Pre-round putting routine for gauging speed?

I read this somewhere and in general, works well.
Find a flat spot on putting green. Take several balls and make a "regular/no thinking stroke." All balls should go about the same distance. Pace off the distance and you will get a decent gauge of speed per step. Most courses are at about 6-7 paces.

I have a default tempo and so I putt 3 at that tempo then walk it off to get a distance. Do that for the up/down/flat.

I was listening to one of my favorite club builder podcasts snd he said this during interview with A friend of his who just played at the US open. He said he always walks off his putts to measure the paces. I never once thought of doing that. I did it all by feel. So when i look behind the hole (you can do on the practice green) i pace off how far my call is away from the hole. That way it isn’t a fabrication of some sort of feel in my head. I can relate the feel to a species number or pace. Worked for me.

I don’t know that this is what you looking for but years ago my dad and I were at some thing where David toms was answering questions. My dad asked pretty much what you asked. Playing different courses all the time how do you practice for speed etc. he said he spends most of his time practicing 10ft and in. Hits a few long putts to get a feel for speed and that’s it. Said if he’s making most everything inside 10ft he’s going to have a good week. And speed doesn’t need to be perfect if he’s on with short putts. Always thought that was cool thinking

A drill I like is to take whatever distance you want. Let’s just say 15 and 30 feet. Put a ball or mark at 15 and 30 ft. First putt you want to hit just beyond the 15ft mark. And each putt you want to hit a little longer than the previous until 30 feet. See how many putts you can do in that range. Really good for dialing in speed.

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Pre-round putting routine

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1. Open first Miller Lite can
2. Walk to the practice area
3. Putt for 10 minutes
4. Walk back to cart
5. Open next Miller Lite can on the way to first tee box.

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First, if you don’t have a consistent set up this won’t help.

Pace of 4’, 8’ and 12’

Set feet right at shoulder width at the 4’ spot

Take putting stroke that is from inside ankle bone to inside ankle bone. - you should get a perfect 4’ distance on avg to fast greens (10 - 12 stimp)

8’ same set up and putting stroke from big toe to big toe

12’ same set up and stroke from middle of toes to middle of toes

So how does this translate? If these strokes come up short, it is either a slower green speed or into the grain. Adjust you stroke according to uphill/downhill.

If these strokes run past then the opposite applies.

The key is to set up the same and get to know these point to point strokes and the distance they produce.

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I just use an arm lock putter and get buckets

Consider this method stolen by me. Huge thanks.

My routine is to simply ask a couple of people how accurate the practice greens are to the course. This helps a bit.

I have started using the following method and it has worked well for me and doesn’t take much time. I will pick a spot on the green in a relatively flat area about 20’ to 30’ away. I only use two balls. I make my stroke and before I look up I predict whether it will be short, long, or on the money (within a 1’ circle). Then I look up and see. Repeat w second ball.

Depending on time I will do this in four directions and sometimes a little longer distance if I know the greens could result in some really long lag putts.

Finally I will take the balls and practice making putts from 2-3’ away with the only goal being not to watch the putt/keep head down and hear the putt go in or see it out of peripheral vision. I’ll do that for maybe 4-6 putts.

I don’t worry about whether I’m hitting putts on line or not because I’ve already worked on my stroke off the course and trust it.

That shite makes my head hurt. Drink beer and make putts