Why you keep lipping out three-footers
Most short putts aren't missed because of a bad read. They're missed because of a bad strike. One degree of face-angle error at impact sends a 10-foot putt three inches offline — enough to lip out and stay above ground.
You probably blame the read, the green, the wind, your stroke. The truth is most amateurs deliver the putter face open or closed by a degree or two on every putt — and have no idea, because there's no immediate feedback. The ball just rolls a little wobbly, drifts a fraction off-line, and lips out. You think you pulled it; you actually struck it offline.
Why putting practice usually doesn't work
Hitting putts on a green doesn't tell you anything about your strike. The ball goes where it goes, you don't know whether it was the read or the stroke, and you have no information to fix the actual error. You need real-time feedback at the moment of impact — not 30 feet later when the ball stops rolling.
The fundamental fix
- Deliver the putter face square to the start line at impact, every time
- Get instant feedback on every stroke — no waiting for the ball to roll out
- Train pure, end-over-end roll without backspin or sidespin wobble
- Make three-footers automatic — read becomes the only variable left