How to Stop Decelerating on Putts (3 Simple Drills)

Decelerating means the putter is slowing down as it reaches the ball. It is one of the most common faults in putting and it shows up most on the putts that matter. The good news is that the cause is usually simple.

What deceleration does

Short putts come up short. Never up, never in.
The face moves. As the putter slows, the hands often take over and twist the face.
Contact gets worse. A slowing putter is easier to knock off line on a mis-hit.

The usual cause: too much backswing

Most deceleration starts on the way back. If the backswing is longer than the putt needs, your brain knows it is about to hit the ball too hard and slows the putter down before impact. So the fix is not to "hit it harder" but to take a shorter backswing and let the through-stroke be at least as long.

Drill 1: the short back, long through

Put a tee in the green about a putter head behind the ball and another about two putter heads in front. On short putts, your backswing should not go past the back tee and your follow-through should reach the front one. Ten putts from three feet, ten from six.

Drill 2: the one-two count

Say "one" as the putter goes back and "two" as it goes through, at the same pace. A pendulum swings back and forward at the same speed. The count stops you snatching at the ball or slowing down into it.

Drill 3: hit past the backstop

Lay an alignment stick on the green about 45 cm past the hole. On putts from three to eight feet, every ball must finish past the hole but before the stick. It trains you to commit to the putt without leaving long comebacks.

Shoulders, not hands

When the stroke is powered by the shoulders, the rhythm is much easier to keep steady. If your hands are doing the work, they tend to slow down or flick at the last moment. Practising with your arms joined to the putter, for example with Pendulo holding two alignment sticks up your arms, makes a shoulder-driven rhythm feel natural.