Hi I’m Neal Granville, PGA professional and director here at Leadboard Golf’s Sandford Springs Golf Club in Hampshire. 

I want to talk to you today about putting and distance control. Most people who come to see me, if I ask them what’s your distance control like, will probably say "it is not that good".

A lot of the time I think people use a number when they are trying to judge distance control - ”It’s a 20-foot putt, it’s a 25-foot putt".

What I want to find out today is, is it going to be easier for you to use feel and sizes? 

So I am going to give you two very simple steps that are going to help you to do that. 

First of all I want you to make sure that you can actually feel the weight of your putter, so the head has a weight. As it swings I want you to make sure that the thing that you can feel is the weight – so try and feel the distance – feel the weight. 

Secondly we are going to use the idea of swinging the club backwards and forwards in different sizes. To make this simple I am going to use small, medium and large. Small on the way back, small on the way through, and so on.

To use an example this is a great putting drill that will help you start getting your distance under control:

I’ve got three balls here and I am going to make three putts of three different sizes. I’m going to start off by making sure I can feel the weight of my putter as it swings, and then I am going to add a small medium and large swing to it. So, let’s go ahead.

All the time I am trying to feel the weight of the putter, and then I am just starting to use those sizes to help me feel distance. 

So, now we’ve put it into practice, and you’ve got a way to practise your distance control, and your brain is learning about distance control it’s time to actually go for a target.

I’m going to go for the hole here, looking at this putt to me it looks like a large putt, so I am going to try and feel that. So I am feeling the size and the weight of the putter and then I’m going to putt for the hole. 

And there you have it, it’s perfect distance control.