| By :
Michael Byrne
Putting tips can come from the strangest places. I was watching the Memorial Touranment over the weeked when one of the golfer was lining up a long putt. The commentators started discussing the putt. Nick Faldo was asked if he would try to get it close or make the putt. His comments were instructional. Mr. Faldo said without hesitation that he would try to make the putt. He doesn't believe in trying to putt into a 3 foot barrel. If you miss that barrel, you'll be more than three feet away. If you aim to make it and miss by 3 feet, you're left with just a 3 foot putt. This struck home with me because of a recent three putt disaster. After two good shots to get on the green, I sent my putt seven feet beyond the hole.. I was just trying to get close for a two putt. I'm really challenging that thought after what Nick Faldo said. Well, I thought let's experience. I got in the Jeep and headed to the putting green for an unscientific experiment. There were ten holes on the green. The test was to strike 10 putts using each of the approaches. I had to be careful because my putting would adjust after the first putt and the second putt would be better regardless of whether I trying to sink it or just get within 3 feet. Here's what I did. I warmed up hitting putts of 30-40 feet using spots on the green instead of the test holes. I picked discolored spots for targets. I warmed up so that I wouldn't be tight. Then, for the test, I alternated approaches from opposite sides of each of the 10 holes. On the first hole, I focused the first putt on sinking it. For the second putt I putted to get within 3 feet. For the second hole, I alternated with the first putt to within 3 feet and the second putt right at the hole. For a true test, I set the distance at 30 feet. The results were not surprising. I got better at both as the test went on. It appears I was training myself. This in itself is instructive. More time spent executing a focused task will generally improve results. On 7 of 10 holes, the result was better when trying to put the putt into the hole. Only, on two holes, were those putts outside of 3 feet. For the putts where I was aiming within three feet, 4 were outside of the 3 foot zone. For me, the test results show that aiming to make the putt improves my lag putting. The proof will be over the course of time as I change my approach during actual rounds. I will be adding this approach to my Putting drills. Your results may differ from mine, but until you try this test you can't be sure. So take 15 minutes, head out to the putting green and see what happens. Wouldn't it be worth it to knock a couple strokes per round off your score?
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