Putt Like A Pro From 3 Feet & Under

Pop The Short Putt

You don’t use the same stroke to hit your wedge 10 yards as do for 50 yards, so why do you use the same stroke to hit a 3 foot putt as you would for a 10 footer? I am not saying that people are making a putt with as much force for a 10 footer as a 3 footer, what I am suggesting is that for shorter distance putts a different putting stroke may be what you need to add confidence and make more short putts.

A popping style putt on short putts can improve line and distance results, especially if one has the yips.

The physics and mathematics shows us that on a level playing surface that a 2 foot put has a 9.5° margin for error, about 4.75° left and right of the dead center of a hole and still allowing the ball to drop. At 3 feet it narrows to a 6° margin for error or about 3° left and right of the dead center of the hole. It stands to reason that if one can reduce the angle for error, the putt then comes down to speed. To reduce the angle of error try pulling the putter only back a half of an inch to an inch and popping the ball forward. By using such a small backswing some of the basic mechanics of putting and their sources for errors are removed. On longer putts you need to decide if you are trying to use a pendulum swing or a closing gate swing and there is an argument for both. Again, on really short putts, the pop has the highest degree of success because there are not as many moving parts and it is easier to keep it on line.

One might ask themselves why not use the pop for all putting. Well, as the putting distance gets longer then the reliability of how far the putt actually goes using a pop swing is not as predictable. So, one can see that having two different putting strokes for different distances can help you putt like a Pro.