Gary Player points out the best at-home tip for amateurs to improve their putting

During his playing days, Player was known for his exceptional touch on the greens and a mentality that stood up under the toughest conditions.

The South African legend always seemed to have a steady hand, even when the pressure was on, and that is something amateur golfers could learn from.

On Monday night, Player posted a tip on his X account aimed at helping amateurs improve their putting technique.

“To become a solid putter, you need discipline and intention. One of the best things an amateur can do at home is learn to keep their hands ahead of the ball at impact and wrists are firm through the stroke. That’s fundamental,” he wrote

This is why players should focus on moving through the ball in one solid motion rather than letting their wrists flip.

Simple putting drills that can make a real difference

There is an argument to be made that putting is the most important aspect of the game.

So instead of spending all your time hitting drives at the range, it might be worth moving over to the putting green for a while.

Here are a few drills that can help you refine your technique and build confidence on the greens.

Tiger Woods’ ‘gate drill’ is a classic. Place two tees in the ground just wider than your putter head, one by the heel and one by the toe. The goal is to swing your putter through this “gate” without touching either tee, which helps improve face control and stroke path.

Scottie Scheffler offers another helpful tip, particularly for reading greens from longer distances (beyond 40 feet).

“So looking at a putt of this length (50 feet), there is a decent amount of stuff you want to be looking for,” the world No. 1 explained.

“The first thing I will do is I will look at it from behind the putt and I’ll kind of walk up and I’ll get a feel for it in the middle of the putt, and I’ll just notice little things like up to here, the break is going this way, the grain is going that way. You get to a point in the middle of the putt where it’s going to go up and over and down grain.

“A double breaking putt like this, especially with a lot of turn at the end, I’ll try and find that point where I think the ball is going to travel through, that will kind of be where I’m trying to aim.

“Then, I’ll get a feel for how fast it is at the end. I’ll read it from this side (behind the hole), you can really see the grain change. It gets really dark looking back up that way, and it gets really light on the other side.

“Now I have an idea where that ball is going to roll. I come in, have two practice strokes while looking at the line.

“Gave it a chance to go in and I’ve got an easy putt back up the hill to finish.”

If you can commit even just an extra ten minutes each session on your putting practice compared with what you were doing before, then it will not take long before you see results start coming through into your scorecard.