Kirk Triplett on Calibrating Your Putting Technique (Video)

If you're looking for a putting drill to help your consistency, Kirk Triplett may have just the drill for you.



The details of this drill aren't really what's important here. In fact, Kirk says it doesn't really matter exactly what techniques you use. (Which is a good thing, because if your swing is an arc, the straight shaft he uses as a guide won't work for you!)

What matters here is the methodology that you use. Let me outline the key points for you.

• You want to pick a straight putt, roughly six feet long, for your practice putt. What he's done is pick a common length putt that you expect to make, and he's chosen a straight putt so you take greensreading out of the equation. This drill is all about setup.
• You lay down a straight -- or curved -- guide for the impact area of your putt. This gives you a visual guide for the stroke, to insure that you make the same stroke each time. You don't want to take the putter straight back one time, take it inside the second time, and take it outside the third time. That's a sure road to inconsistency.
• Finally, you use this guide to insure that your address position is the same each time. Place the ball at the same spot, stand the same distance from the guide each time, and take the same stance each time -- open, closed or square; weight forward, back or evenly divided between both feet.

The idea is to give your body the best chance of feeling the same each time you stand over a putt. In time, even if you don't see a difference in your setup, you'll feel it if you're setting up a bit differently than you normally do.

That's when your putting stroke starts to feel "natural," because your body is doing the same thing each time. Once you build that kind of trust in your stroke, it's much easier to make good putts.