Need Help bad!

[PMay]

Like i said earlier i am somewhat new to the game and am struggling a bit, but i am really working hard to get better. My iron and wedge game are pretty good. But my putting and driving are really bad. At the range I hit my drives far and straight, but when I get to the course I cant hit them straight. I am just an awful putter. Any tips or advice you guys have could help me out alot.

 

[295yards]

If you are hitting it straight at the range and can't hit it straight on the course my guess is you are letting the range line YOU up.
I find at the range you want to constantly pick new targets. Back away from the ball, pick a target and get set up to that and fire. Keep changing your targets and always back away after each shot. Go through your whole preshot routine on every ball.
For me, I stand behind the ball pick a spot that stands out between my ball and the target, say a speck of something, discolour in the grass or anything. i line up square to that and check my target, waggle, and fire.

 

[PMay]

I will try that out next time it makes perfect sense. Do you have any tips for putting?

 

[gpo]

For putting do this drill. Get a straight maybe slightly uphill putt. Measure out 3 feet and put a tee down. Sit there and putt until you make 10 in a row. Then move back to 6 feet. Sit there and putt until you make 10 in a row. Then move back to 9 feet and try to make 10 in a row.

Then just hit tons of puts 20 to 40 feet long working on speed.

Getting touch on putting takes time, but the best thing is it only costs time.

 

[PMay]

I will try that out thanx for the help

 

[Pa Jayhawk]

Best Putting (and chipping as well) tip that I have ever seen is to hold your pose at the end of a putt until the ball stops rolling to ingrain the feel for speed.

Gives your brain time to process what you just did with the putter, and know how to correct for the next putt. Many poor putters I watch are half way to the hole before the ball stops rolling, and there is no way you can process how you just hit the ball if it runs 10 feet past the hole if you do not take the time to process the result in relation to how it felt and are walking towards the hole or cursing the greens for not treating you right. There are usually cursing the green before the putt stops rolling.

This is not to say that on occasion I do not start walking towards the cup sometimes when I hit a ball, although it is usually only when I know the ball is about to go in the hole because I absolutely know I hit a great putt.

Think about how you hit the putt, how it felt and what you just did. Give your mind a chance to process.

 

[eclark53520]

I will second what PAJAY said but for a different reason...holding your finish like that also helps you to not decelerate on the putt and/or chip. Deceleration on either causes all sorts of nasty issues and its a really tough habit to get out of.

 

[PMay]

I always heard that it is better to have a lose grip when putting, but i feel like i hit better putts when i grip it as tight as i can

 

[Pa Jayhawk]

I always heard that it is better to have a lose grip when putting, but i feel like i hit better putts when i grip it as tight as i can

Sounds like you are trying to putt with your hands, wrists and forearms and trying to "hit" the ball. Try putting with your shoulders as a means of making the putting stroke.

If it is a matter of needing to do so to keep the putter on line, use more of a "Forward Press". Which is basically after setup and taking the stance, move the wrists slighly forward. Not a lot. It will help lock the wrists.

 

[295yards]

I will try that out next time it makes perfect sense. Do you have any tips for putting?

ALOT better putters here than me, but I learned i putt way better with a forward lean of the shaft thru the stroke and into impact.
Also I do not focus so much on break when practicing just speed, make sure the putt makes it there

 

[ezra76]

For the tee shots. Pay attention to your setup, the alignment of your shoulders, knees and feet. If you have to, just put the shaft of your club across your chest to check where you are aiming. Improper alignment can not only cause to you hit it "offline" from where you thought you were trying to hit but also can cause swing problems. Also, try to pick a target and swing at that target. Whether it's tree or a greenside bunker, whatever. Something in the distance to aim for. This will not only help to "aim" but will help to finish the swing with everything moving down the same line.

For putting the only tip I have is confidence. There are a lot of ways to hold the putter, putting strokes ect.. One thing that probably all good putters do though is make the decisions before they get over the ball and stick with them. Get your read, feel the speed, get over it and "know" it's going in. Something I need to get back to doing. I've been making quite a few half-assed attempts lately.

 

[PMay]

I have noticed lately that my feet are not perpendicular to the ball when i line up.

 

[Pa Jayhawk]

One thing that probably all good putters do though is make the decisions before they get over the ball and stick with them. Get your read, feel the speed, get over it and "know" it's going in. Something I need to get back to doing. I've been making quite a few half-assed attempts lately.

I think one think most people fail to do is develop a good preshot routine with the putter. It is just as important if not moreso with a putter or the rest of the short game, as it is with a club with a full swing. If I get away from mine on my short game, I just feel like I am not prepared for the task at hand and curse myself afterwards after making a lousy putt or chip. If I am still trying to decide my line while I am starting my preshot routine, it is going to be ugly. Step away.

I have noticed lately that my feet are not perpendicular to the ball when i line up.

Arnold Palmer putted Pigeon Toed a good part of end of his career because it stabilized his legs during the putt. They still make fun of him for it, but he did what he knew worked. I many times putt with an open stance if I get into a slump for various reasons, then over time I find I get back to a more even stance. For tap ins inside a couple feet that I know I will make, I find that I usually will practically putt sidesaddle and have my toes facing the hole and putting accross the side of my body, just something that happened naturally over time and makes me not think about things that I don't need to think about, but to just get the ball in the hole. I don't know that I have ever missed a putt in doing so, and would be terrified to change. Don't know when I started doing so and not something I normally even think of until after I make the putt.

As long as it gives you confidence and a solid repeatable technique, how you do so is pretty irrelevant IMO. Although I would practice it to make sure it is identical every single time.

 

[mddubya]

The best putting tip I ever got, "Listen for the ball to drop in the cup". In other words, don't look up and try to follow the ball with your eyes. That tends to make you raise your head up to soon and messes up your stroke. Keep your head down and listen, at least till you know its half way there.