Dave Pelz, a short-game guru, thought that “never up, never in” wasn’t good enough. He contended, with data to back it up, that more putts dropped if they had enough pace to go 17 inches past the hole.

Pelz had data that he argued showed that the impact of even minimal slope at the hole on a putt that was dying at the hole, caused a high number of putts to just miss. It’s worth testing that out yourself. Learn from what you see. 

Find a hole with some slide slope, and place a couple of tees 17 inches behind the hole. Now take 10 golf balls and putt, from at least 8 yards, with the intention of reaching the hole but stopping about 17 inches behind if you miss.

Can you see how putts that are going to go 17 inches past the hole, hold their line better? Do you sink more that drop positively into the hole at this pace, or do you hole more with a pace that literally allows the ball to die into the hole? 

This is a great practice drill. You can move on to taking putts at different holes from different distances between 8 and 15 yards. Three skills you’re looking to improve:

Reading the line
Judging the pace
Controlling pace with your stroke