Indoor putting green drills that carry to the course
An indoor putting green is the cheapest strokes-gained tool in golf. Most amateurs lose more shots on the green than anywhere else, and the putting stroke is small enough to train between the couch and the TV.
These are the drills we run in our own practice bay. Each takes five minutes and needs only a green, a few balls and the gates and mirror that ship with our greens.
1. The gate drill for start line
Set the large gate one putter-head in front of the ball and roll ten putts through it. Move to the medium gate, then the small one. If the ball touches a gate, the face was not square at impact.
Finish with five putts to the smaller hole. When the gate is easy, the hole looks bigger.
2. Mirror check at address
Before each putt, look down into the putting mirror. Your eyes should sit over the line and your shoulders should match the printed guide. Five minutes of this fixes most aiming problems before they reach the course.
3. Pressure putts with hazards
Hazard greens add a bunker and a pond to the surface. Putt around them as if they were real: a ball that rolls into the water costs a point. It sounds silly, and it is exactly what makes a four-footer on Saturday feel familiar.
4. Pace ladder with slope
On a green with progressive slope, putt one ball to each mark up the slope without holing out. The goal is to stop each ball a little past the previous one. Speed control, not line, is what ends three-putts.
The short version
Keep a scorecard for each drill and repeat it every few days. Numbers that rise over two weeks are the best proof that home practice is reaching the course.
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