Putting Alignment Tips And Techniques

This is the Putting Alignment Lesson. This lesson is to show you how to aim your club properly. By aiming your club properly it will allow you to set up your body correctly so that you can roll your ball on line.

This is the shot that requires the most amount of accuracy. When we hit our driver we are trying to hit the fairway(20-40 yards wide). Irons shots are being aimed at the green(10-40 yards wide). The Putter...we are trying to get the ball in the hole(41/4 inches wide).

How we set up for our putts becomes extremely important to the result of the stroke we make. We could make a textbook perfect stroke, but if our shoulders are not aligned properly then it is very unlikely we are going to get the ball in the hole.

The Strings: High Tech Training Aids

• Take two 6 inch nails and tie a 10 foot piece of string to them.
• Find a flat path to the hole and stick the nail behind the hole and place the other so the cord is straight.
• The string that runs over the ball towards your target is called the target line. This is the line that you need to place your putter on. It is also the line that your shoulders must be parallel to.
• The string that runs over your toes is called your body line. If you are going to have a square stance then the body line string will be parallel to your target line string.
• This is a great way to practice because it helps you set up. You will also be able to see if you are rolling your ball along your target line.

The Square Stance

• This picture shows a square stance.
• My toes are parallel to the target line as are my knees and hips.
• Most importantly my shoulders are parallel to the target line. This means that I can swing the club back along the target line and then back along the target line on the follow through. Your club will always follow your shoulders unless you manipulate it on purpose.
• Notice that my club also sits straight(square) on the target line. It should be perpendicular to my target line.

There are some people who like to set up open to the target line. That is perfectly fine. There have been a number of great players who have set up this way. However...their shoulders all remained parallel to the target line.

The Open Stance

• Hips, feet, and knees are all pointing away from the target line.
• Shoulders are still square.
• Very important to keep shoulders square to your target line.
• If your shoulders are open, then your club will start to the right of the string on the way back, and finish way to the left of the string on the follow through. Following the same line as your shoulders.

The Closed Stance

• My toes, hips, and knees all point towards the target line.
• My shoulders are still square to the target line (parallel).
• If your shoulders are closed to the target line, meaning they point at the line like your hips and feet, then your club will travel too far inside the target line and you will most likely roll your ball to the right.
• Your club is still perpendicular to the target line.

All of these options are merely choices. The square stance is conventional, but also the simplest way of setting up to a putt. If open or closed is more comfortable make sure your SHOULDERS STAY SQUARE! Otherwise you will have a very hard time being consistent with your accuracy as your club will be moving sideways as it makes contact with the ball, instead of coming straight up from behind.

Thank you for reading the Alignment Lesson. If you would like to continue the Putting Lessons in order then please go to the Stroke Lesson next.

Click Here To Go To The Next Lesson In The Series

Good luck with your game. May you reach your golf goals sooner with the help of free-golf-lessons.com.

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