When you talk about speed control, you have to talk about the rhythm of the putting stroke. When we talk about rhythm, one of the best things that a player can do to practice is to get a metronome. Every player on the tour has a rhythm in their putting stroke between 72 and 80 beats a minute. Ninety percent of all the players have 76 beats per minute as their rhythm.

So, if I take a metronome and I turn it on to 76 beats per minute, I step up over the ball, and all I’m going to do is focus on that rhythm. I just want to stay in rhythm with this metronome. So it’s back, hit—one, two.

Now, a great way to practice this and to find your own rhythm is this—get a metronome, set it on 76 beats per minute, get about 12 balls and a putt that is a minimum of 25 feet. Hit all 12 of your putts. Now at the end of the 12 putts, if your pattern is all scattered out, you really weren’t in rhythm to start with. Bring the balls back and do it again.

Pretty soon, you should have all of your putts within a two- to three-foot radius. That tells you that you’re in rhythm. Now you have to look at where the pattern is. If that pattern is right around the cup, then 76 beats per minute is probably your rhythm, but if that pattern is three, four or five feet past the cup, then 76 is too slow. It’s giving you too much time to make your stroke so your putting stroke is too big.

If this is the case, try turning your metronome up to 77, 78, 79 or 80 beats per minute. It just gives you less time to make the stroke. The stroke gets shorter and that pattern should start to come back to your target. If your pattern is three, four or five feet short of the cup, then 76 is too fast and it’s not giving you enough time to make your stroke.

We take the metronome, we turn it down to 75, 74, 73, 72 beats per minute, and as a result, it’s going to give you a little bit more time to make the stroke. The stroke is going to be a little longer, and your balls are going to end up right around the cup. So for good distance control and good speed control, get yourself a metronome and start your work.