How to aim while putting?

[GolfLove]

What are your techniques? I actually don't aim, I just make a few practice shots and hit it, because I don't actually have an idea how to aim....

[nuck81]

like reading the green and lining up where you want to hit with the putter?

My biggest problem is distance. I either leave it way short or hit it so far past the cup I end up having to tee up again...

[GolfLove]

like reading the green and lining up where you want to hit with the putter?

I don't really have problem with distance, just aim...

[jhawker23]

I don't really have problem with distance, just aim...

I aim my putts like I aim my other shots. I determine the apex of the break, find a spot 8 - 12 inches in front of the ball while standing about 4 ft behind the ball looking down the line of the apex. Sit the putter face on the line, then square up my body to the putter.

[Jay-Bird]

Anyone having any putting problems should buy, rent or download ( from iTunes - and pay for it) Putting Out of Your Mind by Bob Rotella. I've read it, but the audio version is so much better. It's read by Rotella himself and he has a very calmingly convincing way of sharing his wisdom. And the whole thing takes just over an hour. - Perfect for practice on the putting green with the iPod!

[zeg]

I determine the apex of the break, find a spot 8 - 12 inches in front of the ball while standing about 4 ft behind the ball looking down the line of the apex.

Aiming your line at the apex of the break will cause you to putt low every time. See here:

http://thesandtrap.com/forum/threads...=advice+i+hate Personally, for most putts I stand behind the ball and choose an aim point and focus on seeing the line from the ball to that point. Then I take my stance beside the ball and adjust until it feels right. I sometimes toy with setting my putter behind the ball to mark the line while I'm behind it, then lining my feet up with that, and finally turning the putter 90 degrees to putting position. But my eye for aiming from normal putting position is pretty good. For very long putts, well, I mostly just kinda close my eyes and hope for the best.

[Zeph]

As I do with any shot on the course.

Stand behind the ball, looking at my line, picking an intermediate target a couple of inches in front of the ball and putt through that.

[ks8829]

What do you do for 3 - 5 footers? How many putts per round?

I can not aim the club when I am at my set up just before I putt, so what I do is find my line and draw a line with my putter from the hole pass my ball and then I drop my blade putter so that it is on the line. I keep the putter on the ground and walk to my set up and then I will lift my club and put it perpendicular to the target line and that is how I find my line, it works for me. I do this pre-shot routine for all my putts and infact I do this same set up for my irons and even my driver as a pre-shot routine.

[GolfLove]

What do you do for 3 - 5 footers? How many putts per round?

I actually don't know how many putts per round... Maybe about 40, more or less. But the problem is that from the beginning of the put the ball is (sometimes) not on the line to the hole. Sometimes it is, but I want it always to be.

Because of that it happens in 1/4-5 cases that I miss 1 meter puts.

[granitegolf]

What are your techniques? I actually don't aim, I just make a few practice shots and hit it, because I don't actually have an idea how to aim....

I use the Scotty Ball Tool.

[Zeph]

[GolfLove]

Thanks for the pic.

[Zeph]

If I lose focus on the speed, I usually don't get it right. I have to set up at address, be 100% confident my line is right and then only think about the speed. I've already aligned body and club, so I should not have to think about that anymore. It's no different than when hitting a driver. Once I'm all set up, I can't stand there wondering where I should aim the club face. I notice it right away when I don't trust the alignment that my speed is off.

I've no chance of aiming the putter while I'm standing at address, by just looking at the hole and slope. I need an intermediate target which I've found while looking at the putt from behind the ball or at the other side. I often see the putt break in one direction from one side, and the other from the other side. If I change my alignment and aim while standing over the ball, because I don't trust it, I always miss. After looking at the putt from both sides, I know where to aim it, adjusting while standing over the ball never works. Unfortunately, I sometimes don't trust the line and change the aim. The ball never gets in the hole that way.

[dhanson]

At the beginning of this year, I was giving away a lot of strokes due to my putting. I struggled with both my line (not really push/pulls, just poor alignment) and distance. I did a lot of different things, including trying different grips (baseball, overlap, overhand, "claw") and different putting drills on the practice green. Nothing was really working, so I just went back to my same traditional grip. One round, I really focused on lining up the line on my ball and committing to that line. That also helped me get my body aligned well. That same round, I stopped taking any practice swings and just trusted my feel, which really helped with distance control, something I noticed Anthony Kim doing (others probably do it, too).
The thing that helped my alignment most was using the line on the ball and picking a line and sticking with it. Some people are prone to push/pulls because they second guess their line in their backswing and try to compensate through their swing.

If the line on the ball alone doesn't help, pick up the Scotty Cameron ball tool. Only downside is the pricetag. $44 for a piece of metal...

[Woters]

If you are struggling with alignment & aiming during your putting pick up one of these....



Most pros use a gadget like this to put a straight line on the ball they can line up directly to where they want the ball to go, really really helps straight putts, helps after a while on breakers...hope this helps.

[sean_miller]

If the line on the ball alone doesn't help, pick up the Scotty Cameron ball tool. Only downside is the pricetag. $44 for a piece of metal...

I just went away from making a line on the ball or using the trademark/label. All I'll say is, I'm not putting any worse. Since you have to remove the Scotty tool before putting, what does it do that a coin can't?

[Meddle]

For some reason, aiming for a point a couple inches in front of the ball doesn't work for me. For long putts I'll aim half way there, for shorter putts (<10 ft) I'll aim hole high. I look at the angle of the face of my putter relative to the line I want to put it on and make sure it's perpendicular while I'm behind the ball. After I line up the putt, I no longer think about it, I totally focus on speed.

[deronsizemore]

I line up the "Titleist prov1 x" on the side of my golf ball with my intended line. I then just try to get putter face and body square to that and trust it. Nine times out of ten, once I'm over the ball I don't feel lined up right, but if I just allow myself to trust it, I'm usually better off.