The Gate Putting Drill
The Gate Putting Drill is a scoring skills drill from The Adaptive Golfer. Roll ten 10-foot putts through a tee gate to train and measure start-line control, with the full routine on every putt. It trains start line, and your result is measured as Practice Strokes Gained against your handicap band.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Here's the Gate Putting Drill. It's the fastest way to train your start line, and see exactly which way your putter face leaks. Find a dead straight ten footer. Set two tees about two feet ahead of the ball, just wider than your putter head. Run your full putting routine on every putt. Read and commit. Align and take your final look. Then trigger. A putt on the right start line rolls cleanly through the gate. That is the roll you are counting. Clip the left tee and your face was closed at impact. The ball started left of your line. Clip the right tee and your face was open at impact. The ball started right of your line. Count how many of ten putts roll cleanly through. For a mid handicap, aim for five to seven. Log every rep in The Adaptive Golfer.
How to do The Gate Putting Drill
- Find a dead-straight 10-footer.
- Set two tees about 2 feet ahead of the ball, creating a gate just slightly wider than the putter head.
- Run your full putting routine on every putt (read and commit; align and final look; trigger).
- Hit ten putts through the gate, recording each as a pass or a miss with direction (clipped left or right).
Abbreviating the routine to speed the drill up, which strips out the routine-building half. Full routine, every putt.
▲ LEVEL UP
Move the gate to 4 feet ahead of the ball instead of 2; the more distant gate reveals smaller face errors. Hold the same benchmark.
How The Gate Putting Drill is scored
Count your successful attempts out of 10 clean passes.
Here is what each handicap band should be hitting (clean passes, higher is better):
| HANDICAP BAND | TARGET |
|---|---|
| Scratch (0–2) | — |
| 3–7 | 7–8 |
| 8–13 | 5–7 |
| 14–19 | 4–5 |
| 20+ | 3–4 |
Your result is converted to Practice Strokes Gained against your band, so you always know if you are above, at, or below where you should be.
Log each rep and see whether you are above, at, or below your band — not just the target.
The 5-pillar diagnosis tells you whether this drill is even the thing costing you strokes.
A four-week plan picks your drills and recalculates as your numbers move.
As seen in Chapter 25 — Drill 7 of The Adaptive Golfer. The drills, benchmarks, and plans in the app are built on the published methodology.
The Gate Putting Drill FAQ
Roll ten 10-foot putts through a tee gate to train and measure start-line control, with the full routine on every putt.
A mid-handicap golfer (8 to 13) should aim for 5 to 7 clean passes.
It builds your scoring skills, specifically start line.
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Log The Gate Putting Drill in The Adaptive Golfer and see your Practice Strokes Gained against your handicap band.
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