Dear golf guru,

I have been away from the game for two years plus.

I have played 4 times in the last ten days, each round being at yarra bend in Melbourne.

My scores have been 110, 100, 94 and 87 at the par70 course.

I previously played off a 7 handicap but at Ivanhoe a very easy public course, playing in a social golf club at the best courses in Melbourne a more realistic handicap for me over 2 years ago would have been around 12 to 15.

Today my game was really coming back, some 230 metre drives after reading a tip from Tiger, some very good iron approaches to green but what was lacking was lining up my putts. From any distance I just didn’t have the old touch even though I used the same old technique of lining up the pen marker line on the ball on the line I wanted my putt to roll on.

What was most frustrating was with a round of 87 I missed 6 five to six feet putts by a whisker past the edge of the hole. I know practice is the only way to get the touch back. I just wanted to know if you have any putting practice drills that suit my situation of coming back to the game and needing to line up putts effeciently.

I will be grateful for any advice on drills that you may be able to offer.

Shit..that is like +111 over 4 rounds of golf and you used to play off 7?

uraknob

Some forum software allows you to “ignore” certain posters, so that you never have to read their posts and think “thats 5 seconds of my life I’m never getting back”
We need something like that on here.
uraknob

tee2gr – If you were off 7 then presumably you don’t have any horribly bad habits like stabbing at the ball or ‘babying’ in the short ones.
I’ve come back to that game after 15 years off – not exactly your situation – but I’m sinking 2/3 of my 6 footers since I started lining up the alignment marker before addressing the ball. After a short transition period you can trust the alignment and when you address the ball, you only need concentrate on speed and bringing the clubface in with clean, square contact. Oh- and occasionally I check that my eyes are over the ball, by holding a ball up to my dominant eye and dropping it – if it hits the ball – I was over it.

thanks matt, I’ll try your tips on the putting green this afternoon.

Welcome to the forum teetogreen.

That eyes over the ball is one that many players coming back to the game just gloss over. They used to be over the ball, or just a little inside it, but somehow after a long break many end up way away from the ball so lining up the shot becomes a lot more geometry than it used to be.

Make sure you are not sneaking in a bit of pivot rather than arms only putting, as well as not looking up too soon to watch it go in.

iseekgolfguru, I’ll try those this arvo on the practice green.

With experience in Tibetan Buddhism I might in future refer to you, with no offence intended, as Rinpoche iseekgolf.

Just a bit of cultural cross play there.

Thank you for the assistance.

I would be honored with such a title:)

Tee2green.
I did a short game school with a high profile coach. A drill he got us to do which helps speed & alignment.
Buy your self a 1 metre length of 25mm x 3mm alloy flat bar.
Drill a 3mm hole in the middle about 30 mm from one end (don’t go right through, just to max drill diameter).
put flat bar on any flat level surface.
place ball on small hole and get the putt to run along the full length of the 1 metre strip. dont stop till you nail about 5 in a row.
You can do this on the green or at home. Not easy but helps with alignment, stroke & speed.
I am no pro but my putting has gone from good to better. good luck

Teetogreen,
Use guru’s advice,
Also start from scratch, get and inch from the hole, put one left handed,one right handed, then one two handed, Then move back inch further from the hole start again same process.
Keep on moving further away at inch intervals, till you reach 3 feet.
than go back to an inch, do this for a few weeks your results will amaze you, it helps you line up square,rebuilds your stroke from scratch, and trains your brain to hit the ball in the hole. brings back confidence.
I had a girl who missed the ball right a good two inches from two feet. I have had her on this program for three weeks now and from six foot down she is deadly, rarely misses

Teetogreen,
Use guru’s advice,
Also start from scratch, get and inch from the hole, put one left handed,one right handed, then one two handed, Then move back inch further from the hole start again same process.
Keep on moving further away at inch intervals, till you reach 3 feet.
than go back to an inch, do this for a few weeks your results will amaze you, it helps you line up square,rebuilds your stroke from scratch, and trains your brain to hit the ball in the hole. brings back confidence.
I had a girl who missed the ball right a good two inches from two feet. I have had her on this program for three weeks now and from six foot down she is deadly, rarely misses

Bio-

Are you familiar with Sasha Novak’s Law of Accuracy? It was explained to me, but I haven’t gotten around to fully exploring it yet. The drill you are teaching sounds similar to what was explained to me.

finster,
I haven’t have you a website I can read up her work, be good to read.

Bio-

I believe he is affiliated with Peter Croker. Here is a website for you. There should also be info on Peter’s website.

http://lawsofaccuracy.com/t...

Toolish has been using it (there is mention of it in his thread).

Thanks Finster,
yeah I know croker, he has a good putting reguime works well.
One guy was telling me croker had a guy work from. an inch and worked out to 12ft, time the guy reached 12ft he sunk 100putts in a row at 12ft, very impressive.Crocker has some great stuff.
Apparently he has some good stuff on chipping as well.
I’ve been meaning to catch up with croker to see where he is up to.