Gate Putting Drill
Ages 7 and up · A putter, a few balls, two tees (or coins/cups on carpet), and a target hole or cup 3-5 feet away
The gate drill (putting through a gate of two tees barely wider than the putter head) is the most famous putting drill in golf because it grades the one thing that decides short putts: a square strike on a repeatable path. The gate gives instant, physical feedback: clean strokes glide through, crooked ones click a tee, and no opinion is required.
For juniors it is ideal: it works on carpet or green, it turns stroke practice into a streak game, and it builds the three-footer confidence that makes the whole game more fun. Tour players use this exact drill before tournaments; the carpet version is not a kid's imitation, it is the real thing at home.
How to run it
- Build the gate: two tees stuck (or coins placed) just wider than the putter head, a putter-length back from the ball's spot.
- Set up square: feet, hips, and shoulders parallel to the line, eyes over the ball, the putter face aimed through the gate at the target.
- Stroke putts THROUGH the gate to the cup: smooth rocking stroke from the shoulders, the putter head passing the tees without touching. Ten putts, clean-gate makes counted.
- Streak game: consecutive clean-gate makes, racing the record.
- Move the gate ladder: 3 feet, then 4, then 5, logging makes at each. Sessions end on a made streak of three.
What to say
Common faults and fixes
Clicking tees constantly (a wristy, curving stroke).
Shrink the stroke: tiny putts from two feet with a shoulders-only rock until gates run clean, then re-extend. Widening the gate slightly for a session is legitimate scaffolding.
Face aimed off-line at address (clean gates, missed putts).
Use a chalk line or a ball's printed line aimed at the cup: the face squares to the LINE first, the stroke follows. Aim is its own skill; separate it for a round.
Peeking early (head chasing the ball off-line).
The listen-for-it rule on short putts: head stays down until the ball drops or stops. Grade stillness for a set; makes follow it around.
Make it easier, make it harder
A wider gate, two-foot putts, no cup (just clean gates onto a target coin).
A tighter gate; longer putts through the gate; the two-gate version (one at the ball, one halfway to the hole); pressure streaks (three clean makes to end the session); breaking putts on real greens with the gate aimed at the start line.
This page teaches the drill. ParentEdge builds it into a plan for your kid.
Built around their game, their goals, and what they’re working on.