Lining Up Putts

[FlopShotArtist]

I've always had a tough time lining up my feet/body to the cup. My dad always says "Your body is pointing too far the right/left." I'll end up compensating for it by opening/closing my club face naturally before I hit the ball and hit it fine, but I'd like to be lined up properly.

Any easy way to tell if my feet are lined up with the pin?

Thanks.

[Richie3Jack]

Technically you want the feet pointing parallel and to the left of the cup. If your feet are pointed at the cup, that is actually being aligned too far to the right.

So all you have to do is go to the practice green and lineup to the ball. Then place a club down where your feet. Step back and look and see if the club is parallel to the cup.

That being said, feet alignment isn't all that crucial. It's more important to read the putt correctly, then get the putter aligned and taking the proper putting stroke.




3JACK

[FlopShotArtist]

  Richie3Jack said:

Technically you want the feet pointing parallel and to the left of the cup. If your feet are pointed at the cup, that is actually being aligned too far to the right.

That's what I meant...

I just never feel comfortable while putting, because I always seem to be targeting the empty green.

[Dent]

  Richie3Jack said:

Technically you want the feet pointing parallel and to the left of the cup. If your feet are pointed at the cup, that is actually being aligned too far to the right.

Simple as that, there really isn't any other way to put it.

[CG031]

Yeah I pulled about five putts today, so I got a new putter and I seem to be making a "pure"er stroke.

[Dent]

  CG031 said:

Yeah I pulled about five putts today, so I got a new putter and I seem to be making a "pure"er stroke.

and I can't chip or putt so I got a new putter and a new wedge today

[DavidFehertysBike]

I woundt worry about it too much, either. What I do is i pick a spot about 6 inches in front of my ball where i want it to start ( a discolored peice of grass, anything) and sqaure up to that mark. My putting is up and down just like anyone elses, but that method takes alot of the guess work out of putting for me as far as alignment goes.

[CG031]

  Dent said:

and I can't chip or putt so I got a new putter and a new wedge today

Dent - this was a two week issue. lol. and the putter was 29.99.

[rubbery]

Something I read that helped me right away was to imagine your feet and putter like railroad tracks where the imaginary rail made by your feet points left of the target line and the rail made by the putter goes straight down it.

[FlopShotArtist]

  rubbery said:

Something I read that helped me right away was to imagine your feet and putter like railroad tracks where the imaginary rail made by your feet points left of the target line and the rail made by the putter goes straight down it.

LOL, ok, I'll try that next time I go to the practice green...which will be before my round on Sat.

[Cizzle]

Your feet can be pointing any which way you want. What you need is for your shoulders to be parallel to your target line. Just make sure both your forearms and even, and that your left is not sticking further out, and same with your right.

[chingali]

If you want to get a feel for setting up square with your putter here's a simple and foolproof method.

Get yourself a couple of old shafts (or thin strips of wood) and lay them parallel to the hole and a few inches wider than your putterhead. Put your putter in between them and it is dead easy to square it up. Then put your feet an equal distance from the inside shaft and everything is square, it can't be anything else.

Try holing 3 footers using this method and you will hole hundreds in a row, it's not bad for instilling confidence!

[marpr]

I think that whole 'parallel' alignment ideal is a simple (and easy to say) as the old 'keep your head down' ideal.

if you view a cross section of all the pro's (ie the best putters in the world) alignment > you would be very suprised at the variation.

i would stick with what stance best works for you to keep that club face square at impact (what we all crave to perfect ).

i personally am a bit open. i feel that it allows my swing/top body to be a lot more stable throughout the putting swing.

just my opinion

[localgolfer808]

make a straight line on the ball and use that to point towards the hole. Now set your feet parallel from it. that should help

[NBGC]

Not sure if this is what you're looking for, but this is how I learned to line up for putts when I started.

I started with 3-5ft straight putts to learn how to hit the ball straight, get comfortable with alignment, stroke, etc. It's hard enough to do all the "proper" putting routines but when you're not even aimed at the hole it makes you change the wrong things.

I used a chalk line, can get it at home depot, but make sure your practice green allows you to use it, if not, use white thread and 2 tee's. Make a straight line with the chalk or thread from your starting area thru the center of the cup. Also make sure that the putt is flat, with no break so all you need to worry about is a consistant stroke and you can gauge how far to bring your putter back for diff distances with the same tempo.

Obviously, after you get a feel for the line and range, move your start point back and play around. After you have a good feeling for the line, try another hole w/o the guidelines to ensure you have a feeling for the line and stroke, etc. After you get a feel for straight putts to the center of the hole, try hitting left/right edges at those distances.

I've also used this to work on breaks, make your straight line to hole on a break, then aim left or right of hole to get a feeling for how much slope breaks and distance/speed control.

There are hundreds of methods out there, I'm sure mine isn't unique or even that I came up up with it, just something I thought up when I decided I wanted to make myself a consistant putter. This method really helped me with putter and stance alignment since I can already see the line and line my putter square at address. IMHO, if you can putt the ball straight 10-15ft consistantly, it doesn't matter if your stance/stroke is unconventional. Another HUGE tip that I learned is always keep your head down. I had to fight the urge to watch the ball after I hit it to see if I hit it online. Once I got to the point to trust my alignment and line, I kept my head down and watched the impact area til I heard the ball hit the cup. Just my 2cents.