Try this 5-step plan to become a better shooter

Being a great player requires great technique and some structured practice. Once it’s on the phone, you can practice with focused workouts that will helps you control the distance and get better at reading greens.

So what is the key to good technique? It all starts with good set up, where your stance allows your arms to hang so that your eye line is relatively over the ball and parallel to the line of aim. A great training aid to develop this is simply one setting the mirror.

Next, I suggest working on your stroke path, which can be practiced with one swing arc or on a mattress. Ideally, the face of the weave will lie perpendicular to a curved path.

A good friend of mine, friend GOLF Top 100 Teachers Stan Utley explains the swing path as going “straight back and straight up an inclined plane,” which makes it easy for even the most novice player to understand. But to achieve this, you need to stay relatively still during your swing, which will help improve path control and distance.

Another factor in becoming a great putter is your gear – so make sure you have a putter that suits both you and your shot.

Often, the legs are too long if bought off the shelf, making it difficult to get a good stance – which can negatively affect your swing path.

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Practice distance control

Once your technique is up and running, I suggest focusing on distance control drills first – with the three-foot step-up drill being one of my favorites, as I use it all the time in my clinics.

Simply place the balls in three-foot increments, starting with the shortest shot and working your way back. The goal is to control the length and distance of your shot, so take a practice shot before each shot, trying to make your shot as realistic in size as possible.

You should try to roll the first (shorter) shot to within two to three feet of the hole, so focus on your backswing length to control distance.

As you move back, the stroke size should increase. When this happens, the putter’s natural drop speed increases, causing the ball to roll farther. The ability to adjust the back length for different distances will provide benefits with distance control – which will help avoid 3-shots.

Practice stroke size

Another critical aspect of becoming a good shooter is adapting to uphill and downhill changes.

To practice this, pick an uphill putt, and a downhill putt, and just practice going back and forth a few times in a row until you get two throws or better. The feel that can be developed by controlling your stroke size can make a huge difference on the course.