The Carpet Gate
Why this drill
The tee gate from the practice green, rebuilt at home from two coffee mugs or books: a start-line drill you can run every evening. Daily gates do more for short putting than weekly green time ever will — repetition is the entire secret.
Setup
Flat carpet, putter, five balls. Two heavy objects — mugs, book stacks — set a putter-grip-length ahead of the ball with a gap one ball-width plus a finger. A target beyond: a cup on its side, a coin, a table leg.
The drill
Twenty putts through the gate at the target. Count clean passes; a clipped mug is a miss no matter where the ball ends. Sixteen of twenty is a dependable start line. Carpet speed doesn't matter — the gate grades direction, and direction is what home practice can genuinely own. Finish with five one-handed passes, lead hand only, to feel what square really is.
One thought to take with you
Miss the mugs for a month and watch four-footers stop being news.