A trip to your local miniature Putt golf course might seem like nothing more than a fun family trip. Or could it do more harm than good? Playing a round of miniature golf offers some great improvement opportunities for the golfer and presents some challenges for the serious golfer.
How to improve your putt in miniature golf
Hitting putts around tunnels, obstacles and over bridges seems to have little to do with how golf greens are played, but many of the skills are transferable. Playing mini Putt Golf allows you to improve some valuable skills that you can apply to the regular game of golf. Successfully overcoming all these obstacles on the mini golf course requires some strategy. You need to analyze the slope and speed of the green, the angle of attack and the best path around obstacles. As you plan to bounce the ball off a bridge, circle a flagpole, or drive through a miniature castle, your mind will be busy deciding on direction, line, speed, and pace. You also need to make sure you’re making clean, solid contact with the ball and executing your planned strategy.
Impact of mini golf on putting
Avid golfers sometimes worry that mini Putt Golf will ruin their form or interfere with their normal game, and there’s a real reason for that. The conditions on a miniature golf course are so different from a real golf course that they cannot even replicate the conditions of a regular golf course. The speed of artificial grass is very different from real grass. The cheap putters and balls you see on miniature golf courses are far inferior in quality to your average putter and regular golf balls. Also, the weight of a miniature golf club is significantly different than a putter.
All of these differences mean that techniques need to be adjusted when playing the two different forms of golf. The risk is that you need to change your rhythm, tempo, swing, and reading (sometimes without realizing it). When you return to the golf course, your usual putt may be flying somewhere before you know it.
Result
In short, unless minigolf is you’re only putting practice session, it probably won’t affect your game much. You should be able to convert from one format to another. Also, practice putting on the regular green regularly. It works both ways. The better you can play the golf course, the better you will be at miniature golf. Pay attention to your technique and try to apply some of the skills you learned in mini golf to your regular game. Get it right, the game of golf benefits from any practice – even miniature golf. Besides, it’s just fun.
