01The short answer
To control distance in putting, control the ball’s speed. How far a putt rolls is decided by the speed you give the ball, so the skill is hitting a speed you chose, on demand, and knowing how far that speed rolls on today’s greens. Train a set of speeds until each one is repeatable. Check them on the practice green before the round. Then give every putt one speed and commit to it.
02Why speed matters more than lineGreat read. Six feet short.
Most putts aren’t missed on line. Roughly 80% of three-putts are distance misses: the first putt was hit too hard or too soft, and the second was longer than it had to be. Get the speed right and even a missed first putt finishes close enough to tap in.
Speed also sets the line. The same putt breaks more when it’s rolling slowly and less when it’s struck firmly, so a perfect read is only perfect at the speed you read it for.
03Why feel alone is hard to trainGive it a rap and pray.
Most golfers practise distance by feel: hit a few putts, watch where they stop, adjust. But where a putt stops mixes two things, the speed you gave it and the green it rolled on, and you only ever see the total. You learn that green on that day, then start again at the next course.
To train speed itself you have to measure it. The Speed Machine reads the ball’s speed on every putt, 16 inches after you strike it, and gives it a Speed Number on Jarit’s own scale from 3 to 15, to a tenth. 3 is a tickle; 15 is a full-send lag. A Speed Number isn’t a standard unit of speed, so it’s said bare: an 8, shaky at 14.
04Why speed isn’t distanceSame ten feet. Different putt.
The same distance can need very different speeds. A 10-foot putt across a 3% slope on a fast green needs about a 7 uphill and about a 4 downhill. The distance never changed; the speed did.
The same speed also rolls different distances on different greens: a trained 8 rolls about 12 feet on soft greens and about 18 on fast ones. That’s why you train speeds, not distances. Your speeds stay the same for life. The greens are what you check each day.
05How to train speedOwn the numbers.
Speed is learned like scales on an instrument: one note at a time, then all of them in any order. The Jarit App’s program works like this:
- Start with one speed. The program opens with a single Speed Number, a 3, and stays on it until it’s yours.
- Add one number at a time, up to 15. Each new number joins the ones you already own. From 10 up, each gets an extra session to settle, because firmer speeds take longer to own.
- Count only what lands in the window. That’s within half a number for touch and moderate putts (3–9), and a little wider for firm and power putts: ±0.6 from 10 to 12, ±0.7 from 13 to 15. A target of 8 counts anything from 7.5 to 8.5.
- Mix them up once they’re learned. Random practice across every speed feels harder during the session but holds up better on the course (Shea and Morgan, 1979).
- Add pressure. Make-in-a-row blocks reset on a miss, and gate tests decide when you’ve earned the next zone.
The program is 30 tracks of about 5 to 12 minutes each. It needs a 4 × 3 foot patch of floor, and the machine sends the ball back after every putt, about 8 putts a minute. The full program, the gates and the adaptive coach are in the guide.
06Calibrate to the day’s greensFive minutes before the round.
Your Speed Numbers don’t change from course to course. How far each one rolls does. Five minutes on the practice green matches them to the day:
- Baseline. Hit a few putts at a number you own (a 5 works well) and see how far they roll. That’s today’s green speed.
- Distance to number. Pick a distance and give it a number from your baseline. Putt it and see where it finishes, then adjust. Repeat at a few distances.
- Number to distance. The other way round: pick a number, set the ball where you think that number is perfect, and check.
No app needed.
07Execute on the courseOne number over the ball.
Read the putt as you always have: break, slope, distance, green speed. Then turn the read into one Speed Number, stand over the ball with only that number in your head, and putt it. One word where the noise used to be.
08Tools for distance controlEvery training aid, honestly.
| Tool | What it trains | What it can’t tell you |
|---|---|---|
| Stroke-length guides (marked rails, templates) | A repeatable backswing and follow-through | How fast the ball actually left: the same length struck off the toe, or with more hit, rolls a different distance |
| Tempo trainers (metronomes, tempo apps) | A steady rhythm | Speed itself: a smooth stroke still needs the right length and a centred strike |
| Distance-marked mats and target drills | Rolling the ball to a spot | What you gave the ball: where it stops mixes your stroke with the surface, and a mat rolls at one speed while greens don’t |
| Pass/fail pace trainers (ramps, gates, pressure cups) | Holding pace under pressure | In most designs, how far off a miss was, or which way |
| Stroke and wrist sensors | Mechanics: what the putter and your hands did | What the ball did, and the ball is what sets the distance |
| Studio putting analysis | The most complete picture of a stroke | Anything between lessons: it usually lives at a coach’s studio, not in your living room |
| Ball-speed measurement (the Speed Machine) | The speed you give the ball, as a Speed Number on every putt | Your mechanics or your read: it doesn’t analyse the stroke or read greens. That’s what calibration and your own eyes are for |
09Questions golfers askOverheard on the practice green.
What controls distance in putting?
The ball’s speed. Stroke length, tempo and strike all feed into it, but on a given green, how far a putt rolls is decided by how fast the ball is rolling once it’s off the putter.
Should I control distance with stroke length or tempo?
Most instruction keeps the tempo steady and changes the stroke length with the distance. Both are means to the same end, the ball’s speed, so that’s the thing to measure.
How can I practise distance control at home?
You need to know what speed you gave the ball. On carpet or a mat, distance alone misleads, because the surface isn’t a green. The Speed Machine reads the speed of every putt on its own mat, in 4 × 3 feet of floor, and sends the ball back. You train the speeds indoors and calibrate them outside.
What is a Speed Number?
The Speed Machine’s reading of a putt: how fast the ball is rolling 16 inches after you strike it, on Jarit’s own scale from 3 to 15, to a tenth. 3 is a delicate touch putt and 15 is a full-power lag. It’s a training scale, not a standard unit of speed.
Do my Speed Numbers change on faster greens?
No. An 8 is an 8 for life; on a faster green it rolls farther. Five minutes of calibration before the round tells you how much farther.