The putting gate drill is the cheapest, most ruthless way to find out whether your putter face is square at impact. Two tees, one ball, and an honest answer in five minutes. In this guide you’ll learn exactly how to set up the gate, why it works, the most common ways golfers cheat the drill, and a progression that takes you from one tee-length to lag putting under pressure. If your three-footers wobble, this is the drill to fix them.
What The Putting Gate Drill Actually Trains
The gate drill places two tees in the ground, slightly wider than the toe and heel of your putter, forming a “gate” the putter must swing through. A second pair of tees can be placed just in front of the ball, slightly wider than the ball itself, forming a second gate the ball must roll through to find the hole. The drill exposes three faults instantly:
- Path errors — if your putter swings outside-in or inside-out enough to clip a tee, the drill stops you.
- Face errors — if your face is open or closed at impact, the ball squirts off and misses the second gate.
- Strike errors — heel and toe contact send the ball off-line even with a perfect path, and the second gate makes that obvious.
It is a feedback drill, not a swing-thought drill. You don’t need to know why a putt missed; the gate tells you immediately by either rattling a tee or pushing the ball off line. That instant feedback is what makes the gate drill one of the most-used drills on tour.
How To Set Up The Gate — Exact Dimensions
Start at a flat three-foot putt. You need four tees and a ball. The setup has two layers:
Layer 1: The Putter Gate
- Place your ball on the line you want to start the putt.
- Set one tee just behind where the toe of the putter will sit at address, and a second tee just behind the heel.
- The gap between the tees should be about one-quarter inch wider than the head of your putter — wide enough to swing through cleanly, narrow enough to punish a meaningful path error.
Layer 2: The Ball Gate
- Place two more tees roughly six to eight inches in front of the ball, on the target line.
- The gap between these tees should be about one-quarter inch wider than the ball (so roughly two inches total).
- The ball must roll through this gate to count.
If you only own two tees, run the putter gate first to clean up path, then swap to the ball gate to clean up start line.
Why Putter Face Control Dominates Direction
Robot testing and tour studies converge on the same number: putter face at impact accounts for roughly 80% of the start direction of a putt, with path responsible for the remaining 20%. That is why gate drills work — they zero in on the variable that decides whether the ball even has a chance to fall.
From three feet, a face open by just one degree at impact will start the ball about half an inch off line — enough to lip out a centered putt. If you also miss the centre of the face by half an inch toward the toe, you add roughly another quarter-inch of off-line offset due to gear effect. Those tiny errors are exactly what the second gate catches. For an equipment-side companion to this drill, see our guide to putter face balance vs toe hang — matching your putter to your stroke arc makes the gate drill substantially easier.
Common Mistakes That Make The Drill Useless
Three errors will quietly turn the gate drill into a waste of practice time:
- Setting the gate too wide. A generous gate gives you nothing to learn from. If you can swing the heel one inch outside the centre and still clear the tees, the drill has stopped diagnosing anything. Squeeze the gate until the brushes of the putter head almost graze the tee tops.
- Aiming at the gate, not the hole. Some players stop trying to hole the putt and start trying to “thread the needle.” That changes the stroke. Always set the second gate on the actual line to the cup, so a successful drill rep is also a holed putt.
- Skipping the read. On a sloped green, the gate must point at your aim point, not at the hole. If you set the gate at the hole on a left-to-right breaker, you’ll fight the drill the entire session. Read the green first, then build the gate on the start line.
A Progression From Three Feet To Pressure Putts
The drill is most useful as a graded progression, not a one-off exercise. The following ladder takes about twenty minutes once you know the setup:
Stage 1 — Three Feet, Flat (5 minutes)
Both gates in place. Goal: 10 in a row, no tee contact, ball rolling through the second gate. If you cannot get five in a row, widen the putter gate by one putter-width and rebuild from there.
Stage 2 — Six Feet, Slight Break (5 minutes)
Move to a small breaking putt. Read it, set the gates on the start line (not the hole), and hit five putts. The success metric is still both gates cleared — whether the putt drops is a bonus, because you are practicing aim and roll, not luck of the read.
Stage 3 — Putter Gate Only, Lag Putt (5 minutes)
Remove the ball gate. Step back to twenty or thirty feet. Use only the putter gate. The metric switches from accuracy to consistency — you are checking that your path and strike don’t break down as the stroke gets longer. Combine this with a tempo check; longer putts magnify rhythm errors.
Stage 4 — Pressure Round (5 minutes)
Back to three feet, both gates. Rules: you must hole nine putts in a row to “pass.” Any miss, you start the count over. This adds the stress component, which is where most short putts are lost on the course. Try to leave the green only after you have passed.
Variations And Add-Ons For The Gate Drill
The Coin Gate
If you practise on greens that won’t take tees, substitute two coins on either side of the putter head. They give visual feedback without a physical “click” when struck — useful for indoor practice on a putting mat.
The Quiet Eye Combo
Pair the gate drill with the quiet eye protocol: fix your gaze on a single spot inside the ball gate for two to three seconds before initiating the stroke. The combination of a physical gate and a mental focus point is one of the most efficient short-putt routines you can practise.
The Backstroke Tee
If your stroke is too long and decelerative, add a fifth tee just behind your normal backstroke length. Now the putter cannot travel past that point. Forcing a shorter, more accelerated stroke restores rhythm without any verbal cues.
Troubleshooting What The Gate Is Telling You
- Clipping the tee at the toe on the takeaway: Your stroke is taking the putter too far inside. Soften the grip pressure and let the shoulders rock more vertically.
- Clipping the tee at the heel on the through-stroke: You’re pulling the putt — usually a sign the lead shoulder is firing too early. Try a “feet together” rehearsal to reset the stroke arc.
- Ball misses the second gate to the right (RH player): Face is open at impact. Re-check your grip — too much palm in the lead hand is the most common cause.
- Ball misses the second gate to the left (RH player): Face is closing through impact. Check that the trail hand isn’t flipping; soften the trail-hand grip pressure.
- Ball wobbles immediately off the face: Heel or toe strike. Set a chalk dot or impact spray on the face and look at the contact pattern.
How Often To Run The Drill
Twenty focused minutes, three times a week, is enough for most amateurs to see a measurable drop in three- to six-foot misses inside a month. The drill works because it removes ambiguity — you no longer have to guess what your putter face is doing. The gate confirms it, putt by putt.
Build it into your warm-up routine. Five minutes of three-foot gate putts before a round is far more useful than rolling lag putts for green speed, because confidence on short putts compounds across eighteen holes. For more putting fundamentals, our piece 8 Putting Tips To Try Right Now pairs well with this drill.
Gate Drill FAQs
How wide should the putter gate be?
About a quarter-inch wider than your putter head — roughly the thickness of a pencil on either side. If you cannot fit through that, widen it temporarily but rebuild down as soon as you make ten in a row.
Does the gate drill work on a putting mat?
Yes, with coins or small markers in place of tees. The trade-off is that mats rarely simulate true green speed, so the drill is most valuable for stroke and face training rather than feel for pace.
Should I use my normal putter or a training putter?
Use the putter you play with. The whole point is to calibrate that specific tool. Training putters with built-in alignment aids can be useful, but if your gamer feels different from your training putter, the transfer back to the course is weaker.
How many reps before I see a result?
Most golfers see a noticeable improvement in three-foot make percentage within two to three weeks of three sessions a week. The gate drill rewards consistency more than intensity — twenty good minutes beats a frustrated hour.
Bottom Line
The putting gate drill is a feedback machine — cheap, portable, and unforgiving in the right way. Set it up at three feet, run the four-stage progression, and watch the second gate. If the ball clears it, you have a square face and a clean strike. If it doesn’t, the drill has just told you exactly what to fix. That is more honest information than any green-side coach can give you in a single lesson.
