How to Practice Putting Start Line With a 2-Tee Gate: The 30-Ball Drill That Stops Pushes and Pulls

A lot of golfers think they are missing putts because they “didn’t read it right.”

Sometimes that is true.

A lot of the time, though, they aimed at one thing, started it somewhere else, and then blamed the green like a coward.

That is why the 2-tee gate drill is so good.

It does not care about your excuses.

Either the ball started on line or it did not.

If you keep pushing putts, yanking them, or hitting those gross lip-outs that were never really online in the first place, this is the cleanest practice block I know.

What the Drill Is Actually Fixing

This is a start-line drill, not a full putting religion.

The goal is to train three things:

• face control at impact
• centered-enough strike to get a true roll
• commitment to a specific line instead of vague cup-hoping

If your bigger issue is speed, read lag putting tips to eliminate three-putts and how to putt downhill without three-putting. If your issue is making the actual comebackers, pair this with how to make more short putts under pressure.

But if the ball is not even starting where you think it is, fix that first.

Set Up the Gate the Right Way

Most golfers screw this drill up by making the gate either absurdly wide or psychopath tight.

Use this setup:

• put the gate 12 to 18 inches in front of the ball
• set the tees just 1/4 inch wider than the ball total
• on faster greens or longer putts, move the gate closer to 18 inches
• on short putts, keep it closer to 12 inches

A normal golf ball is about 1.68 inches wide.

So your gate should be about:

• 1.9 to 2.0 inches wide total

That is enough room for a clean pass, but not enough room for the ball to sneak through on a bad line and lie to you.

The Start-Line Rule

The first rule is simple:

Do not judge the result by whether the putt goes in. Judge it first by whether it goes through the gate clean.

A putt can miss the hole and still be a good rep. A putt can fall in and still be a bad rep if it wobbled through the gate or caught a tee.

That distinction matters.

Too many golfers practice make percentage when the real issue is ball-start.

The 30-Ball Session

This is the full session.

You are hitting 30 putts total:

• 10 putts from 4 feet
• 10 putts from 6 feet
• 10 putts from 8 feet

Use mostly straight putts or putts with just a hint of break. The point is to test start line, not to build some dramatic double-break circus.

From 4 feet

Setup:

• gate 12 inches in front of the ball
• hole straight or almost straight

Target:

• at least 8 of 10 through the gate clean
• at least 7 of 10 holed

If you cannot clear those numbers from 4 feet, your face control is not nearly as reliable as you think it is.

From 6 feet

Setup:

• gate 15 inches in front of the ball
• same width

Target:

• at least 7 of 10 through the gate clean
• at least 5 of 10 holed

This is the money distance because it tells you whether your stroke holds up once the putt feels score-relevant.

From 8 feet

Setup:

• gate 18 inches in front of the ball
• same width

Target:

• at least 6 of 10 through the gate clean
• at least 3 of 10 holed

At 8 feet, I care more about line quality than make count. If the ball keeps starting where you want and your pace is decent, the makes come later.

How to Score It

Keep it dumb and clear:

• 2 points for a putt that goes through the gate clean and finishes in the hole
• 1 point for a putt that goes through the gate clean but misses
• 0 points for any putt that hits a tee or clearly starts outside the gate

Maximum score: 60

Benchmarks:

• 48+ means your start line is in pretty good shape
• 40 to 47 means playable but still loose
• 39 or lower means you are not controlling face start line consistently enough

That is the number you track over time.

What the Misses Actually Mean

The drill becomes useful once you stop recording only “make” or “miss.”

Track the bad ones like this:

• push = started right of intended line
• pull = started left of intended line
• double-hit feel / wobble = ugly strike even if it squeezed through

Patterns matter more than isolated misses.

If most misses are pushes

Usually that means one of these:

• face hanging open
• too much handle drag
• scared speed that stalls the release

Your fix:

• commit to a firmer roll
• feel the chest keep moving
• stop trying to guide the ball into the cup

If most misses are pulls

Usually that is:

• hands taking over
• trying to “make sure” it starts online
• shoulders outracing everything

Your fix:

• soften the grip pressure
• let the putter swing instead of stabbing it
• focus on rolling the ball through the middle of the gate, not yanking it there

If the misses are random

Then your setup is probably changing.

Check:

• ball position
• eye line
• putter-face aim
• whether your routine is actually the same each rep

Random is usually not bad luck. Random is usually sloppy prep.

The 5-Ball Pressure Finish

After the 30-ball session, do not just leave.

Finish with this:

• one ball from 4 feet
• one from 5 feet
• one from 6 feet
• one from 7 feet
• one from 8 feet

All five must go through the gate clean.

If any ball clips a tee, start the five-ball finish over.

That is the part that keeps the drill from becoming range-chore autopilot.

If you want more pressure-style practice, pair it with how to practice golf with one ball so you stop turning every putting session into an assembly line.

The On-Course Checkpoint

For your next three rounds, track every miss inside 8 feet.

Write down:

• distance
• push or pull
• pace issue or no
• read issue or no

The checkpoint I want:

• at least two-thirds of your misses should still feel like they started on the intended line

If the ball is missing because of read or pace, fine. That is a different problem.

If the ball keeps starting left or right of where you aimed, then your practice needs more gate work and fewer random “feel” putts.

Where This Drill Fits in a Real Practice Session

If you have 20 minutes on the putting green:

1. Spend 5 minutes on speed with longer putts.
2. Spend 10 minutes on the 30-ball gate drill.
3. Spend 5 minutes on one-ball random putts from 4 to 8 feet.

That is a real session.

Not glamorous. Not Instagram putting-lab nonsense. Just useful.

Bottom Line

The 2-tee gate is one of the best putting drills in golf because it tells the truth immediately.

Use it with:

• the gate 12 to 18 inches in front of the ball
• about 1/4 inch total extra width
• a 30-ball ladder from 4, 6, and 8 feet
• and honest miss tracking

If you can clear the gate consistently, your start line is getting better. If you can clear the gate and hole enough of them, now you are building a putting stroke that actually travels to the course.

That is the whole point.

Image: Birdie Report