There is an ongoing discussion about which is most important during a putt – Line or Speed. According to many pundits, line is more important than speed. To make more putts or even to lag the putts closer, playing more of a break when putting is the smart mathematical thing to do! The more I think about it, I believe this is a great tip and explains so much about my short game. However, there comes a time where something has to change, like the 4 to 6 foot knee knockers, when sinking more putts from a shorter distance.!

The closer we are to the hole, the more the discussion between line vs speed changes. As stated in many articles and videos, there are three possible lines to sinking a putt depending on speed. Considered conventional wisdom, the possibility of three different putts going in the hole seems logical. However, there is a trick to sinking more of these knee knockers, but first here is a great explanation we need to watch in order to understand what comes next.

The biggest step to making more 4 to 6 foot putts is to decide. Yup, that is the challenge most amateurs face when putting (or any shot for that matter). We do not approach the shot with a clear decision on what type of putt we want to make so we end up mixing our line and speed up. There is a pairing that needs to be followed. For instance taking more line and hitting the ball hard, thus missing the hole.

In order to make more knee knockers, we need to commit to the line and speed we want to use in order to develop more consistency on the greens. Yes, we do need to practice all three shots because they will be needed depending on the break of the green. Understanding that there is a match between line and speed at shorter distances will provide a greater opportunity to sink the putts.

Yes, I will admit that matching line and speed at a greater distance is important, however increasing our success percentages for shorter putts is really how we save strokes in the long run.

If you want to sink more putts from close up, I recommend that you work on matching your line and speed. The proper alignment of these two skills is very important to lower your golf scores.

I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!