Golf Tip from Paige Spiranac: The Gate Drill

Want to get more consistent with your putting stroke? Check out the “Gate Drill,” as Paige Spiranac joins us from TPC Myrtle Beach in Murrells Inlet, S.C. and shows us how to use it on the practice green.

Hey everyone, it’s Paige, and we are in Myrtle Beach. We are back with another tip today. I’m sure you have seen the pros on the putting green before they go play their round. They have two tees set up, and this is the gate drill. This is really great to work on your path. I’m going to show you how to do it and why they do it. It’s really easy.

Normally you’ll just set up two tees, one in front and one behind your putter head. You do this because you want your path to come through the gates without hitting any of the tees. If you come out from in then you’re going to hit the tee on the front. If you’re coming from the inside, you’re going to hit the tee from behind. I would say start a little farther away than you normally would, and then keep moving it in as you feel like you’re getting better. I set the gate with maybe about an inch of space above and behind the club head. You’re going to put the ball right in between the tees, set your club head right behind it, and the goal is to swing your club head, hit the ball, and don’t hit the tees.

Okay, so I did a good job there. If I did a good job, and I feel confident with it, then I can move the tees closer in and make it a little bit more of a challenge. If you’re like me, and I cut across the ball (when I say cut across it, I take a little bit out and I swing across the ball), I would normally hit the tees on the front side. If I’m doing this the wrong way, you’ll see me come here and you’ll clip the tees. It’s really great because you can feel it when you’re not doing the right thing, and you’ll know as soon as you’re doing the correct putting stroke because you won’t hit the tees. This drill is so simple but so effective because a lot of times with your swing or really anything you’re doing in golf, you can’t feel it or you can’t see it. This is great because you know when you do it bad, you’re going to hit the tees, and you go, “Okay, that’s not good. Let’s fix that.”

It’s great to just keep working on it because you know what you did wrong right in that moment and you know how to fix it. I hope that you try this gate drill out. I think it’s really going to improve your putting. Thanks for watching!