Tiger Woods’ ‘very simple’ drill which will help amateur golfers hole more putts on the greens

Add as preferred source on Google

This putting advice from Tiger Woods could help you lower your score and eventually achieve your desired handicap.

Few could match Tiger’s level of consistency on the greens during his prime; Woods’ 2000 US Open win at Pebble Beach was one of the all-time great displays of putting.

Furthermore, from 2002 to 2005, Woods made 1543 putts from three feet and only missed three times, a miss rate of 0.00195%.

Woods has always used a traditional blade, and in a coaching video in 2022, the 15-time major winner shared a drill that encourages him to hit the ball out the centre of the face.

Tiger Woods’ ‘simple’ drill which could help amateur players

Woods revealed that a simple tee drill, which involved creating a gate for the putter to travel through, was something he did to warm up before competing.

“Again, I am going to keep saying this. Hit the ball in the middle of the face. It’s the smallest swing we make, but we all mishit putts when we shouldn’t. It’s one of the reasons why I do the tee drill all the time,” Woods explained.

“I do it before every round, at home, everywhere. It’s a simple little thing that basically leans up against the putter and ensures that I hit the putt solid.

“It’s a very simple drill. I got about four feet from the hole. If I rest the putter up against the heel tee, there’s not a lot of room on the toe. It ensures that I have to hit the ball flush and present the club face square every single time. In order to get through the tees, I have to hit the ball right in the middle of the face.”

• READ MORE: The golf course Tiger Woods claims is ‘so difficult’ that he regards it as one of the best in the world

Why putting is the key to lowing a handicap

Amateur players often overlook putting, and it’s understandable. Most of the time, those learning the game feel that hitting the ball more consistently will lower scores, and to some extent, that’s true.

Yet, amateur golfers wasting strokes on the greens is one of the key reasons why Tour players separate themselves.

Let’s take a look at the stats.

According to data from Back2Basics Golf, all aspects of putting improve massively the further down the handicap scale you go.

For example, a 15-handicap player will hole 84% of his putts inside three feet. A Tour player will make 99%. That’s a 13% difference, and throughout three or four rounds, several shots will be saved.

From eight to ten feet, professional players are nearly 50% more accurate than amateur players, and from twenty feet, they make putts almost three times as often. Tidying up on the greens will quickly turn bad rounds into acceptable ones.