Practice so you never miss a short putt again

Nothing can boost your confidence like hitting a challenging 4- or 5-footer. But missing too many of those putts can crush your spirits, sending your psyche into a tailspin.

Those putts — out of gimme range, but not really easy to make — matter on your scorecard, and your success on that list may be what separates a great round from an average (or average from bad) one.

For example, the best players in the world are about 8 out of 10 from 5 feet. The PGA Tour average this season is 82% (with Denny McCarthy leading at 92%). Even the lowest ranked player to qualify for this statistical category, Kevin Streelman, made 63% of his putts from 5 feet. And if a two-time tour winner is 6 out of 10 in that range, can recreational players expect to make more than half that themselves?

Good news — we're here to help.

Shawn Callahan is a GOLF Top 100 instructor working out of Monroe Golf Club (Pittsford, NY) and Abacoa Golf Club (Jupiter, Fla.). Last year at the Top 100 Teacher Summit of GOLF he donated his drill to make some short putts. Here's how it works.

Callahan takes the 4-foot T-Square and lands it on the green with a long finish toward the cup for what could be a straight and/or slightly elevated putt. He then traced around the half of the ruler to create a space that ran away from the hole.

You add four tees outside the tee line: two to create a gate where you place your ball, and two more to create a gate about a foot in front of your putting line. Then it's just rolling putts. (Watch the video below to watch one of Callahan's students practice the drill.)

“It's designed to square the face and get the ball in line, and that's it,” Callahan said. “Getting the square of the face, getting the ball on the line, honestly as long as you work on the short putts, you don't have to work on the long putts because your feeling disappears after a few hours or a day or so. If you putt well from 20 meters, long putts are very easy. “

Callahan says the perfect ball position is different for everyone, but once you find that and get comfortable, this putt should hit your stroke.

“The putter goes up and down on a pendulum, and it also rotates your body,” he says. “So you want to find the top of that arc and the bottom of that pendulum.”

Josh Behow

Golf.com Editor

As managing editor of GOLF.com, Berhow manages the day-to-day and long-term programming of one of the most widely read news and service websites in the sport. He spends most of his days writing, planning, organizing and wondering if he will ever break 80. Before joining GOLF.com in 2015, he worked at newspapers in Minnesota and Iowa. A graduate of Minnesota State University in Mankato, Minn., he lives in the Twin Cities with his wife and two children. You can reach him at [email protected].