How to Stop 3 Putting (Even If Your Putting Feels Inconsistent)
Sep 09, 2026If you've ever stood over a putt thinking:
"That felt perfect… why is it 6 feet short?"
You're not alone.
After 30 years of playing and teaching this game, I can tell you — most golfers can hit a putt every time. They just don't know how to control distance, read greens, or trust what they're doing.
That's why one putt feels great and the next one isn't even close.
If you've been searching for how to stop 3 putting, how to improve your putting, how to control distance, or why you keep missing short putts — this will make a lot of things click.
Why You Keep 3 Putting
Most three putts come from blasting it way past the hole or leaving it woefully short...
3-putting isn't a stroke problem. It's a distance control problem.
If your speed is off, you leave long putts short — or blow them way past — and now you're trying to make a stressful second putt. That's where the 3-putt happens.
The Real Problem: Guessing
Most golfers are guessing on every putt. How hard to hit it. How much it breaks. Whether they even hit it right.
And when it works, they call it feel. When it doesn't, they call it a bad day.
Neither one is a system.
That's why putting feels so inconsistent — because without a repeatable process, you're rolling the dice every time you step on a green.
You'll stand out in the fairway shooting the flag stick with a range finder to know exactly how far you are from the pin. You aren't trusting feel here... you're picking your distance. You should be doing the same thing on the green.
How to Control Putting Distance (This Is the Game)
This is where building a system comes in.
You've got to pick some standardized distances for yourself. Maybe that's 10ft, 20ft, 30ft, or 20ft, 40ft, 60ft... but whatever you choose you need to go practice just those distances and get each one of them to be like you can do it every single time.
If you're 10 ft away, you should KNOW how hard to hit the ball and how far back to pull the putter. When you practice the stock distances all together you can get really good, really quickly at feeling which is 10, 20, or 30 ft.
A Simple Way to Improve Lag Putting
If you're struggling with lag putting, try this:
Next time you're on the green, pick a putt from 20–40 feet. Don't aim at the hole. Try to roll the ball to stop within 2–3 feet past it.
Hit this putt over and over. Don't switch distances, don't pick different putts... just this one... and make note of how far you have to take your putter back each time.
This trains your brain to focus on speed, not perfection — and instantly improves your distance control.
That's one piece of the Step System — and it's a good starting point.
When you get out on to the golf course, walk off your putts so you know how many steps from the hole you are, just like you would with a range finder from the fairway, and pick the closest stroke to your real distance. Then add a bit or take off a bit if it's a different length than your standard strokes.
Why You Keep Missing Short Putts
Now short putts are a whole different kettle of fish as my grandfather used to say. Short putts have everything to do with where you're aiming and whether your stroke is fighting itself or not.
So the video attached to this post is the one you want to watch to check whether your stroke will work under pressure or not.
Each of your hands independently needs to be moving the putter the same direction. When this happens your stroke feels amazing... if they're moving against each other at any point during the stroke... it doesn't feel amazing at all... in fact yips come into play because of this.
Fortunately the fix is easy, watch the video and fix it for your own stroke.
How to Read Greens Without Overthinking
Green reading doesn't need to be complicated.
Most golfers under-read, second-guess, and change their mind mid-putt.
Instead: pick a line, commit to your speed, and roll it with confidence.
It only has to do with slope and how the grass is laying. However if you can feel in your feet whether you're on a side hill or not... you can read greens.
I go into this in a lot more detail in 'Stop 3 Putting in 7-Days' which is linked at the bottom of the article.
Watch: Stop Fighting Your Putting Stroke
If You Want to Take This Further…
Most golfers spend years collecting tips and still 3-putt the same holes.
The Stop 3-Putting in 7 Days program isn't more tips. It's a complete system — speed, line, and stroke — built around the Step Stroke System so you know exactly what to do on every green, every time.
Seven days. Real greens. No guessing.