If you’re anything like me, you don’t leave much time before your round to get warmed up. Be it poor time management, unexpected traffic or just plain hubris, I seldom arrive at the course with much time to spare before I strike my opening tee shot.
On a course where I’m not familiar with the greens, this can mean disaster on the first few holes. When I don’t get a feel for the greens before a round, the first few putts can be a little bit shaky. Instead of trying to hole putts from the jump, I’m usually just trying not to three-putt.
Suffice to say, this is not the wisest strategy. If you want to maximize your round, it’s important to feel dialed in on the greens right from the start.
For help with achieving that, GOLF Top 100 Teacher Trent Wearner has a great routine you can use before your next round. Check it out below.
Learn the green speeds with this warm-up routine
Golf coaches often hear students say, “The practice green felt way different than the greens on the course.” Unless the practice putting green was recently rebuilt, that difference is mostly in your head. Superintendents aren’t maintaining the practice green to be wildly different from the course — it just feels that way.
The reality is, every putt you’ll face on the course has a slightly different speed due to slope, grain, moisture and other variables. That’s why your putting warm up should focus less on “getting the speed” in a traditional sense, and more on learning to adapt and adjust.
Instead of rolling a bunch of putts on a flat area to “dial in the speed,” try this warm-up routine.
Find a hole on the practice green with a moderate slope — nothing too steep, but definitely not flat. Using just one ball, start with a 5-foot uphill putt. Make or miss, move to the opposite side and hit a 5-foot downhill putt. Repeat this process with 10-footers, then 15-footers, and continue in 5-foot increments as far out as you’d like. Always alternate between uphill and downhill.
This routine forces you to constantly adapt to changing speeds and slopes — just like you’ll need to do on the course. Ironically, the best way to get used to the speed of the greens is by not trying to get used to a single, consistent speed. Instead, train your feel and responsiveness.
By warming up this way, you’ll walk to the first tee more prepared for the real-world conditions you’re about to face.
