Everybody needs to work on their putts. I don't care how long you've been playing golf, or what kind of pro you are. We all need to practice putting. Here are some tips from the pros that will help you get your putting up to par. Try some of these and see what works best!

- Always do a couple practice putts before you start your game. Don't try to make a hole; just get the ball in the general direction. Focus on your swing, not making the hole. By doing some practice putts, you can also get a feel for how fast the ball will run on the green.

- Practice easy putts. Don't worry about making a long shot. Definitely practice a few long ones, but for the most part, stick to within 6-feet. Missing every practice putt will only hurt your confidence, and there's more to a good putt than just making the hole.

- It's amazing how much confidence has to do with putting. In golf, more than any other sport, player confidence is key. And, it's a problem that amateurs and pros alike have to deal with. Keep this in mind when you're putting, and train yourself to stay confident, even when the ball doesn't go where you want it to.

- Don't look at the ball when you're making your target - look just ahead of the ball. Focus on a spot right in front, a spot that you want that ball to roll over. After you hit it, you'll know if you've made the shot or not by whether you see it cross that spot.

- Don't move! Check your position before the shot and make sure it's perfect. But, don't move out of your position until the ball is well on its way. If you get impatient and want to watch that ball fly toward the hole, you may straighten up too fast and lose control over your putt.

- There are some ways you can keep yourself from naturally following that ball and ruining your putt. For example, look at the spot the ball was on, after it rolls off. To practice this, you can lay a coin under the ball, and keep your eyes on the coin after the ball has rolled completely off.

- When you're practicing, there are putting drills you can do. For example, put in 5 balls from a distance of 1 foot; then move back a foot. Then another and another, and if you miss one shot, you have to start the whole thing over again from one foot.

- For some really deep, heavy-duty putting practice, close your eyes when you putt. With your eyes closed, you'll be more aware of the way the rest of your body moves. You'll feel your torso twist and your shoulders swing steadily, just like a pendulum with the club swinging from it.

- Practice like crazy. That's the best golf putting tip anybody can give you. The longer you're out there practicing, the more you'll develop a feel for it. Like everything else, practice makes perfect!

By: Rich Fuller
Learn more about golf swing instructions on our site. You'll also find other information such as golf driving instructions and golf troubleshoot. GetGoodAtGolf.com is a comprehensive resource golf enthusiast to improve their game through helpful tips and instructions.

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The golf business has taken me to many wonderful places and put me in front of lots of really ‘cool’ people. Recently I had both the honor and privilege of spending some time with golf legend and Hall of Famer - Billy Casper. Billy was as delightful and courteous as any man I have ever met. He took some time from his schedule to sit down with me to talk about a variety of topics.

With 51 PGA Tour victories Billy is 7th all time. He was on 8 Ryder Cup teams and was the captain in 1979. His 80 plus world wide victories include 2 US Opens and 1 Masters. The first golfer on the PGA Tour to win $200,000 in a season Billy was player of the year twice and won two Vardon Trophies for the low scoring average in a season. This man could flat play some golf.

How is he thought of by some of golf’s greats?

• Lee Trevino: "When I came up, I focused on Casper. I figured he was twice as good as me, so I watched how he practiced and decided I would practice three times as much as him."

• Johnny Miller: "Billy has the greatest pair of hands God ever gave a human being."

• Chi Chi Rodriguez: "(Casper) was the greatest putter I ever saw ... When golf balls used to leave the factory; they prayed they would get to be putted by Billy."

What a mistake to look past this phenomenal player because he is not in his prime. What a mistake to not give him the respect he has earned. He is 75 years young and still going strong. I hope you can pick up a nugget or two from this gentle-man and the interview I did with him.

Dan Boever- After all these years of playing in pro-ams and watching amateurs swing, what is the single biggest mistake you see them make? Billy Casper- Well, I think what I see with amateurs is that very few of them ever use enough club into the green. They consistently end up short of the green and wonder why. They feel if they hit a 7 iron 150 yards they can hit it under all types of conditions. They don’t take into consideration whether they are uphill, downhill or whether the wind will help them or hurt them.

DB- Do you try and help them on the course or do you resist giving them a lesson?

BC- I will try and help certain people. You know it is hard to help someone on the course unless they have exceptional talent. I played with a guy today who hit the worst slice. Finally I said lets try something, and I closed up his stance and I got his shoulders pointed way right on the line his feet were on and I said, now swing the club around your body. He went on to hit some unbelievable drives the rest of the day. DB- He had to be thrilled. BC- Oh yeah, he went crazy. It is pretty common for players to position themselves over the ball with their stance wide open. They are open with their shoulders and the only way they can hit the ball is to slice it. They have no consistency whatsoever and so I try and close them up. Now, if somebody is really a terrible slicer I will close them up so bad they can’t slice. In a matter of 10-15 minutes just by working that way they will get to swinging around their body from the inside. You have to appeal to the subconscious-get the subconscious thinking you are swinging around the body and then straighten the stance. Many times people will begin to hit a nice little draw or a straight shot.

DB- Did you spend a lot of time on the range?

BC- I never did. I wanted to play the course. I would hit some balls to get loose – I would chip and putt a lot but then I wanted to get on the course and learn what I needed to know to hit my best shots. As a young player during a practice round I watched Ben Hogan hit balls from both sides of a fairway so he could see from which side the green accepted balls best. He then knew where he needed to hit his drives. You can’t learn that on the driving range…

DB- You came from seven strokes back on the final nine holes to beat Arnold Palmer in the US Open -was there a point you saw panic on his face?

BC- Yes, after I picked up 4 shots in two holes you could see on his face that momentum had shifted.

DB- You had to be a nervous wreck.

BC- I really wasn’t. I could not wait to be in that situation. I loved it - I thrived on the heat of the battle. When you are a competitor that is what you look for. You do all the work to put yourself into that situation. I loved it!

DB- Didn’t Arnie’s Army give him a boost when things went south?

BC- He had such a big lead at the turn many of his fans went home to watch the last nine hole on television. Numerous people who stayed became “Casper Converts”.

DB- I’ll bet they did - and he gained one more on this day.

By: Dan Boever
Dan Boever is a highly sought after golf entertainer and 11-time World Long Drive finalist who has traveled the country for the past 10 years performing power trick shot shows for over 600 of America's largest companies and charities. Dan has been featured on CBS, ESPN, The Golf Channel and has been in 8 National television commercials for Pinnacle Golf. Dan also appeared in the New Line Cinema movie "Hoot", released last May. For more information about Dan and how you can energize your next golf event with Dan's one of a kind golf exhibition go to http://www.danboever.com.

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If you're really looking for more consistancy in your golf swing then stretching exercises that are "golf specific" will help your shoulders a lot! These types of fitness stretch exercises are designed to specifically help your back and rotator cuff area.

By stretching these muscle groups on a regular basis you can make big strides in improving your swing.Some of the most common injuries to golfer's occur because of a lack of flexibility in their back. This usually affects the area of the rotator cuff. Injury prevention is another reason why it's so important for you to start some type of golf specific exercise routine right away, if you don't already have one.

Have you ever stood in front of a full length mirror and watched yourself going through your swing motion? It may sound a bit silly, but by going through the motion slowly you can actually feel the muscles that you use while performing this movement. When you get to the top of your rotation try going just a bit further and holding it for ten seconds. Don't hurt yourself or bounce, but hold it just enough to feel a slight discomfort.

Once you've done this on one side, switch sides and do it again. Do both sides twice the same way. You should notice that it's a little bit easier the second time. You should also be able to go a little bit further now that you've warmed up your muscles a bit.

Next, try stretching directly overhead. Get all the way up on the tips of your toes and reach for the sky, holding it for a few seconds. When you come down go ahead and spread your feet more than shoulder width apart and simply bend over and "hang there" loosely.

Do NOT bounce as you could possibly tear a muscle. All that you want to do is hang there and breath deeply while counting to ten by one thousands. One thousand one, one thousand two, ect. Do this a second time. Reach for the sky as far as you can, hold it for a few seconds and relax.

Spread your feet again and bend over forward and hang there while counting. You can go farther the second time, can't you? Now try it with your feet together. This is a bit more rough if you're just starting out, but remember not to bounce, but to just hang there, count to ten and repeat. If you continue this regularly there will come a point in the near future where you'll be able to easily touch your toes without bending your knees. Can you imagine the flexibilty that you'll have when you've achieved this?

Once you've done this you'll feel like a million bucks. I've had some days where my spine will just pop right back into place. It's simply a wonderful feeling and will help your golf swing a lot. If you do this on a regular basis, you'll soon see a marked improvement in your game.

There are many different exercises that are specifically for golf fitness that you might find helpful. I recommend that you either invest in a good book on golf fitness, get with a fitness coach that specializes in golf fitness or, if you have the time and the money, do both.

By: Joe Stewart
Joe Stewart is a sports fanatic that writes articles on different topics that interest him. Would you like to get a 30 minute consultation with one of the countries best known trainers for golf improvement exercises if he was willing to skip his $150.00 an hour fee? You can get more Golf tips by going to http://www.GolfFitnessTips.net or by simply clicking on Exercises Golf Illustrations.

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This is something that was a bit of a mystery to me in my early days. I would hear people talking about the grain on the green and how the ball would go fast if the grain was leaning towards the hole and how the ball would not reach the hole if one was putting against the grain unless this factor was taken into account.

Well here is a bit about grain in case you, like I did, find this subject a bit of a mystery.

When the grass grows, it grows in a particular direction. The grass on greens is a special type of grass and lies flat on the surface.

There are bent grasses that lie flat because it is the nature of the grass to bend at ground level and grow horizontally, hence the name. There are other types of grass are cut very short and tend to grow a bit horizontally. Luckily all the grass grows in the same direction.

If you can imagine the grass a little longer but still lying horizontally, you can see that if it is lying towards the direction of the put, that there will be very little resistance to the roll of the ball.

However, if it is growing towards you and away from the direction of the put, every blade of grass acts as a prod as it were to stop the ball rolling. Hence the ball will be held up a bit and will not roll as far. This prodding effect is called the grain.

It represents the direction in which the grass is growing.

One way to determine which way it is growing is to look at the grass. If it has a slight sheen, or looks light then it is growing away from you. If you hit a ball along this path it is called hitting with the grain.

If it is dark, then this is because you are looking at the tips of the grass and the dark part between the blades of grass and the ground.

This means the grass is growing towards you.

Hitting a put along this path is called hitting against the grain.

Certain things determine in which direction the grass will grow, and these can be taken into account if you are in doubt.

Most grasses will grow towards the nearest water. They will also grow in the direction of drainage, Often they grow towards the setting sun.

By: Bill Maitland
Bill Maitland is a thinking, inventive golf guru. He thought out and developed simple techniques and tips which enabled him to lower his handicap from 25 to 18, then from 18 to 15, and finally from 15 to 12. He is a passionate golfer, and delights in helping others with their game should they want his help. To receive a valuable weekly golf tip go to his web site http://www.onlinegolfershandbook.com and subscribe to his free Hole In One News Letter. You will be so glad that you did.

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