Gary Player tells amateur golfers the ‘best thing’ they can do at home to become much better at putting

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Gary Player is a legendary figure within the game due to the incredible success he achieved throughout his career.

Player punched above his weight during his career, competing against the likes of Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer.

The diminutive South African won an incredible 150 tournaments worldwide, including nine major championships and 24 PGA Tour titles.

He was an uncompromising competitor and the same can be said for his personality today.

The nine-time major champion is no shrinking violet when it comes to offering forthright opinions, that’s for sure.

Player once suggested Augusta National was not even a special golf course, so he’s certainly not averse to sharing his controversial opinions.

However, while the South African may be fairly confrontational with his views on the game, he is one of the best people to take advice from if you’re an amateur golfer looking to get better.

Gary Player tells amateur golfers how to improve their putting

Player was one of the best in the business on the greens during his career.

The South African possessed a silky touch and an incredibly strong mindset that rarely wavered under pressure.

So it goes without saying that Player is someone you would want to listen to for advice on how to improve your putting.

The South African shared some tips via his official X account on Monday night.

He said: “To become a solid putter, you need discipline and intention. One of the best things an amateur can do at home is learn to keep their hands ahead of the ball at impact and wrists are firm through the stroke. That’s fundamental.“

What Player is saying here is how it is vitally important not to allow your wrists to break down through the stroke.

Many amateurs have that ‘flippy’ motion with their wrists on the greens, rather than a solid, one-piece move through the ball.

The best drills that will improve your putting overnight

Putting is arguably the most important part of the game.

So, rather than smash balls with your driver at the range, why not head over to the putting green?

Here are some great drills to help you improve your stroke.

Tiger Woods’ ‘gate drill’ is ideal for improving face stability and the path of your stroke. Simply put one tee by the heel of your putter and the other by the toe and practice swinging your putter ‘through the gate’, so to speak.

Another great bit of advice came from Scottie Scheffler on how to read greens from outside of 40 feet.

The world number one explained “So looking at a putt of this length (50 feet), there is a decent amount of stuff you want to be looking for.

“The first thing I will do is I will look at it from behind the putt and I’ll kind of walk up and I’ll get a feel for it in the middle of the putt, and I’ll just notice little things like up to here, the break is going this way, the grain is going that way. You get to a point in the middle of the putt where it’s going to go up and over and down grain.

“A double breaking putt like this, especially with a lot of turn at the end, I’ll try and find that point where I think the ball is going to travel through, that will kind of be where I’m trying to aim.

“Then, I’ll get a feel for how fast it is at the end. I’ll read it from this side (behind the hole), you can really see the grain change. It gets really dark looking back up that way, and it gets really light on the other side.

“Now I have an idea where that ball is going to roll. I come in, have two practice strokes while looking at the line.

“Gave it a chance to go in and I’ve got an easy putt back up the hill to finish.“

If you can practice your putting more, it will be fairly simple to shave a few putts off your total each round and that’s when your handicap will begin to tumble.