Perfect your lag putting and eliminate 3-putts by…closing your eyes?!

When it comes to shaving strokes off your score, one of the best skills you can refine is lag putting. By developing your feel and distance control, you’ll leave your first putts inside a makeable distance, eliminate costly three-putts and even increase your chances of making those long birdie putts. 

There are many great ways to develop your feel on the greens, but Chris Como, a GOLF Top 100 Teacher, recently posted a drill from Xander Schauffele’s putting coach, Derek Uyeda, that I thought was worth sharing. 

Below is a condensed version of Uyeda’s “Eyes Closed Time Drill” from Como’s GolfPass series “Swing Expedition.” 

How Uyeda’s “Eyes Closed Time Drill” works

So let’s break it down. As Uyeda explains in the video, his drill is simple. Start by setting up to a 30-foot putt and hitting it with your eyes open to confirm that you’re making consistent center-face contact. According to Uyeda, this is a vital part of lag putting. 

“You’ve gotta hit the ball clean,” Uyeda says.

That’s because consistent center-face contact is necessary to produce the same amount of speed on every putt. 

Once you’ve established consistent contact, close your eyes and hit that same 30-footer. After you’ve hit the putt, try to predict when and where the ball will come to rest. You can check how close you are by having a playing partner watch your putts or by recording yourself with your phone.

Why does this drill work?

The eyes-closed technique works, Como explains, because it helps you understand how long your ball is going to be in motion depending on the length of your stroke. 

“This is important for feel because a big part of the speed of a putt is basically represented by how long it’s moving on the green,” Como says. 

The better you can get at knowing when your putts will stop, the better your chances are of leaving it within a few feet of the hole.

Como says this drill is also good for lag-putting because it calibrates your perception. 

“[This drill] is a great example of training feel, or our perception of things, versus real, the reality of what’s going on,” Como says.

Calibrating your perception before a round will help you trust your feel and stop guessing on long putts, resulting in a more confident stroke and a solid strike every time.

Next time you’re at the course, give this tour-trusted drill a try to become a better lag putter and make more two-putts — and maybe even one-putts.