Some golfers will pace the distance to the cup. A better technique might be to just stand over the ball and look at the line to the hole. While you are doing this you should try to mentally measure the distance in 5 or 10 foot intervals. And always remember to check which way the grass is growing before your putt shot.

Why check the grass? You obviously do not have to hit a putt as hard when the grass is growing towards the hole, as opposed of growing towards you, but the grain can be a little difficult to see unless you look closely. So take a moment and use the direction of the grass growth as a gauge to aid in how much power you need (or less) in your putt.

Here are some further resources from the blogosphere to help with your putting:

The Wedge Guy’s Guide To Avoiding Three Putts

Once you see the putt in pieces, you can visualize the entire putt and choose your starting line and speed. Let me know if these tips help you get some three putts off your card and use the Ask Terry button if you have any other golf …

Warm Up Golf Putting Drill

Here is a golf putting drill for the practice green. During the first few minutes of your golf putting drill, putt to a tee or a coin from a distance of twenty and thirty feet. Putt from a variety of angles and watch how the ball rolls. …

Putting Drill

Here’s a putting drill from about.com that should help you make more of those pesky 4-6 foot putts. Main thrust: keep the club head square (perpendicular) to the putting line. Sub thrusts: practice a straight in putt and work it so that …

If you hit the ball too hard, it will fly above and beyond the hole. When this happens, you will need to make an extended recovery shot. On the other hand, if you don’t put enough pressure on your swing, the ball will stop short of the hole.

Hitting the ball too hard will give you less break, or curve. For example, if you hit the ball too hard and calculated a six or seven inches of break, the ball will likely break just two or three inches and ends up missing the target. By hitting the ball too hard, even a putt that is only two feet can cause you to miss the hole and lip out, or goes back out.

Hitting the ball too gently, however, the ball will break more than your calculation and also miss the hole.

Therefore, the absolute success of the putt depends on the speed of the ball. Speed, along with distance, go hand and hand on the putting green.