Some of the most painful putts missed are uphill or downhill 3- to 6-footers. Not only does missing one affect your score, it can also get in your head and affect your thinking the rest of the round.
That’s why it’s important to stroke these putts with confidence in your line and the speed you want to hit it. This drill is good for lining those things up:
Put three tees on the inside edges of a hole that has a slight uphill or downhill break. The center tee will be in the back edge of the cup for downhill putts and in the front edge of the cup on uphill putts.
The goal is to roll the ball into the hole without touching the tees. This teaches you to the get the ball to the hole on uphill putts and to die it into the hole on downhill putts.
This is also a great visual drill because it gives you a smaller target; that way, when you remove the tees, the hole will seem much larger.
Jordan King Thomas, PGA, is an instructor at the Henry Brunton Golf Academy at Strawberry Farms in Irvine. He can be reached at (949) 556-7857 or Jordan@henrybrunton.com.
