Putting Practice Tracker
Log putts by distance to find where your make rate crosses 50 per cent — the number that decides when to run at it and when to lay up.
Putts by distance
| Distance | Made | Thrown | Make % | Circle |
|---|
By circle
Circle 1 is 10 metres (33 ft) and Circle 2 is 20 (66 ft). Anything inside 11 feet is counted separately, because tap-ins go in for everybody and including them makes every number look better than it is.
Five putts from each of five distances, in order, from wherever you like around the basket.
Scoring: One point per make, out of 25. Record the score every session and watch the trend rather than the day.
Why: The plainest measure there is, and the one most worth tracking. Because it covers a spread of distances it tells you where the fall-off is rather than just how you felt.
Start at the shortest. Make it and step back one rung; miss it and step forward one. Ten minutes on the clock.
Scoring: Your score is the furthest rung you reach and hold. Reaching it once is luck; holding it is a putt.
Why: Pressure that builds naturally. The step back after a make is exactly the moment your stroke changes, which is the thing worth practising.
Six stations in a circle at one distance. Move round only on a make; a miss means repeating the station.
Scoring: Count the throws needed to complete the circle. Under ten is good at 20 feet.
Why: Reveals that your putt has a favourite angle. Almost everybody is measurably worse from one side, and almost nobody knows which until they do this.
Two points for a make from 30 feet, one from 20. Choose your distance before each putt. Exactly 21 wins; go over and you drop back to 15.
Scoring: First to exactly 21. The bust rule forces you to putt the shorter one when it matters.
Why: Teaches distance selection under a scoreboard, which is the actual skill — knowing when to take the shorter putt is worth more than making the longer one.
Ten consecutive makes from 15 feet. One miss and the count restarts from zero.
Scoring: The number of attempts it takes to string ten together.
Why: The last three are a different putt from the first three, and that is the whole point. Practising putts that do not matter teaches you to putt when it does not matter.
Five putts from each of 40, 50 and 60 feet. Count comebackers separately — every putt that rolls away is a stroke.
Scoring: Makes out of 15, and comebackers out of 15. Both numbers matter.
Why: Long putting is a risk calculation, not a skill test. A 25% make rate that leaves three comebackers is worse than a 20% rate that leaves none.
The number that changes how you play
Total makes tells you how long you practised. The curve tells you where to lay up. Find the distance where your make rate crosses 50% and you have a strategy number: past it, putting at the basket is a worse bet than putting the disc somewhere you can putt from next.
And count comebackers. A long putt that rolls twenty feet past has cost you more than the miss did — which makes aggressive Circle 2 putting a risk decision rather than a confidence one.
Things worth knowing
- Track make percentage against distance, not total makes. The total tells you how long you practised; the curve tells you where to lay up.
- The distance where you make half your putts is a strategy number. Past it, putting is a worse bet than putting the disc somewhere you can putt from next time.
- Exclude tap-ins from your statistics. Anything inside about eleven feet goes in for everybody and including them makes every number look better than it is.
- Almost everybody is worse from one angle than the others, and almost nobody knows which. Practising in a circle rather than from one spot is how you find out.
- Comebackers are strokes. A long putt that rolls twenty feet past has cost you more than the miss did, which is why aggressive Circle 2 putting is a risk decision rather than a confidence one.
- Practise putts that matter. Ten in a row with a restart on a miss is a different exercise from a hundred casual putts, and only one of them rehearses the feeling.
How to use
- Putt a fixed number of times from each distance.
- Record makes honestly, including the ones you knew were bad.
- Find where your make rate crosses fifty per cent.
- Use that distance to decide when to attack.
Frequently asked questions
Why does the 50 per cent distance matter?
Because it is the point where running at the basket stops being worth the risk of a long comeback. Inside it, attacking is usually correct; well outside it, a putt that misses long costs more than it gains. Knowing your own number rather than a general one is what makes it useful.
What is circle one?
Ten metres from the basket, inside which a specific putting stance rule applies in competition — you may not step past your marker toward the basket. Circle two extends to twenty metres. Statistics are conventionally reported by circle, which is why practising to those distances is worth doing.
How many putts per distance for a meaningful number?
More than feels necessary — at least twenty-five from each distance, and preferably more. Make rates vary enough between sessions that a set of ten tells you almost nothing, and the whole point of tracking is to get past impressions.
Should I practise from one distance or several?
Both, for different reasons. Repeating from one distance builds the stroke; rotating through distances builds the judgement of how much to adjust, which is what actually transfers to a round. Practising only from a favourite distance produces a putter who is excellent from exactly one spot.
Does practising in wind matter?
Considerably, and it is routinely skipped. Wind changes putting more than most players allow for, and a stroke grooved in still conditions can fall apart in the first breezy round. Deliberately practising in poor conditions is unpleasant and pays off.
Why is honest recording so important?
Because the person most misled by an inflated practice record is you. Deciding when to run at a basket depends on knowing your real make rate, and a log that quietly omits the bad sessions produces a strategy built on a number you do not actually have.
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