In the game of golf, putting accounts for almost half of your shots. Given this huge percentage, you would think that people would want to practice this aspect of their game at least as much as their full swing. Unfortunately, this isn't the case. So why don't people want to practice their putting for more than a few minutes before they tee off? There are actually many reasons for this lack of practice:



1. People Don't Have Time. In today's day and age, time is limited. People are rushing from work to the course with only a few minutes to warm up. These few minutes are usually spent hammering a few drivers into the range as opposed to hitting a few putts. If you find yourself with limited time, buy a practice putting aid and do your putting practice at home. A great time is before or after dinner. If you can make it part of your daily routine it won't be a big deal if you find yourself rushing to the first tee.

2. It Hurts Your Back - When practicing your putting for longer than a few minutes, it sure can hurt your back. Until you practice putting continually for long periods of time, your back muscles will not be used to it because the mass of your body is overhanging your toe line. What I recommend is to start off practicing your putting for 10 minutes, once you're used to it go up to 15 minutes and so on until you have conditioned your back muscles to handle longer practice times.

3. Putting is Boring - Compared to hitting a 300 yard drives, putting can be boring. Not making putts can be boring too. In order to overcome this boredom, you should ask your friends or fellow members to have putting competitions with you. If you can put a little wager on it, you'll not only practice your putting under pressure but you'll make a boring part of the game exciting again.

4. You Don't Putt Well - If you're someone who doesn't putt very well, you can't keep avoiding practice. If you do, how do you expect to ever improve this part of your game? If you can just practice a little on a regular basis, you will start to see improvement which will spark your will to keep doing it.

5. No Instant Gratification - I've seen some people on the putting green who get disappointed or frustrated when they aren't sinking a great percentage of the 15-20 footers they practice. These people quickly disappear and are never found regularly practicing their putting. If you need instant gratification when you putt, try setting some easy goals at first. If you have easy goals instead of trying to hole every 15 - 20 footer you'll get that gratification right away. Then, that'll keep you motivated to set even harder goals.

6. You Need Touch - Putting is much different that hitting a 300 yard drive. Brute force is not required. Because of this, some people don't find it all that fun. Although at first glance, the feeling of smashing a big drive out there should outweigh a 6 foot putt, making that 6 foot putt is for birdie or eagle, is a lot more exciting. Make sure you're spending some of your time putting, people are much more impressed with scores rather than 300 yard drives into the trees.

7. No Desire - It takes a lot of effort to practice your putting. After hitting some shots on the range working on your swing, how can you flip the switch to go and work on your putting? Easy, all you have to do is think about what tedious job you have waiting for you at home. If you think of it like this, you've just found a way to get out of doing work around the house and convinced yourself that you would rather be doing some putting practice.

As you can see, there are many reasons for this lack of putting practice. If any of these reasons apply to you, then you just have to keep in mind that the more you work on something, the better you will become. You have to make time to practice your putting. If you don't have time at the course then buy a practice putting aid and do your putting practice at home. If you make the effort to practice your putting stroke, lower scores are sure to follow.