Good putting during a round is a combination of sound technique and, more importantly, confidence.While your technique may not be as perfect as the best Tour players, you can certainly make more putts than you are now by boosting your confidence.

You won’t do this by adopting the pre-game routine of many club golfers. How many times have you or your playing partners warmed up for a round by dropping a few balls on the practice green and then lining up putts from 10, 20 and 30 feet? After five or ten minutes of making very few putts, if any at all, you’re called to the 1st tee. How much confidence do you think such a putting session will give you for the round? Not much I would think.

By all means, get a feel for the speed of the greens by hitting some long putts but end your practice by hitting some putts into a hole 30 centimetres away.

I like to hit at least 10 balls into the hole from this distance simply to hear the sound of the ball hitting the bottom of the cup. This drill will do nothing for your technique but if you head out on to the course having heard 10 putts hit the bottom of the hole you will be more confident of holing your first putt of the day and that will set the scene for the round to come.