Putting Alignment

**marshalltaggart** · 09-09-2004

I need a little help in this area. One aspect of my game that keeps me from posting scores in the 70's consistently is putting.

Example:
Monday shot 81 (33 putts)
Friday before that shot 82 (34 putts)
Sunday before that shot 80 (32 putts)

Anyway you see where I'm going. The problem is I usually miss right (I'm right handed), I have had people tell me to aim more left but this sounds easier than it is. I just can't seem to align myself correctly no matter what I do even with countless hours of practice.

Can anyone help with this aggrevating issue?

Thanks

Marshall

**dorkman53** · 09-09-2004

I don't claim to be an expert, but a few things have helped my putting over the past year or so.
I went from an in-out-in stroke to a pendular, straight back, straight forward stroke. This has cut down on the number of putts I leave right and left. Important in this is preventing the wrists from breaking down and also avoiding lower body or head movement. The only "moving parts" would be the triangle of the shoulders/arms and the putter at the bottom of the triangle. (When I "peek" / look too soon where the ball is going, I tend to pull my putts left; your misses tend to be right, so that probably isn't a problem for you)
Before I even look at the putt from behind the ball, I look at the putt from perpendicular to the putt to survey the vertical component. Only in the context of where the putt is going up or down does the horizontal right/left break analysis make any sense.
I bought a putter with a LONG alignment aid, a Bobby Grace MOI. They have subsequently been bought out by MacGregor. For me, this is the best putter I've ever hit for ease of alignment. The line is nearly 4" long! I'd previously used mallet style and blade based putters, but the ease of lining up the putt with this really takes away the anxiety of where the putt is going after it is struck. Other putters with long alignement aids include the Hogan Big Ben and Baby Ben, the Voodoo, and now the Futura is finally putting real alignement lines on that club. (I never liked the vagueness of the 2 ball or older Futura alignment cues; a line is easier than a row of circles to estimate ball path.)
I hope something in this post will be of use to you. Obviously you are doing quite a bit right to be scoring in the low 80's. Good luck.

**Irishgolfer** · 09-09-2004

Originally Posted by marshalltaggart

I need a little help in this area. One aspect of my game that keeps me from posting scores in the 70's consistently is putting.

Example:
Monday shot 81 (33 putts)
Friday before that shot 82 (34 putts)
Sunday before that shot 80 (32 putts)

Anyway you see where I'm going. The problem is I usually miss right (I'm right handed), I have had people tell me to aim more left but this sounds easier than it is. I just can't seem to align myself correctly no matter what I do even with countless hours of practice.

Can anyone help with this aggrevating issue?

Thanks

Marshall

Marshall

Here's a few things perhaps you can work on. I agree, nothing is as frustrating as the flat stick not obeying orders....

Keeping the head steady is paramount to putting. When you miss right it may be a result of lifting your head early. Go to your practice green and try and get yourself a 10ft putt that is flat. Practice putting with your left eye closed (so you don't see the target). This will steady your head in no time. Then for a "walk on the wild side" try closing both eyes and feeling the putt. When you hit the putt, try and judge where the balls ends up depending on your alignment and quality of hit. Hit the putt blind and guess where it ends up. Build up a feel for putts that miss right, left etc. After 6 or 10 putts your body will start to sense when you are missing right and what is causing that. You will naturally compensate for that. It is a real trust thing, but you will find yourself getting into a groove. The point is not to hole the putt, but to correctly guess where the ball ends up. You have to trust yourself and be patient on this one but it does work.

If that fails to deliver and you want to get more technical try putting with a few clubs aligning you to the hole. Remember to align your feet parallel to the line rather than at the hole. Use a club to align your feet, a club to aligning your putting line. These clubs should run parallel (like a train track). Make sure that these are aligned properly by standing behind your putt and viewing the line. Get this wrong and the exercise is pointless. Then just hit some putts along that line. If you are still missing right, you may be cutting across the putt.

Good luck.

**jc@bg** · 09-09-2004

Marshall,

Irish said something at the end about possibly "cutting" your putts. My wife is a fair golfer who consistently scores in the high 80s despite having trouble averaging more than 140 yards per shot. She's a better chipper than I am (I usually score in the 70s) but I'm a better putter, simply because she "cuts" lots of her putts. Visually, she can't see when her putter face is 5 degrees or more open, so I watch carefully for her when she has a fast downhill slider with a break to the right. With her customary 5* open putter face, even a putt of 3 or 4 feet will take off fast to the right. This tendency is further complicated, of course, because after she misses a number of putts to the right in a round, she subconsciously starts pulling putts hard to the left.

Since she mostly plays golf only when I'm around, I can watch for the open putter face and help her to keep it more square. When the clubface is square, she hits the putt straighter (more on-line). She never practices, but one practice aid I've heard touted for checking squareness of the putter face to the target line is practicing in front of a ground-level mirror. For some reason, a putter face that looks square from where you're standing can be seen as clearly "open" (pointing to the right) in a mirror. However, an open clubface is just one way to cut a putt. An out-to-in (slicer's) club path in the putting stroke also imparts cut-spin on the ball. If you are BOTH out-to-in and have an open putter face, ouch! I think Dave Pelz's book claims that both kinds of cut in one stroke squares the variation from true. You can check your swingpath (at least to see if you're out-to-in) by placing a 2x4 outside your club path and parallel to the target line. If you take it back outside, you'll hit the 2/4. Some putting experts (Pelz among them) claim that an inside-square-inside putter path works for a lot of putters, but only the very talented are able to putt consistently with a stroke that is outside the line at any point.

My 2 cents. -- JC

Originally Posted by Irishgolfer

Marshall

Here's a few things perhaps you can work on. I agree, nothing is as frustrating as the flat stick not obeying orders....

Keeping the head steady is paramount to putting. When you miss right it may be a result of lifting your head early. Go to your practice green and try and get yourself a 10ft putt that is flat. Practice putting with your left eye closed (so you don't see the target). This will steady your head in no time. Then for a "walk on the wild side" try closing both eyes and feeling the putt. When you hit the putt, try and judge where the balls ends up depending on your alignment and quality of hit. Hit the putt blind and guess where it ends up. Build up a feel for putts that miss right, left etc. After 6 or 10 putts your body will start to sense when you are missing right and what is causing that. You will naturally compensate for that. It is a real trust thing, but you will find yourself getting into a groove. The point is not to hole the putt, but to correctly guess where the ball ends up. You have to trust yourself and be patient on this one but it does work.

If that fails to deliver and you want to get more technical try putting with a few clubs aligning you to the hole. Remember to align your feet parallel to the line rather than at the hole. Use a club to align your feet, a club to aligning your putting line. These clubs should run parallel (like a train track). Make sure that these are aligned properly by standing behind your putt and viewing the line. Get this wrong and the exercise is pointless. Then just hit some putts along that line. If you are still missing right, you may be cutting across the putt.

Good luck.