Drill library · Short game

Putt to the Coin

Short gameHandicap 10–3010 minblock workputting

Why this drill

A coin is a hole that gives no applause: putting at a target smaller than the cup shrinks your error the way aiming small always does, and when the real hole returns it looks like a bucket.

Setup

A coin on a flat stretch of green, ten balls at six feet. No hole involved anywhere.

The drill

Roll ten putts trying to strike the coin — a clean hit rings like a bell, a graze counts half in your scoring. Five points from ten balls is sharp. Then move to eight feet for ten more; the coin at that range demands the start line and speed cooperate, which is the whole skill of putting expressed in a two-inch circle. Finish with three putts at a real hole and notice how generous it suddenly feels.

One thought to take with you

Aim at something the size of your miss, and the miss shrinks to fit.