Roll a Pair: A simple drill that can drastically improve your putting

This story originally appeared in Mile High Sports Magazine. Read the full digital edition.

If pushing or pulling putts is what’s holding you back from a personal best, keep reading.

Here’s a drill learned from an old training aid, which accomplishes better results – and it’s free.

Maybe you remember a training aid that was popular years ago. It had two golf balls glued together with a small round peg between them. The entire premise of the training aid was to show whether you could roll the two balls straight with a square putter blade. Great concept, but after about five frustrating attempts, you were likely to throw your hands up in the air and put it back in your golf bag.

I’ve taught putting to scores of students and have learned that sometimes a simple drill goes a long way. One of my “go to” drills is a variation of the above training aid. You won’t give up on this one. It’s simple, and you can practice it anywhere.

Take two golf balls and put them together. Next, set the putter directly behind and touching both balls. This part is critical. A target isn’t necessary as the purpose is not to make putts, but rather to see if you can hit the golf balls at the same time.

After you’ve ensured the putter face is touching both balls, go ahead and stroke the putt; pay close attention to what happens next. If the ball that is in “front,” or positioned on the putter toe, jumps out first and goes farthest, your putter was closed at impact. Conclusion: The ball nearest the toe absorbed most of the energy when struck with the putter, causing it to shoot ahead of the trailing ball. Just the opposite happens when the putter face is open at impact, causing the ball on the heel to outpace the other ball.

If you can consistently roll both balls together or very close, you’ve accomplished quite a bit. The result is that you have impacted the balls with a square putter face, causing the balls to travel evenly, on a fairly straight path.

Try this simple drill the next time you’re at the golf course on the practice green or in your den watching golf on TV. You’ll be amazed at what your results will be. If you’re struggling, I’ll develop a plan for you. If you’re hitting the two balls simultaneously, well, congratulations!

Jerry Walters is a Putting and Short Game Specialist at the Trent Wearner Golf Academy. He can be reached at jerry@trentwearnergolf.com or 303-645-8000