If you’re going to score well and be rewarded when you hit the ball well, you should check the distance on your longer shots. You should be able to roll your first putt within two to three feet in order to have a stress-free putt.
The ideal situation is for your next shot to be close enough to have an easy putt. This is one of the biggest differences between professional and recreational players.
Here’s how you can improve your distance control and consistently roll your first shot close to the green reduce the three strokes.
1. Contact center
All golf starts with good technique and strong contact in the center of the face. If you hit the ball off-center, distance and direction tend to become erratic and unpredictable.
You can practice this on the putting green with a simple two-tee drill. Place a pick on either side of your golf ball and practice stroking the ball without touching either. If you hit a tee, you miss the center of the face of the shot.
2. The right way
The sound path has a direct impact on distance control. There are many great deployment training tools you can use to monitor this. Arch plates and alignment aids are especially useful for improving your path. One of my favorite training tools is the stretch ball, which I use both in practice and teaching.
Stretching ball
Close to 20 feet of cable pulled! The layup ball will help you work the starting line easily and quickly on the putting green. Built-in voices make setup easy and efficient. Either straight shots or breakaway shots, this retractable string can do it all! Carrying case included. User guide
View Product
3. Fewer moving parts
An absolute must for good placement and distance control is to keep your body as still as possible. The head, knees and lower body should remain very stable. Even the smallest amount of unnecessary movement can change distance and direction.
Watch skilled players on TV and notice how little their lower body moves. Then look at most recreational players and you’ll see a surprising number of moving parts. Make a conscious effort to minimize swing so you can rely on one primary factor—stroke size—to control distance, rather than several competing variables.
4. The right stroke size
The length of your backstroke is the main factor in controlling distance. A shorter backswing naturally produces less speed, while a longer backswing generates more speed and therefore more distance.
If you turn the shaft to the correct length and allow it to swing freely, the ball should spin the correct distance. This means that you have to become very precise with small adjustments to the length of your stroke.
5. Be EVEN
Ideally, your stroke should be balanced and consistent. The stroke length should be relatively even going back and forth. Small variations are acceptable, but in general the movement should be symmetrical.
