Can PutterCup Fix Your Putting? My Data Says Yes

I love a golf training aid as much as anyone, but I usually won’t defend them. Let’s be real. Most training aids are hokey, gimmicky, expensive, and hardly effective. That’s just the nature of the training aid game.

As an overly-optimistic and overly-technical golfer, I tend to stay open-minded to just about any training aid. So when I got the opportunity to test new (to me) training aids from PutterCup, I set my hopes high and expectations low and headed to the practice green.

Then, after just a handful of short practice sessions with PutterCup, I had my best putting round in years.

PutterCup rivals alignment sticks as the most simple training aid I can think of, and there are actually three different models in the PutterCup line, including:

• The Speed Bump: A plastic ring that fits inside of a golf hole and has a raised edge all the way around (a quarter inch), guaranteeing that only putts with perfect speed drop into the hole.
• Center Cup: A silicone ring that fits inside of a golf hole and reduces the size of the hole by 1 inch (about 25%), ensuring that putts that stray too far from the center of the cup miss.
• To Go Cup: Portable, above-ground, silicone golf hole with a raised edge that forces you to hit putts with optimal speed.

Part of the beauty of each of the PutterCup products is that there is no setup required. Just drop the Speed Bump or Center Cup into a hole on the practice green or putting mat, and you’re good to go. Or, drop the To Go Cup on a putting green, practice mat, or carpet, and start rolling putts.

PutterCup sells the set of all three models for $35, a bundle of the Speed Bump and Center Cut for $20, or each model individually for between $11 and $17.

I planned on logging several lengthy practice sessions with PutterCup, and collecting weeks of on-course data before sitting down to review it. As it turned out, those lengthy pratices turned into a handful of 10-minute sessions. 

Both on a putting mat at home and on a golf course practice green, I’d start with the Center Cup and short putts of about three feet, and gradually move back to about 10-12 feet, then repeat that process with the Speed Bump.

I liked having a narrow focus while practicing with the PutterCup products. The Speed Bump in particular freed me up to hit short puts firm (instead of scared). Hit it too firm, however, and the Speed Bump launches the ball right over the cup, resulting in excellent distance-control practice. Still, I never felt like anything magical was happening, just focused putting practice.

After a few brief practice sessions with the PutterCup products over about a week and a half, I spent 10 minutes before a round warming up with the Speed Bump and Center Cup. Then, I had my best putting round in years.

Since I track every shot of almost every round using Shot Scope game-tracking, I can quantify exactly how much better I performed after trainging with PutterCup than before. I had been averaging a disappointing 34.6 putts per round this year, so when I needed just 28 putts to get around after using PutterCup, I took a deeper dive into my putting stats.

Here’s how my putting this year, through seven rounds, compared to my putting round after practicing with PutterCup.

Now, let’s clarify a few things. I don’t expect that I’ll sustain these putting stats, nor do I think that everyone who spends a few minutes using one of the PutterCup aids will start holing everything inside of 10 feet. 

However, I took more than six putts off my average round. In other words, I went from a pretty bad putter, to a pretty good one, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that when I started training my precision and speed, those things improved significantly on the course. 

Before I practied with the Speed Bump, I intended to hit short and mid-range putts a foot or two past the hole, but I always seemed to leave them an inch or two short, then inevitably blow one or two six feet past. Using the Speed Bump, I trained the feel of hitting putts firm without smashing them past the hole, and that feel translated to the course.

I didn’t think I hadn’t spent enough time training with the PutterCup products to see results, but instead I inadvertently discovered one of the beauties: you can significantly improve your putting with just a little work. It only took me four 10-minute practice sessions in the span of about two weeks to see huge results on the greens.