Consistently Putt Better In Golf, Tour Alignment Sticks Drill (Video) - Lesson by PGA Pro Pete Styles
Consistently Putt Better In Golf, Tour Alignment Sticks Drill (Video) - Lesson by PGA Pro Pete Styles

Here’s a great practice drill to help you grove a nice consistent putting stroke next time you are on the practice putting green or even if you’ve got a spare 10 minutes just at home. You can set yourself up to do this really good drill to gain a better understanding of a good consistent putting stroke. Firstly, I’ve chosen about a 10-foot putt maybe something like that, nothing with too much of a big swing, between six and 10 feet should be fine and I’ve placed my two clubs or my two alignments sticks here down on the ground. Firstly, I’m going to stand with my feet parallel to my first stick.

Now, this stick would actually be pointing around about nine to 12 inches left of the hole. It’s quite important you understand that one does not point at the target and likewise this one that I have placed just outside the line of my ball doesn’t point directly at the hole. It actually points just at the right lip of the hole if the putt was straight because it’s two inches away from the ball it points two inches right of center which is going to be the right lip.

I’d then go ahead and set up to my golf ball and I want to practice making some good strokes. So I’m just going to drop the ball out of the way for a second, set up here and practice my stroke. As you’re making good strokes here you should feel that the club follows pretty closely to the cane on the ground but it never actually crosses or touches the cane at all. It should run quite a straight line for a while and then as it gets more towards your right foot the club would actually just arch away from the cane slightly. It’s very difficult to keep the club perfectly on line as long as possible. It would actually be manipulating the club a little bit. You would have to start to lift your hands and arms up to keep the club perfectly on that line. So you would expect the club to running quite a straight line almost between your feet it’d be quite straight and then at the end of your swing on both sides it would start to curve.

So if you had a very short putt the club would be very much straight back and straight through. As your putt got longer the club would be straight during the middle section and then in a little bit, straight through the follow through and then in a little bit rather than the very end. So your putt does have a slight arch to each movement, it isn’t an aggressive in and out movement that would cause too many problems. The face would never be square. But likewise it is very difficult to manipulate that club perfectly on line and on plane the whole way. It would just wander off. So you can practice this at home. Get everything nicely lined up first and then try and take the club straight back and straight through on your shorter putt and as you go out more towards your 10, 15, 20 feet putt, the club would just start to wander in at the end of its curve. But make sure it never goes outside and crosses that outside cane, there will be no reason to ever lift the club up outside the line or push it across the line in the follow through. So if you get five or 10 minutes just to practice that at home or as a pre-round check up before you go on play, that’s a great putting drill to make sure your stroke is by on the line.

 2013-06-27

Here’s a great practice drill to help you grove a nice consistent putting stroke next time you are on the practice putting green or even if you’ve got a spare 10 minutes just at home. You can set yourself up to do this really good drill to gain a better understanding of a good consistent putting stroke. Firstly, I’ve chosen about a 10-foot putt maybe something like that, nothing with too much of a big swing, between six and 10 feet should be fine and I’ve placed my two clubs or my two alignments sticks here down on the ground. Firstly, I’m going to stand with my feet parallel to my first stick.

Now, this stick would actually be pointing around about nine to 12 inches left of the hole. It’s quite important you understand that one does not point at the target and likewise this one that I have placed just outside the line of my ball doesn’t point directly at the hole. It actually points just at the right lip of the hole if the putt was straight because it’s two inches away from the ball it points two inches right of center which is going to be the right lip.

I’d then go ahead and set up to my golf ball and I want to practice making some good strokes. So I’m just going to drop the ball out of the way for a second, set up here and practice my stroke. As you’re making good strokes here you should feel that the club follows pretty closely to the cane on the ground but it never actually crosses or touches the cane at all. It should run quite a straight line for a while and then as it gets more towards your right foot the club would actually just arch away from the cane slightly. It’s very difficult to keep the club perfectly on line as long as possible. It would actually be manipulating the club a little bit. You would have to start to lift your hands and arms up to keep the club perfectly on that line. So you would expect the club to running quite a straight line almost between your feet it’d be quite straight and then at the end of your swing on both sides it would start to curve.

So if you had a very short putt the club would be very much straight back and straight through. As your putt got longer the club would be straight during the middle section and then in a little bit, straight through the follow through and then in a little bit rather than the very end. So your putt does have a slight arch to each movement, it isn’t an aggressive in and out movement that would cause too many problems. The face would never be square. But likewise it is very difficult to manipulate that club perfectly on line and on plane the whole way. It would just wander off. So you can practice this at home. Get everything nicely lined up first and then try and take the club straight back and straight through on your shorter putt and as you go out more towards your 10, 15, 20 feet putt, the club would just start to wander in at the end of its curve. But make sure it never goes outside and crosses that outside cane, there will be no reason to ever lift the club up outside the line or push it across the line in the follow through. So if you get five or 10 minutes just to practice that at home or as a pre-round check up before you go on play, that’s a great putting drill to make sure your stroke is by on the line.