Our first drill came in the form of hitting straight putts from four feet. Prior to class, Ben had drawn green lines on the practice green marking the straight putts. As we prepared for the drill, Ben explained that this short putt really represents the critical make distance, and that it's the distance that tour level putters make at a very high percentage. To achieve that make percentage, Ben explained, one needs to be properly aligned to the target line. He acknowledged that individuals use different features of the putter when aligning that club, and that that was totally OK. However he did make one bold statement with regards to the ball.
97% of tour players use the line on the ball to aim, and the other 3% should. -Ben Hongo, Director of Instruction, Kapalua Golf Academy
As one of those “3%” guys, I found this very interesting. I have tried using the ball's line on more than one occasion, and I find that I always second-guess that line when I address the ball. Perhaps this is just a matter of practice and confidence. Since the academy, I have been lining up putts under 10’ and it does seem to help. We will see...
The second drill that we did was all about correlating the length of the swing with the distance of the putt. We set up 30’ from the hole, standing in front of metal yardsticks that were sitting on the turf. Ben explained that for his tempo, a 30’ putt corresponded with a 20” back swing with the putter.
20” was not how far the head actually had to travel from address, but rather where a continuation of the shaft line on the backswing would hit 20”. Ben explained while many players know the distance of their last iron shot into the green, fewer will know the distance of their last putt. By walking off your putt, and having a set swing length to hit the ball 30’, a golfer should develop a better mechanism for distance control and reduce putts per round. The goal was to get that initial 30-footer inside of your 5-foot, high percentage distance.