A Perfect Lag Putting Drill to Help Eliminate 3-Putts originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
Most golfers, even beginner golfers, know what lag putting means. It’s simply the art of mastering your speed by intentionally hitting your first putt as close to the hole without any real attempt to make it — which gives you an easier second putt.
While that seems absurd on the surface, when you’re putting from 40 feet away — which has a make-percentage of just 4 percent on the PGA Tour — intentionally lag putting is going to help save you strokes with the flat stick.
By using this game plan, you’ll take the stress out of trying to make every single putt you have — which just isn’t realistic due to the contours of the greens or the distance between you and the hole.
There’s usually one problem when it comes to lag putting, though: Most amateur golfers don’t include it into their golf practice, oftentimes ignoring any short-game work!
Try this Fun (and Easy!) Lag Putting Drill
While it’s more fun to grab the driver and try to knock the snot out of the ball on the driving range, doing so isn’t going to make you a better golfer. It’s why the old adage of “drive for show and putt for dough” even exists in the first place!
So if you’re looking to lower your scores as fast as possible, and we all are, it’s best to focus on mastering the flatstick!
To help you do that, golf coach Robert Randall has an easy (and fun!) lag putting drill to practice — and it helps you compete either against yourself or your buddies!
In the video above, Randall walks me through the drill during our recent golf lesson at Redtail Golf Center.
“All right, Robert, I’ve told you the bane of my existence right now is putting,” I admit. “I can’t tell you how many times I 3-putt, so you’ve got a drill set up here [that ‘s going to help fix that].”
Randall then dives into his lag putting drill, which is a slight variation to the normal ladder drill many golfers use.
“All you need is three tees, and you can set the first tee up wherever you want to,” he explains. “I did eight paces, which is about 24 feet, so your goal is to hit your first putt past that first tee, then you’re trying to hit every putt longer than the last putt you hit.
“You’re trying to put as many balls as you can in-between the two tees you have set up.”
As I attempt the drill, it’s clear that it’s way harder than first expected — and really emphasizes dialing in both putting speed and lag putting technique.
“It’s great for lag putting to help eliminate 3-putts, so the closer you can keep these balls, the better your speed control is getting,” Randall emphasizes.
After running through the lag putting drill and seeing some of the results, my confidence is a little higher and my stroke feels smooth. All that’s left is carrying that same feel to the golf course in order to replicate that during my round.
So if you struggle with your putting speed control and can’t seem to eliminate 3-putts, incorporate this fun drill into your practice routine. As you can see in the video, it’ll almost immediately help you get dialed in.
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 22, 2025, where it first appeared.
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