Climb the Ladder for Putting Success

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When I’m working on getting feel for distance in my putting stroke, sometimes I’ll turn to a drill commonly referred to as the “ladder drill”. It’s named that because you putt from (or to) a series of pre-determined distances, each successive try being longer or shorter than the last, similar to the rungs on a ladder. There are a couple of variations that I use, and probably many others that I’ve never even heard of.

The first variation involves picking a hole on the practice green and measuring out half a dozen or so putting locations starting at three feet, and each successive one a few feet past that. Then you simply start with the three-footer and move to the six-footer, then the nine-footer, and so on until you putt all of the balls. It’s fine to be target oriented and try and drop the putts, but what you’re really trying to do is get a feel for distance and how your stroke length increases to reach the extra distance.

The second variation involves putting from right near the edge of the practice green. You can pick a hole as a target, but you’re not trying to make putts. The point is to putt the first ball three feet, then to putt each successive ball three more feet than the last. So you’re going for three then six then nine and so on, until you get to the last ball. Your objective is three feet past the previous ball, but above all, you want to make sure you get each ball to actually travel further than the last. You shouldn’t be worried about line with this variation. It’s purpose is to work on pace.

As with any drills of this sort, it’s easy to turn into a game to challenge yourself or even a friend. With the first variation, you can keep taking the successively longer putt until you miss, then you go back to the three footer and start again. See how many putts you can make in a row. With the second variation, you keep going as long as the next putt goes further than the last. Keep going until you either putt one shorter or reach the other edge of the green.

Both these drills can also be spiced up by starting with the longer putts first and working back with successively shorter ones.

Because I’m in a “buy two, get one free” mood, there’s another putting drill that really helps work on pace, especially on lag putts. If you’ve ever pitched quarters (or whatever coin is appropriate to your nation) as a kid, then you’ll recognize this one. It works well with a friend for competition, but it’s great to practice alone too. Pick any spot on the green to putt from. The objective is to putt as close as possible to the collar without the ball actually touching it. See how close you can get without the ball leaving the putting surface. With a friend, whoever is closer wins (great for a little, ahem, “action”).

Betting and competition aside, I really like this drill because it completely takes your mind off of reading break and focuses it solely on distance control. Of course break is important when putting for real, but when practicing there are benefits to isolating and practicing them independently. One problem people have when they miss putts is not knowing whether the read was bad or whether the pace was bad or even if it was a poor stroke that led to bad contact (or all three!). By eliminating the focus on break and line, it’s easy to get immediate feedback on how your stroke works for specific distances.

Give these drills a try for some improvement in your putting distance control.