How to Practise Putting Indoors During Winter

By Golf Rules: What Happens When Your Ball Moves
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1 Aug 2026

How to Practise Putting Indoors During Winter

Why Winter Putting Pays Off in Kent

By the time January arrives, most Kent golfers have swapped summer fairways for something altogether muddier. The clay-heavy soils of the Weald hold water for weeks, the North Downs chalk drains a little better but still leaves you on winter greens and mats, and the coastal links around Deal and Sandwich can make a four-hour round feel like an endurance test. Add trolley bans and shortened courses to the mix, and it is tempting to let the clubs gather dust until March.

Yet the putter is the one club you can keep genuinely sharp without leaving the house. Twenty focused minutes on a carpet three evenings a week will do more for your handicap than a rushed nine holes in horizontal rain. Here is how to build a simple station at home and use it well.

Build Your Indoor Putting Station

You do not need much space or money. A hallway, a spare bedroom or the strip of carpet between the sofa and the telly will do. What matters is that the surface is consistent and that you can stand comfortably behind the ball.

A mat or a straight run of carpet. A proper putting mat with a slight incline is lovely, but a flat, tight-pile carpet is perfectly fine. Avoid rugs with busy patterns that distract your eye.
A target that rewards good speed. A small cup, a mug laid on its side, or a couple of coins placed a putter-head apart. The tighter the target, the more honest the feedback.
A metre stick or a length of skirting board. Lay it on the floor as a guide for your putter path and as a quick measuring tool for distance drills.
Two tee pegs or upturned plastic cups. These become your putting gate, set just wider than the putter head.
A mirror or your phone's front camera. Being able to see your shoulders and eyeline is worth more than any gadget.

Set up facing a wall if you can. It keeps your target close and discourages the deceleration through impact that creeps in when people practise indoors.

Drills to Groove a Repeatable Stroke

Start every session with the gate drill. Push two tee pegs into the carpet or mat, roughly a centimetre wider than your putter head on each side. Make slow, smooth strokes through the gate without touching either peg. Ten putts, then check your set-up — eyes over the ball, weight balanced, hands quiet. The gate tells you immediately if the face is twisting.

Next, the metre stick. Lay it down, set the ball beside it, and make strokes keeping the putter head running along the stick's edge. This trains a straight-back, straight-through path for shorter putts and gives you a reference point for the gentle arc most players naturally create on longer ones.

Finally, add a mirror or your phone. Place it so you can see your eyeline and shoulders at address. If your head moves during the stroke, you will spot it instantly. Three sets of ten quality repetitions is plenty — stop while you are still striking it well, not when you are bored.

Master Distance Control on the Carpet

Distance control is where winter practice really pays. Rather than aiming at a hole, aim at a spot on the floor and try to roll the ball a set distance past it.

The ladder. Place three targets at roughly two, three and four metres. Putt to each in turn, then reverse the order. Never hit the same distance twice in a row.
Eyes closed. Make a stroke to a target, then close your eyes for the last two repetitions. Your feel for length improves when you stop watching the ball.
One-handed finishes. Putt with your lead hand only, then your trail hand only. This exposes which hand is dominating and helps you release the putter head.
Twenty in a row. Set a target and try to finish twenty consecutive putts within a hand's width of it. Any miss resets the count.

Two or three sessions a week is enough. Little and often beats a two-hour marathon on a Sunday.

Turn Ten Minutes into a Habit

The golfers who arrive at Kent clubs in spring with a sharp putter are rarely the ones who did anything heroic. They simply made practice easy to start. Leave your putter and a couple of balls by the hallway so there is no excuse. Putt while the kettle boils. Do five minutes before bed. Keep a note of how many putts you hole from two metres each week and watch the number creep up.

If your club has an indoor putting green or a covered bay, use it — but do not wait for the club to open. Your hallway works just as well, and it is a great deal warmer.

Taking It Back to the Course in Spring

When the greens come back and the winter mats are lifted, the work you have done indoors will show up in the first few holes. You will notice it most on long putts and on the three-footers that used to wobble. Trust the stroke you have built and resist the urge to change everything simply because the grass is faster than your carpet.

Give yourself a couple of rounds to adjust to green speeds, then enjoy the rewards of a winter well spent. Come the first medal of the season, the putter will feel like an old friend rather than a stranger.

Golf Tips

How to Maintain Pace of Play on Busy Days

Open days offer a friendly way to tour facilities, meet members and try the course before committing to join.

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5 Comments

Robert Sonny says Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am

I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
Reply
- John Abraham says Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am
  
  I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
  Reply
  - Robert Sonnysays Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am
    
    I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
    Reply
Robert Sonny says Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am

I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
Reply

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