tell you what worked: the initial direction, the pace or a fortunate bounce. This guide separates a session into three tasks and ends with a usable record. The plan and attempt counts below are an editorial suggestion for recreational golfers, not a federation standard or a promise of lower scores. You should leave with a question you can test next time rather than the verdict “I putted badly”.

Bring your putter, three matching balls, two tees for the gate, a flat marker for the distance task, a tape measure and a phone note. No specialist training device is required. Find an unused part of the practice green, check whether tees are permitted and keep other players’ lines clear. Record the date, location and surface conditions, such as “dry green, fairly level area”. Avoid changing ball, putter and location together: that would make the records harder to compare.

1. Direction

Swiss Golf suggests a straight two-metre putt. Leave a 60 mm clear gap between the tees’ inner edges, about 50 cm from the ball towards the hole. Use the same starting spot.

Align the gate with the line. Editorial set: ten putts recorded as “clear / left contact / right contact”. Count passage and holing separately.

2. Distance

British Columbia Golf suggests a target without a hole. Place a flat marker. Our version: choose a manageable distance, record it and take five attempts from the same spot. After each, measure from the resting ball to the marker and remove the ball.

Useful feedback here means keeping the raw observations, not producing an impressive score. Create five entries: “attempt 1 — __ cm”, through to the fifth. Do not replace an unexpectedly large result with a dash or retain only the best. Five attempts provide a small personal snapshot, not statistical proof. At the next session, the same template lets you view every result side by side, including the awkward ones, instead of comparing from memory. Add direction: short / long / left / right; use two labels for diagonal misses.

3. One ball

following Golf Canada’s principle, read the green, complete your routine and hole out. Our version uses three different starting positions without training markers. Record strokes from each; do not replay a poor first putt.

An example distance record: “target 5 m away; remaining distances 70, 40, 90, 30, 60 cm”. These are invented figures, not our test results. The closest ball finished 30 cm away and the farthest 90 cm; calling the result simply “30 cm” would hide four attempts. Add a plain-language observation, such as “I rushed before the second putt”, only if it happened. Do not replace observation with an assumed cause: this line does not establish that your grip needs changing.

Choose one question for the next session from the notes. If the layout confuses you, check it first; if you omitted the starting distance, repeat that block with a complete record. To compare results, retain the settings and note differences in the surface. Open a separate line for a different distance rather than mixing it with the first. Making the task harder is optional: completing a reliable record may be a more useful goal. Take persistent, unexplained errors and the record to a coach.

End with a decision, not an obligation to finish every repetition. If you stop distinguishing results and recording attempts, end the set: for this task, losing the record means losing the feedback. Choose one next check and write it down before leaving the green. Do not change equipment because of one bad day. This plan helps organise observations; it does not establish why a miss happened or prove that your on-course score has improved.

Sources: Swiss Golf; British Columbia Golf; Worldwide Golf / Address Montgomerie; Golf Canada.