No More 3 Putts!

Three Keys to Avoid a 3-Putt in Golf

At higher handicap levels, 3 putts are scorecard killers! Nothing can derail a round of golf quicker than making 3 putts— and multiple three-putts can do it even faster. You may think you’re making great progress in your golf lessons, only to find yourself facing the dreaded three-putt again. Good news! Avoiding 3 putts is an achievable goal for any mid- to high-handicap golfer. By focusing on three fundamental putting skills, you can immediately lower your scores and boost confidence. In this blog, I’ll explain how you can take a beginner golf lesson in Orlando with me or one of my assistant coaches, dedicated solely to improving your putting to avoid 3 putts. Watch your scores drop right away!

Within this blog post, I’ll cover three priorities, in order of importance, that all good-to-great putters focus on. And why each priority is essential in your efforts to improve your putting skills. You’ll learn why hitting the sweet spot with a square putter face is crucial, how lag putting and controlling the distances of your longer putts are key to a solid two-putt strategy, and how controlling your speed helps you read greens more accurately. The blog post also includes practical putting tips and drills, and reminds you that you can improve your putting skills by participating in many of the golf coaching programs I offer. Let’s get to it, eliminating 3 putts!

The Three Priorities of a Good Putting

Consistently great putters do three things well, in this order:

1. Centered Contact with a Square Face: Striking the ball with the sweet spot of the putter and keeping the face square at impact.
2. Distance Control: Controlling the speed so that the ball rolls the proper distance (especially on long “lag” putts).
3. Direction (Line): Starting the putt on your intended line by aiming properly and reading the break, which is heavily influenced by your speed.

Mastering these three priorities, in this order, will dramatically improve your putting accuracy and virtually eliminate 3 putts. Let’s examine each priority in detail, including the science and reasoning behind why they matter, and how you can improve each skill.

1. Avoiding 3 Putts with Centered Contact and a Square Putter Face

Hitting the center of the putter face, more commonly known as the ‘sweet spot’, with the club face square at impact, is non-negotiable if you want to be a good putter and eliminate 3 putts. If your putter’s face isn’t square to your target line at impact, the ball will not start online. A real-life example is that your putter face being 1° open at impact will cause you to miss a 10-foot putt by two inches. This may not sound like much to you. But it adds up quickly on your scorecard. For perspective, tour pros keep their face angle, on average, within +/-0.5° of square with every putt they hit. That’s how critical centered contact really is. If you deliver the putter face squarely and hit the center, you eliminate two major variables in putting. All that’s left is to marry that solid stroke with the correct speed and read.

In addition, if you end up hitting the ball with the toe or heel of your putter, your distance and direction control become unpredictable. This is due to the putter head twisting or ‘deflecting’ at impact, reducing the amount of energy transferred to the golf ball. Centered contact is the only way to control putting distance consistently. Off-center hits will also impart sidespin, causing the ball to veer offline.

To sum it up, a putt struck on the toe or heel might come up short or offline, even with a good read.

A square putter face at impact is equally crucial. Physics and launch monitor data show that the putter face angle at impact determines up to 90% of the start line of every putt. Even if your read is perfect, an open or closed face will send the ball off target. Any attempt to manipulate or ‘fix’ the face during a putting stroke can lead to pulled, pushed, or inconsistent putting overall. The bottom line is this. You can’t hole a putt if a putt starts offline. And you won’t start any putt online until you square the putter club face and make solid centered contact.

Why centered contact? The sweet spot is where the putter is designed to impart optimal energy. Hitting it ensures a consistent roll and distance. Off-center hits not only skew direction but also lose energy. Meaning putts will come up short of the hole. Making centered contact happen more often makes you feel like you stroked a solid putt. And builds confidence in your ability to repeat a good putting stroke.

Drills for Centered Contact and Squaring the Putter Face: There are several ‘go-to’ drills to engrain a square putter face at impact while featuring the importance of hitting the sweet spot of the putter.

1. The Putting Stick Drill – When I try to help my mid- to high-handicap clients find their putter’s sweet spot and square the face, I usually give them a 40-inch stick with a hole about 36 inches from one end. I then ask them to point the end of the stick without the hole straight into a hole, place the ball on the stick at the 36-inch mark, and make a straight putt into the hole. This drill is more challenging than it looks and secretly works on several other aspects of putting. The most noticeable effect the stick has is on how the golfer sets up to the ball. When asked to hit a straight putt, golfers almost always change their setup to meet the challenge. I often see relaxed arms, softer grips, posture adjustments based on where their eyes are over the ball, and many other setup changes. Without fixing your setup to keep the face square and ensure centered contact, you won’t be able to succeed with this drill.
2. Rubber Band Sweet Spot Drill – This is another effective and efficient DIY drill. Wrap two rubber bands around your putter face, leaving a gap between the two rubber bands where the sweet spot is located on your putter. Strike putts with the idea of missing the rubber bands and hitting the center of the putter. If you miss the center, the ball will hit a band and give immediate feedback. The rubber band will also cause the ball to roll off target. As you improve, move the bands closer together to shrink the center of your sweet spot. Doing so improves both centeredness and face control.
3. The Gate Drill – Another great way to train sweet-spot contact is the classic “gate” drill. Place two tees or obstacles just barely wider than your putter head and practice stroking putts through the gate – if you miss the center, the gate will tell you by catching the heel or toe of your putter.

These drills are meant to be challenging, so you’re training the most fundamental aspect of putting. When you can hit the sweet spot consistently with a square face, you’ve laid the foundation to avoid 3 putts.

2. Distance Control – The Key to Lag Putting and Eliminating Three Putts

If there is one skill that will almost instantly reduce your 3 putts, it is distance control. As I tell all my clients, the absolute cause of a three-putt is your inability to have your first putt finish close enough to the hole to leave a short second putt. In other words, your three putts are caused by you leaving your first putt too far from the hole. Leaving you with a tricky second putt.

The art of lag putting is receiving a lot more attention now than ever before because of its relevance to three-putting. Learn to hit good lag putts from various distances, leaving yourself in the ‘gimme’ range of around 3 feet or less, and you’ve eliminated 3 putts. So. For mid- and high-handicappers, improving speed control is the fastest way to shave strokes from your scores. As much as you may believe otherwise, the direction or line you choose for a putt is far less important than the speed at which you hit a putt.

Why? Because if your speed is dialed in, even a slightly misread line will still leave you a short second putt. But a putt hit the wrong distance – too soft or too firm – can leave you 6 or 8 feet for par, and that’s when the three-putt monster bites.

Why distance control is critical: As I remind all my clients, you make zero putts that come up short of the hole. But by the flip of the coin, you don’t want to hammer every putt far past the cup. But you do need enough pace to reach the hole. Ideally, a putt that travels over a hole with the correct speed will end up approximately 12” past the hole. This ideal speed gives the ball a chance to fall in the hole from any direction.

Hitting putts excessively hard to “never leave it short” is actually counterproductive. The faster the ball rolls, the smaller the effective hole size becomes. A ball that barely trickles to the cup can catch the edge and drop. But a ball racing by will horseshoe out. In other words, ramming putts can make the hole “smaller” and lead to more lip-outs. The goal is controlled speed so the ball ends up in and/or as close to the hole as possible.

Controlling your putting distance is also crucial because it determines your next putt. Statistics show that amateur golfers rarely one-putt from long range. But if you can lag the ball into that safe 3-foot circle, you’ll two-putt almost every time. Again, the reason for putting the stick drill at a 36” distance.

When thinking about distance control of your putting, some interesting statistics are worth considering:

• The average golfer sinks the vast majority of 3-foot or less putts.
• Tour pros make about 92% of putts from 3 feet or less. But only about 50% from 6 feet.
• Every day, amateur golfers’ odds drop off even more beyond 3–4 feet. You make less than 10% of the putts you face from more than 6 feet

In fact, data from the PGA Tour shows pros two-putt 90%+ of the time from 25+ feet, whereas many amateurs are more likely than not to three-putt from that same distance. The difference isn’t that pros sink a bunch of 30-footers. It’s that their misses end up close.

So a two-fold strategy for avoiding 3-putts is: (A) Improve your lag putting so your first putt is always close, and (B) improve your short-putt skills (inside 4 feet) so you can confidently knock in the second putt. We’ll cover short putts in the next section; for now, let’s focus on lag putting distance.

“Distance Dictates Direction” – The Speed/Break Connection: Here’s a fact that might surprise newer golfers. The speed at which you make a putt actually influences the amount of break or curvature of your putt. In general, slower putts will break more than faster putts. Why? Because gravity has more time to pull it downhill. A faster putt will hold a straighter line as it fights gravity from pulling the ball down the same hill. In practical terms, speed determines the line of breaking putts. If you struggle with green reading, chances are very high that you don’t know how to control the speed of your putts—causing you to ‘mis-read’ the initial direction you need to start a putt in. This is why better distance control allows a golfer to read greens more precisely. When you can reliably hit your putts at a consistent pace, you can predict how much the ball will curve and aim accordingly.

So, when we say “distance dictates direction,” we mean that getting the speed right is more than half the battle of hitting a good putt. As I am assisting my clients with distance control of their putts, I’ll often ask them to decide the optimal speed of a putt. For example, do you want the putt to die into the hole? If so, then choose a line that matches that speed. This would require you to aim higher than the hole to allow the putter to roll the ball into the hole.

The take-home point is that the speed of a putt and the directional starting line you choose for any putt are intertwined. Correcting and controlling your putting speed is more important than the other, especially on long putts.

Lag Putting = Two-Putt Strategy: Think of lag putting as a two-putt strategy game. The goal of a lag putt isn’t to hole a 40-footer. Although that would be a nice bonus when it happens. The goal is to cozy the ball into a three-foot circle around the cup. The bullseye of lag putting is the cup. However, the cup has a 3-foot buffer, making the bullseye effectively larger. Your job as a golfer when faced with a long putt is to aim for the hole but have the ball miss within the three-foot circle surrounding the cup. By lagging the first putt close, you leave yourself an easy second putt. Do this every time, and 3 putts are eliminated!

Drills for Distance Control: To develop consistency in your ability to control the length you hit any putt, you must incorporate speed control drills into your practice.

1. The Ladder Drill – One of the best is the Ladder Drill, a favorite of both tour pros and top coaches. Pick a hole and place a series of markers (tees, coins, or other small objects) at increasing distances – say 10, 20, 30, 40 feet. Your task is to putt from each marker to a hole, having each putt at or just past the hole. You can lay an alignment stick or club about 3 feet behind the hole and use it as a boundary. Making you hit putts that go in or finish between the hole and the stick. I also like for golfers to understand the average length of their first putt on any hole, which, statistically speaking, is roughly 35 feet. From that point, set up your ‘ladder’ so the middle rung is the average length of your first putt. And place two rungs equal distance apart in front of and behind the rung. When you execute the ladder drill in this manner, you’re working on controlling the putts you face most often. This is a fun drill that adds pressure to your practice.
2. The Leapfrog Drill – This is a popular drill amongst touring professionals because it requires no props and immediately makes an impact on their ability to control putting distance on greens they have not played. Stroke a first putt to approximately 15 feet. Then try to hit your next putt slightly past the first ball. You continue this drill, without ever leaving a considerable gap or overlapping the previous ball. The leapfrog drill teaches you incremental distance control. You can also practice this drill on the fringe of the green.
3. Putting with Your Eyes Closed – A favorite drill I give all my elite clients to challenge their ability to understand centered contact and how that affects their ability to control distance. Doing this drill with longer putts takes on a whole new meaning to ‘feeling’ the distance of your putts. Don’t be surprised when using this drill how much you’ll learn about your putting stroke and the nuances of your putting stroke that control distance.

Lastly, I always remind my clients to warm up their distance control on the putting green before each round. Getting a sense of the green speed with a quick version of the ladder drill can tell you how fast or slow the greens will roll as compared to where you practice your putting. Providing an opportunity to adjust your setup and stroke to accommodate the green speeds you’ll play that day. Many golfers who struggle with lag putting don’t spend three to five minutes before a round warming up their putting distance control.

3. Direction and Green Reading Precision

The third priority, direction, is all about starting your ball on the intended line toward the hole. This involves two critical functions. Reading or aiming the initial start line of any putt. And stroking or actually rolling the ball on that line. We’ve already covered stroke fundamentals with a square face, so let’s focus on the green reading aspect, which is where many amateur golfers can gain strokes once their distance control improves.

As previously mentioned and detailed in this blog post, your ability to read greens correctly goes hand-in-hand with your distance control. If you don’t control the speed, even a good read can turn into a miss. Conversely, when you trust your speed, reading the proper line becomes easier.

Good green reading is essentially predicting how far the ball will break at the speed you intend to hit it. So, to read long putts well, first decide on the speed. Whether you believe this or not, hitting a lag putt so it dies into or near the hole is the best speed to choose. Remember that a putt that dies at the hole needs more allowance for break. While a firm putt needs less and could potentially go well past the hole.

A few practical green reading tips that help your eyes and brain take in all the information you need to read slopes and contours more efficiently rely on your three-dimensional vision. In other words, are you reading a putt to determine its width, height, and depth?

1. As you probably already do, start reading the putt from behind the ball. Determine the width of the putt by determining in which direction the putt breaks. That becomes the ‘low side’ of the putt.
2. Move to the middle of the putt and away from the line of the putt towards the low side of the putt. From this vantage point, you’ll gain a better sense of how long a putt you’ll be facing (depth). As well as whether you’re putting up or down a hill (height).

When you only look from behind the ball, you don’t have enough information to understand where to aim any putt. Which makes distance control harder to predict.

Also worth mentioning is grain, or the direction the grass is growing. Grass will always grow in the direction water will take to drain off the green. It does not grow in any other direction

If you struggle with reading greens, chances are you’re attempting to aim at a starting target that is too far away from you. If so, try picking an intermediate target. Many pros will choose a spot two to three feet in front of the ball that they want their putt to roll over.

For the most part, amateur golfers under-read almost every putt they stroke. In other words, you don’t play enough break. A big reason is hitting putts too hard. But not aiming high enough for every putt brings in the possibility of the putt dying in front of the hole. There is a lot of statistical evidence pointing to missing a putt on the high side, leaving you a shorter second putt, than missing low. Therefore, it’s in your best interest to hit higher than normal, giving each putt you hit a chance of breaking into the hole.

Drills for Directional Consistency: As previously discussed, your directionalconsistency is highly dependent upon your ability to hit the sweet spot of the putter and control your putting distance. But there are a couple of drills useful in helping you gain a sense of control over where you aim and start a ball rolling when you putt:

1. The Lines on Balls – Using the line manufactures are now placing on almost all golf balls is a helpful tool. So long as you don’t get obsessed with being perfect using the line to indicate where you want to start a putt. Aim the line at your intended target. If the line rolls over itself continually and heads in the direction you were aiming, you’ve accomplished the drill.
2. Accuracy Gate Drills – Different from the gate drill previously mentioned, you’ll now use two tees placed about two to three inches apart to hit the ball through. Placing these gates at strategic distances along your putting line can help you understand the distance control it takes for the ball to roll through the gate.
3. Chalk Line Drill – Snap a chalk line on the green in the direction at which you want to aim a putt. The objective is to start and keep the ball on the chalk line.

Realize that green reading is a skill that improves with experience. Make it a habit during practice rounds to read every putt, even tap-ins, to calibrate your feel for break. When your distance control is consistent, you’ll notice patterns with your putting. Patterns that breed successful putts. And patterns you can improve to make more putts. Over time, these patterns provide you with the sixth sense needed to envision a 20-foot putt breaking as the ball continues to roll into the hole. Before you’ve had a chance to mark your ball on the green.

Mastering Lag Putting and the 4-Foot Circle

We’ve stressed getting long putts close, but equally important is finishing the job. To avoid 3 putts, you must confidently sink those short putts—the putts inside that three-to-four-foot circle. For high handicap amateurs, this length putt adds nervousness and anxiety that causes you to forget about the simplicity of the putt length.

Why 4 Feet? Statistically, 4 feet is a distance where even amateurs can make a high percentage of putts. It’s short enough to be very makable. Yet amateurs hit these putts with fear, fear of missing the putt. Versus a positive outlook of making it. Recount your last round of golf and how many three to four-foot putts you missed? If you made those putts, what could have been your score?

For many mid-to high-handicappers, getting automatic from short range can save two to five strokes per round! Plus, when you know you can make that length putt, it frees your mind to be able to hit better lag putts closer. Because you’re not as afraid of missing a three-foot putt.

Drills to Make More Short Putts Inside 4 Feet – There are a few great drills that will assist you with honing your skills to make more short putts:

1. The Around the World Drill – A classic drill used by golfers for hundreds of years. Place tees or balls in a circle around the hole, each about 3 or 4 feet from the hole (like points on a clock face). See if you can go around the circle and make 8 out of 10. Or better yet, 10 in a row. If you miss one, start over. This simulates a bit of pressure you face when putting from the same length during a round of golf.
2. The 3, 5, 7 Drill – Another great drill is the “3, 5, 7” drill. Place a ball at 3 feet, 5 feet, and 7 feet. Make the 3, then make the 5, then the 7. If you miss, you have to start over at 3. This graduated challenge builds stroke consistency and focus.
3. Tee in the Back of the Cup – Place a tee into the side of the cup, above the club liner, without damaging the hole. From three feet, your job is to allow all short putts to hit the tee. You do so by envisioning your aim point as the tee, not the hole. This drill ensures you hit short putts with the proper pace to get to the hole without hitting a putt too fast.

The goal is to develop unshakable confidence within three to four feet of the hole. Being able to ‘own this putt’ frees up your lag putting, too, because you know that if you lag it to four feet, you’re going to make the next one.

From Practice Green to The Course: Make It Count

I’ve detailed all the priorities of great putters: centered contact, distance control, and direction. Now it’s time you take this information and use it in a meaningful and purposeful way to eliminate your chances of three-putting. If you’ve practiced with purpose, you’ll recall the drills that make you a more successful putter. You’ll remember the drills that apply to the putt you face. But most importantly, this recall will provide you the trust and confidence of knowing ‘you’ve practiced this putt before.’ And stroking a good putt now will eliminate any chance of a three-putt.

This positive mindset is huge. Instead of dreading long putts or short putts, you’ll start seeing them as an opportunity to show off your improved skills. And if you stumble, you won’t panic. Because you have the tools to overcome the adversity that you face when fearing a three-putt. And you’ll have the confidence of knowing that one three-putt doesn’t mean you’re a bad putter. It just means you missed one of the elements in that sequence of putts. And you’ll know how to do better when faced with a similar putting situation.

Conclusion

Improving your putting is one of the quickest ways to lower scores. It’s not about strength or youth. It’s about technique and touch, which anyone can develop. If you’re serious about taking strokes off your game, you should seriously consider seeking professional coaching, a putting lesson or two. Working with a coach can help you identify subtle flaws in your setup, tempo, or stroke that you might not catch on your own.

Purposefully practicing the priorities of putting in order provides the foundation to build a successful putting stroke. Along with a successful process to determine how to hit each putt you face.

Ready to take your putting to the next level? Check out the John Hughes Golf coaching programs or beginner golf lessons Orlando trusts for quality instruction. With professional guidance and a bit of dedication, you’ll turn your weakest putts into a strength. As John often says, “Practice with purpose, play with confidence,” and you’ll never fear a three-putt again.