Lag putting is an important skill that many average golfers do not practice. It’s the most common reason for 3 putts. Let’s take a look at why tempo and rhythm are such an important part of lag putts and all putts.
How often should you practice lag putting? Every time you go to the practice green.
Tiger woods practices 4 footers using his two tee drill, then goes to ten footers followed by practicing lag putts for an extended period from various distances.
Why focus on lag putts? Here are some charts from Shotscope – “Approach Shots: Average proximity to the hole.”
While you may not have the same amount of time to practice as professional golfers there are a couple concepts that are important to understand.
Tempo and Rhythm
Some people confuse Tempo with Rhythm in golf. They are two different things. Simply put, tempo equals time and rhythm equals ratio.
Tempo is how fast you swing a golf club. Some players swing slower and some have a fast swing. It’s the “time” it takes for you to take your backstroke and return the club to impact.
Rhythm is more important. It’s the “ratio” between backstroke speed and forward stroke speed.
In putting, the ideal rhythm is 2 to 1. Measured in time, that would be 0.6 seconds on the backstroke and 0.3 on the forward stroke. The total stroke time would be 0.9 seconds. Just under a second total time.
These should be identical no mater how long your putt is. In other words, for longer putts you make a longer stroke, but use the same Tempo and Rhythm.
As Dave Pelz says, “I count out one…two for a three footer or a thirty footer.”
So people count out one…two…, I count out one thousand….one.
On the course, I count to myself during the putt as part of my routine.
I also measure both metrics all winter long practicing inside with Blast Motion Golf. It’s hard to know what your Tempo and Rhythm are if you don’t measure.
Lag Putting Drills
I use the “never up, never in” theory up to 20 feet from the hole. From 20 feet and farther, I try for a 3 foot radius or 6 foot diameter circle around the hole.
It is not easy to consistently find a 3 foot radius circle from 40, 50 and 60 feet. (6 foot diameter)
Some suggest you try to lag to within 10 percent of the distance you are from the hole. Example: Putt to a 5 foot radius or 10 foot diameter circle from 50 feet.
My issue with that is that you leave yourself open to three putting if you end up too far away. Try for that 3 foot radius circle.
Note: For slick downhill putts try putting to a marker two thirds of the way to the hole and let it run to the hole. For uphill putts you may want to putt to a marker past the hole.
Putting Drills
Here is a link to our putting drills page. Please note that there are printable putting drills linked at the bottom of that page. It’s a PDF (Portable Document File) so you can print them out as needed.