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Anyone have any drills for learning better distance control while putting? It's absolutely killing me right now, and I just can't figure it out.

Played in a tournament Saturday... shot 37/43, 80.

On the back side I had three 3-putts and one 4-putt. On a 125 yard par 3, I hit the green and had about a 25 footer for birdie. Left it about 10ft short. Blew the next one 6ft by, and missed the bogey putt coming back.

It's been like this all year and it's almost making me not even want to play...

After lining up, setting up, and just before I am about to pull the trigger, I take a really good look at the hole, (I presumably process the visual information subconsciously) and then I hit it. Simple as that sounds, it really helps my distance control.

i put on feel, nothing technical. i just practice at home or on the practice greens. i get maybe 8-10 balls and i just lag putt. trying to get the ball close enough so the next putt is a tap in. i do this alot everyday and it helps my putting. after i do that from a certain distance i just start hitting it from farther away.

excellent warm-up before a round

look behind the ball, and see the break, is it up or downhill? that really helps me judge good speed. I also practice at home alot. just on the carpet or something, aiming at a target and trying to get it to that target as close as possible, if not hitting it, but i realy make sure that it doesnt come up short, you at least have to get it there to give it a chance.

I'm gonna beat Bignose here with this advice.

Try the ladder drill ...

Go to a practice green and place a tee every 3 ft from say 10-40 ft away. The goal is to lag the putt between 2 tees. Start with the short ones, and move up one each time. Then start picking random targets. If you can get to the point that you can almost always leave the ball between the 2 tees you choose, then you will have your distance control down to leaving a 1.5 ft putt (the hole being between the 2 tees).

Do it flat, downhill, and uphill.

One thing that helps me, but I know a lot of people don't like thinking of putting this way, is to aim for a target assuming a flat putt. So if I have a downhill 30 footer, I might visualize hitting to a point 20 ft away, adjusting for the slope. When I putt, I pick a spot that takes into account speed and break, and then just think of a flat putt to that spot.

As per QE, the ladder drill is excellent.

One thing I'd consider is the stroke itself. Part of the reason your distance control is so erratic is probably because you are not allowing your instincts to control the club. You are either consciously or unconsciously over-accelerating (sort of "popping" or "jabbing" at the ball) or decelerating (pulling up or back because you don't trust your instinct) when you putt.

The thing is that putting is just rolling the ball. Your brain knows how far back to take the club, and you just have to get out of its way. This method works especially well if you don't change the acceleration of the club with your body, arms, or hands. Just let gravity provide the necessary acceleration. Just let your subconscious self take over -- it really does know what to do. With all the golf you've ever played, your brain has built a very large database of conditions. Just let it take over.

More on these ideas can be found in the excellent book Optimal Putting by Geoff Mangum or Geoff's Putting Zone webpage.

edited for spelling

I control putting distance by the length of my putter backswing that I use to hit the ball. I tried various backswing lengths,(on a level green), and recorded how far the ball rolled for each different backswing length.. This helps me get the ball close to the hole, or in the hole. When putting I use this information, but compensate for uphill and down hill putts.

Besides all the good PRACTICE advice above, I find making a clear mental distinction between direction and speed to be of great value,ie; when I get set up to the putt, I've settled the direction issue in my mind (right or wrong), dismiss it, and focus on swing and speed only.

Putting green practice before a round is definitely the way to go. Make sure you get a good feel for the green speeds like mentioned above. I also practice the basic lag putt. 5, 8 12, 20 feet, make sure I can get within a foot from every distance, or darn close to it!!

Your putter, may not be right for you. Is it too light? I found that when I use a lighter putter I simply CANNOT figure out distance.

I went to a Rife 2-Bar Hybrid this year and I've probably saved 3 or 4 strokes PER round I've played. Its a great feeling putter (I use the heavier weights).

just like the commercial

No tricks really...taking a long look at the hole, freeing up the putting stroke and allowing trust to take over the swing works better than one would think...solid mechanics is a must...like Bignose said, if you are striking the ball erratically, you won't be able to internalize the "feel" of a visual distance as results vary...bottom line is the more that you put into working on fundamentals of striking, and the more you roll balls on a real green, the more you will develop feel...pros spend huge amounts of time on putting...a time investment in this area will go a long way...

The ladder drill is terrific. Before each round in addition, I put some uphill and downhill to the edge of the green. No hole, so you are not concerned with line. On all puts I settle on line then my only thought is speed, speed...speed.

I take into account on uphill and downhill puts an illusion that I have only heard Dave Pelz address. Because you are viewing the line from 5.5 to 6 ft above the putting surface, puts of the same distance appear either closer to you for an uphill put or further away on a downhill one. This is because of the slant range in your vision to the hole.

Except on very long puts, no one should miss the line by more than three feet or so. It is easy to miss the speed by twice that. A six foot downhill put can be murder under pressure. So my advise is to concentrate on speed and feel, line being secondary.

I recently made a change from resting my club on the ground at address to hovering it fractionally above. This made sense to me because your practice strokes are very lightly brushing the ground or just missing it. I have found that in my case the small lift in the club must have been causing a little change in alignment and that my already good putting is better for it.
Cheers, Bob