How To Align Your Putts
Marking your golf ball to properly align your putts…
Most everyone who’s ever played the game of golf, has at some point been plagued with inconsistent putting, one round you’re making everything inside 10’ – hey I don’t know about you but that saves a lot of strokes – then the next round you can’t buy a 2 footer.
You may be suffering from pulled putts, pushed putts, deceleration at impact, your head moves up and out of the putt and more commonly poor alignment. Whats the cause of all this inconsistency?
One of the most common reasons is that your eyes are screwin’ with you.
Don’t just walk up to the putt and make your stroke, I mean really, give yourself a chance…you wouldn’t shoot a rifle holding it off to the side, (you want to be looking right down the barrel). So, please, use this putting tip, line up every putt from behind, except the one’s hanging on the lip.
Look, when you properly align every putt you’ll have more opportunities to make birdie, save par and drop some serious strokes from your game. Use some simple geometry and let it work for you.
Marking Your Golf Ball For Better Putting
I don’t know how many times I’ve golfed with someone who doesn’t take advantage of marking their ball. Its just a simple straight line, maybe an inch or so long.
If you watch any golf on T.V. you’ll see roughly 100% (that’s right 100%) of the pros on tour doing this.
I wish I could yell at you from the top of my lungs if you’re not doing it, start NOW!
There are 2 –3 companies selling little line-em- up devices you can use (like the top picture on the right).
Or you can take
that plastic ring from a Gatorade bottle –slide it around the equator of the ball and mark it (bottom right picture).
Click the link to see a video of this free golf ball marking trick.
If you’re cheap like me, or if you have a steady hand –just draw a line on it– hopefully it doesn’t look like a mountain road on a map.
Using a Line To Line Up Your Putts
So you now have a line on your golf ball…
You’re on the green, mark your ball with a coin or ballmarker.
You’ve read your putt – a 10 footer with a slight right to left break – 3 balls outside the cup.
With the coin still on the green put the ball on the green with your line aiming at that spot 3 balls outside the cup.
Pick up your marker – now align yourself to the ball – use that line on the top of your putter face to make sure the 2 lines line up, so the putter face is perpendicular to that line.
It might not look correct – but don’t make any changes now. Trust it and make a good solid stroke.
This tip in and of itself will cut at least 5–8 strokes off your game…remember don’t get lazy -line up your putts…Just Do It!