Start the Ball Online with the Gate Drill

If you want to become a better putter, one of the fastest gains you can make is improving your ability to start the ball on your intended line. This gate drill trains exactly that. It also gives you immediate feedback on whether you are striking the putt from the center of the putter face. When your start line and strike quality improve together, your speed control and green reading become much more reliable. This is a simple drill, but it is one of the best ways to sharpen your stroke and clean up face control through impact.

How the Drill Works

The setup is straightforward. You place two tees in the ground just outside the width of your putter head, creating a narrow gate. The space should be tight enough that your putter can pass through cleanly only if the stroke stays centered. If the putter moves too far out toward the toe or too far in toward the heel, it will clip one of the tees.

This does two important things:

It encourages a more stable, centered stroke path through impact.
It helps you deliver the sweet spot to the ball more consistently.

To make the drill even more precise, use a third tee as your target instead of a hole. Place that tee about a foot in front of the ball on a flat section of green. Your goal is to roll the putt directly into the center of that tee. If the ball starts perfectly on line, it will strike the tee squarely and kick straight back toward you. If the ball starts slightly left or right, the rebound will tell you immediately which side you missed.

That is what makes the target tee so valuable. A hole is relatively large, so it can hide small errors in your start line. A tee is much smaller, so it gives you much cleaner feedback. The farther away you place the target tee, the more demanding the drill becomes.

Step-by-Step

Find a flat putt. Choose a section of the practice green with as little break as possible. This drill is about start line, so you want the surface to interfere as little as possible.
Set the gate around your putter head. Place two tees in the ground just outside the heel and toe of the putter. Leave only a small amount of room on each side so the putter can move through the gate without touching the tees.
Position the ball just ahead of the gate. The ball should sit in front of the two tees so your putter travels through the gate and then into impact.
Place a target tee in front of the ball. Start with the tee about one foot away. This gives you a very clear reference for whether the ball is launching on line.
Go through your normal setup. Aim the putter face, set your body, and build your usual posture. Treat it like a real putt rather than an artificial drill motion.
Make your stroke and send the putter through the gate. Your objective is to swing the putter cleanly between the tees and roll the ball directly into the front tee.
Read the feedback. If the putter hits either side of the gate, your path or strike location was off. If the ball glances off the target tee to one side, your face angle or start line was off. If it hits the tee squarely and comes back toward you, that is the ideal result.
Increase the challenge gradually. Once you can hit the front tee consistently from one foot away, move the target tee farther out. As the distance increases, your face control has to become even more precise.

What You Should Feel

A good rep in this drill should feel compact, centered, and quiet. You are not trying to manipulate the putter through the gate. Instead, you want the stroke to feel naturally balanced so the putter head returns to the ball without wobbling or excessive hand action.

Key sensations

The putter head stays centered as it moves through impact.
The face feels square to your intended start line, not rotating open or closed at the last moment.
Contact feels solid, with the ball coming off the sweet spot rather than the heel or toe.
The ball starts where the face is aimed, instead of being saved by the size of the hole.

Checkpoints

The putter passes through the gate without touching either tee.
The strike feels centered and sounds consistent.
The ball rolls end-over-end toward the target tee.
The ball hits the target tee squarely enough to rebound back toward you.

If you are doing the drill well, the feedback should become very predictable. The strike will feel cleaner, and the ball will begin on line with much less effort.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Making the gate too wide: If there is too much room around the putter head, the drill loses its value. Keep it narrow enough to demand precision.
Practicing on too much slope: A breaking putt can make a good start line look bad or a poor one look acceptable. Use the flattest surface you can find.
Aiming at a hole instead of a tee: A hole is a less exact target. The front tee gives you much clearer feedback on whether the ball truly started online.
Forcing the stroke to stay straight: The goal is not to steer the putter rigidly with your hands. You want a stable, repeatable motion that naturally returns the face square.
Ignoring strike quality: If you are clipping the ball off the heel or toe, your start line will suffer. Pay attention to both the gate and the target tee.
Moving the target too far away too soon: Start close, build success, then increase the difficulty.

How This Fits Your Swing

This drill may look simple, but it connects to the bigger picture of putting performance. A putt only goes in consistently when three things work together:

You read the green correctly
You start the ball on your intended line
You control the pace

If your start line is unreliable, it becomes very difficult to judge whether a miss came from a poor read, poor speed, or a poor stroke. This drill helps isolate the stroke piece. Once you know you can start the ball where you intend and strike it solidly, you can evaluate your green reading and pace with much more confidence.

It also reinforces an important truth about putting: the putter face at impact has the biggest influence on where the ball starts. The gate helps organize the motion of the putter head, while the target tee tells you whether the face was delivered correctly. Used together, they give you a simple but powerful way to refine your mechanics and improve your performance on the course.

Work on this drill regularly, and you will build a stroke that is more centered, more repeatable, and much better at sending the ball down your intended line.