Instruction
7 techniques to improve your putting alignment
Aiming a golf club to your target, in this case the putter, is like shooting a gun while looking at the barrel from the side. It would be so much easier if we could putt side-saddle like Sam Snead did. The rules of golf prohibit such action, however, so we’re left to find effective ways to align ourselves on the greens that abide by the USGA rules.
In my studio at Vidanta in Puerto Vallarta, I utilize the SAM PuttLab, which measures more than 20 different putting factors. With it, I’ve seen first-hand just how difficult it is to align the putter. And it’s not just average golfers. My studies have shown that even PGA Tour players struggle to aim the putter exactly where they intend.
So what chance does the average golfer have? With the 7 techniques I write about below, a much better chance than he or she does now.
Before we get to the techniques, I want to offer a SAM PuttLab screenshot from one of the better putters on the PGA Tour. Note that this player consistently aims the putter 2.5 degrees to the right of his intended target. His setup necessitates a change in face alignment on the way back and through impact in order to begin the ball in the correct direction.
Touring professionals have spent years honing and ingraining repeatable strokes, and it may not be best for them to change the way they’ve been putting. They’ve earned their stripes, so as long as they return the putter to a position at impact that starts the ball on their intended line, where they initially aim can be of little consequence.
Amateurs, on the other hand, should work to limit the amount of manipulations in their strokes. This will give them the best chance possible to start the ball on their intended line.
Ready to give it a shot? Here are my 7 best techniques to improve your putting alignment.
Put a line on your ball
It’s easy to understand why drawing a line on your ball and aiming it from behind can help your putting alignment. As we mentioned before, it’s easier to aim from behind the barrel than beside it. If you watch golf closely on television, you’ll notice a majority of top PGA Tour players use a line on their golf ball for this purpose.
Use a putter with a line
The more lines you have perpendicular to the bottom of the putter face, the easier it will be to line up correctly. Some people prefer one line, while others prefer multiple lines. Whatever you’re preference, there’s no question that the majority of golfers will aim their putter better if it has a line on it.
Use other clubs to form railroad tracks
As with your long game, placing a few clubs on the ground will help you to “see” what square, open, and closed looks like in relation to your target will help your alignment. Again, you don’t have to be perfectly aligned, but if you think you are lined up one way (say, opened), but are actually lined up another (say, closed), I can guarantee you’ll run into trouble.
Audit your right-hand grip
For whatever reason, I commonly see people’s right hand too much “on top” of the grip as shown in this photo. Remember, whenever your right hand is in opposition with your left hand, poor alignment will generally follow.
Make sure your shoulders are square
Use a club under your armpits, like I’m demonstrating above, to see where your shoulders are in relation to your feet and target line. Open or closed shoulders are an issue that are usually affected by your grip.
Be wary: Golfers with left-hand low grips tend to have closed shoulders at address, while golfers who use the traditional, right-hand low putter grip tend to have opened shoulders.
Monitor your right forearm
If the right forearm rides too high then you’ll tend to be too open to your target during your setup. Make sure your right forearm is in line with the club shaft and the left forearm at address. This will increase your odds of aiming where you want to aim more consistently.
Set up while looking at the hole and trust
When all else fails, just look at the hole, set your putter down, and fire. You’ll be aligned better than you think.
The LPGA Tour is kicking off its 2026 season this week at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club in Orlando, and the pros are dealing with something most Florida golfers rarely face: freezing temperatures.
“It’s colder here than in the UK at the minute, which is a first,” said England’s Charley Hull during Wednesday’s media day at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions.
Even Lydia Ko, who lives at Lake Nona, seemed surprised by the cold snap. “We’re pretty much getting to below zero in celsius here, which maybe in other parts of the country they would be thankful, but when you’re in Florida it is a little bit of a surprise,” she said.
If the world’s best players are adjusting their games for cold weather, recreational golfers should, too. Here’s how to play smart when the mercury drops.
Understand What Cold Does to Your Game
Before you change anything, you need to know what you’re fighting against. Cold air is denser than warm air, which means your ball won’t fly as far. Period.
Hull noticed this immediately during practice rounds at Lake Nona. She mentioned hitting a gap wedge into the 18th hole during a previous win but needing a 4-iron during Tuesday’s practice round. That’s a difference of four or five clubs for the same shot.
Action item: Expect to lose 5-10 yards on every club in your bag when temperatures dip below 50 degrees. Plan accordingly and don’t be stubborn about club selection.
Layer Up Without Restricting Your Swing
Hull admitted she wore three pairs of pants during practice. While that might be extreme for most of us, staying warm is critical to playing well in cold conditions.
Your muscles need warmth to function properly. When you’re cold, your body tightens up and your swing gets shorter and faster. Neither of those things help you hit good golf shots.
Action item: Wear multiple thin layers instead of one bulky jacket. Look for golf-specific cold weather gear that stretches with your swing. Keep hand warmers in your pockets between shots. And don’t forget a good hat because you lose significant body heat through your head.
Take More Club Than You Think You Need
This is where ego gets in the way of good scores. When it’s cold, the ball doesn’t compress as well off the clubface. Combined with denser air, you’re looking at serious distance loss.
The pros at Lake Nona are dealing with a course that measures 6,642 yards but plays much longer this week. If they’re adjusting, you should too.
Action item: Take at least one extra club on every approach shot. In temperatures below 40 degrees, consider taking two extra clubs. It’s better to fly the ball to the back of the green than to come up short in a bunker.
Adjust Your Expectations on the Greens
Cold weather affects putting in ways most golfers don’t consider. The ball is harder and doesn’t roll as smoothly. Your hands are cold, making it harder to feel the putter. And if there’s any moisture on the greens, they’ll be slower than normal.
Ko mentioned that she still sometimes reads the greens wrong at Lake Nona despite being a member for years. Cold weather makes that challenge even tougher.
Action item: Hit putts more firmly than usual. The ball needs extra speed to hold its line on cold greens. Take a few extra practice strokes to get a feel for the speed before you putt.
Embrace the Mental Challenge
Hull said something interesting about cold weather golf: “I like the mental toughness of it.”
That’s the right attitude. Everyone on the course is dealing with the same conditions. The player who stays patient and doesn’t get frustrated by the extra difficulty will come out ahead.
Action item: Lower your expectations by a few strokes. If you normally shoot 85, accept that 90 might be a good score in 40-degree weather. Focus on solid contact and smart decisions rather than perfect shots.
Warm Up Longer and Smarter
This might be the most important tip of all. Cold muscles are tight muscles, and tight muscles get injured easily.
World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul revealed she’s been protecting a wrist injury that bothered her late last season. Cold weather makes those kinds of injuries more likely if you don’t prepare properly.
Action item: Spend at least 20 minutes warming up before your round. Start with stretching, then hit easy wedge shots before working up to your driver. Keep moving between shots on the course to maintain body heat and flexibility.
The pros at Lake Nona this week will adapt and compete at the highest level despite the cold. You can do the same at your local course by following these tips and keeping a positive attitude.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “Playing Through” now on R.org, RG.org’s partner site, each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more tips!
Brooks Koepka is back on the PGA Tour, and whether you love him or hate him, the guy knows how to win when it matters. After his LIV Golf stint, the five-time major champion returns this week at the Farmers Insurance Open.
What makes Koepka fascinating? He doesn’t fit the mold. His swing isn’t textbook. He doesn’t obsess over mechanics. Yet he’s won three PGA Championships and two U.S. Opens, regularly making it look easier than guys with prettier swings.
So, what can average golfers learn from someone who treats the game so differently? Quite a bit.
Stop Overthinking Every Shot
Koepka describes his approach as “reactionary” rather than mechanical. While most tour pros grind over swing thoughts, Brooks sees the target and hits it. No mental checklist.
This might be the most valuable lesson for weekend golfers who’ve watched too many YouTube swing videos.
How to actually do this:
On the range, hit five balls where you stare at the target for three seconds prior to addressing the ball. Don’t think about grip or stance. Just burn that target into your brain. You’ll be shocked at how pure you hit it when your brain focuses on where the ball is going instead of how you’re swinging.
Next time you play, give yourself a rule: Once you pull the club, you’ve got 15 seconds to hit. Koepka is one of the fastest players on tour because he doesn’t give his brain time to sabotage him.
If you feel tension in your hands at address, you’re trying to control too much. Koepka’s grip pressure is famously light. Loosen up until the club almost feels like it might slip, then add just enough pressure to hold on. That’s your swing thought: soft hands, see the target.
This approach works better under pressure. When you’re standing over that shot with water left and OB right, the last thing you need is a mental checklist. See it, feel it, hit it.
Play to Your Strengths (Even If They’re Not Pretty)
Koepka uses a strong grip that wouldn’t pass muster in some teaching circles. But he’s built his game around what works for him, elite driving distance and recovery skills. He doesn’t try to be someone he’s not.
Here’s how to build your game like Brooks:
Look at your last five rounds and figure out where you’re actually gaining strokes. Bombing it off the tee, but can’t hit greens? Lean into it. Play courses where distance matters more than precision. On tight holes, grip down on your 3-wood instead of trying to thread a driver through a keyhole you’ll miss seven times out of ten.
Koepka knows he can scramble, so he’s not afraid to miss greens. If you’re deadly from 50 to 75 yards, start leaving yourself those distances on the par 5’s instead of going for them in two every time.
Know when to take your medicine. Koepka in the trees at the PGA? He’s punching out to 100 yards, not trying to bend a 6-iron around three oaks. You’re in the rough with a flyer lie and water short? Hit your 8-iron to the middle and move on. That’s not playing scared, that’s playing smart.
Save Your Best for When It Counts
Here’s a wild stat: Koepka’s putting average in majors is often more than a full stroke better per round than in regular events. He elevates when pressure is highest.
How does an amateur tap into that gear? It’s not about trying harder, it’s about caring differently.
Here’s what actually works:
Decide which rounds matter to you. Club championship? Member-guest? That annual trip with college buddies? Circle those dates and treat them differently. Koepka doesn’t care much about regular tour events, but majors? That’s when he locks in.
Two weeks before your big round, change your practice. Stop beating balls mindlessly. Play nine holes in which every shot has consequences. Miss the fairway? Hit from the rough on the next hole too. Three-putt? Twenty push-ups. Koepka’s practice intensity ramps up before majors because he’s rehearsing pressure, not just swings.
Develop a between-shot routine that resets your brain. Koepka is famous for his blank expression after bad shots. Try this: After any shot, take three deep breaths while walking, then find something specific to notice, a tree, a cloud, someone’s shirt. That’s your reset button. By the time you reach your ball, the last shot is gone.
The Bottom Line
Brooks Koepka’s return reminds us there’s no single path to success in golf. His “substance over style” approach proves that results matter more than looking good.
You don’t need a perfect swing; you need a reliable one that holds up under pressure. You don’t need to hit every shot in the book; you need the shots you can count on. And you don’t need to play great every time; you need to play great when it matters.
Welcome back, Brooks. Thanks for the reminder that golf is ultimately about getting the ball in the hole, not winning style points.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “Playing Through” now on R.org, RG.org’s partner site, each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more tips!
Blades Brown made a big impression last week in the California desert, and not just because he’s only 18. He put up numbers that would catch any weekend golfer’s attention. Most of us won’t hit 317-yard drives or find 86% of our greens in regulation, but there’s a lot to learn from how Brown managed his game at The American Express.
Here are three practical lessons from his performance that you can use on your own course this weekend.
Step 1: Give Priority to Accuracy Over Distance Off The Tee
Brown’s driving stats are impressive. He averaged almost 318 yards off the tee, ranking 12th in the field. More importantly, he hit 76.79% of his fairways, tying for fourth place in the tournament.
Think about that ratio for a second. Brown could have swung harder, chased more distance and tried to overpower the course. Instead, he played smart golf and kept his ball in play.
Your Action Item: Next time you’re on the tee box, ask yourself a simple question before pulling the driver. Do you need maximum distance here, or do you need to be in the fairway? If there’s trouble lurking or the hole doesn’t demand every yard you can muster, take something off your swing. Grip down an inch. Make a three-quarter swing. Do whatever it takes to find the short grass. Brown’s approach illustrates that fairways lead to greens, and greens lead to birdies. He made 22 of them last week, along with an eagle.
The math is simple. When you’re hitting three out of every four fairways like Brown did, you’re giving yourself legitimate looks at the green with your approach shots. That’s when scoring happens.
Step 2: Commit To Hitting More Greens
This is where Brown really separated himself. He hit 62 of 72 greens in regulation, an 86.11% clip that tied for first in the entire field. Read that again. An 18-year-old kid tied for the lead in one of the most important ball-striking statistics in professional golf.
How did he do it? By keeping his ball in the fairway (see Step 1) and giving himself clean looks with mid-irons and wedges.
Your Action Item: Start tracking your greens in regulation. You don’t need a fancy app or a statistics degree. Just mark down whether you hit the green in the regulation number of strokes. Par 3s in one shot. Par 4s in two shots. Par 5s in three shots.
Once you know your baseline, set a goal to improve it by 10%. If you’re currently hitting five greens per round, aim for six. The beauty of this approach is that it forces you to think strategically about club selection and shot shape. Brown’s strokes gained approach number was positive (0.179), meaning he was better than the field average. You don’t need to be perfect. You just need to be on the dance floor more often.
When you hit more greens, you eliminate the need for heroic short game shots. Brown only had to scramble 10 times all week, and he got up and down 70% of the time. That’s solid, but the real story is that he rarely put himself in scrambling situations to begin with.
Step 3: Minimize Mistakes And Stay Patient
Here’s the stat that jumps off the page: Brown made only three bogeys all week. Three. In four rounds of professional golf against the best players in the world.
He also made just one double bogey. That kind of clean card doesn’t happen by accident. It happens when you play within yourself, avoid the big miss and trust that pars are never bad scores.
Your Action Item: Before your next round, decide that you’re going to play boring golf. No hero shots over water. No driver on tight holes just because you can. No aggressive pins when there’s a safe side of the green.
Brown’s performance shows us that consistency beats flash every single time. He didn’t lead the field in any single strokes gained category, but he was solid across the board. That’s how you post numbers and cash checks.
Give these three steps a try. Your scorecard will thank you.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “The Starter” now on R.org, RG.org’s partner site, each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more tips!
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brian watts
Feb 2, 2017 at 2:42 pm
Like the article. what putter is in featured in this ?????
Bob Pegram
Jul 15, 2016 at 5:46 pm
The touring pro who aims his putter 2.5 degrees to the right at address has an interesting statistic shown on the SAM Putt Lab screenshot. His consistency is 92 percent. In other words, although his alignment is way off, he does it the same way almost every time and so must have a compensating move that he does just about every time.
That same peculiarity explains the variety of full swings on tour. Everybody’s anatomy is different and so our tendencies vary. A lot of practice will tell us where to compensate (but starting with what Tom shows is a good foundation to build on).
The touring pro may have an eye alignment issue that he has learned to allow for.
Killer
Nov 25, 2015 at 2:06 pm
Putt with a string over your putting line. Great at home or even at the course when no one is around the practice green. Allows you to learn what straight looks and feels like. When you are ready to putt, think target, target, target, don’t sweat the small stuff, everything else!
Scott
Nov 24, 2015 at 9:49 am
thanks Tom, something to work on this winter
Steve
Nov 22, 2015 at 8:49 am
Nice edit taking negative reviews away
Andy W
Nov 21, 2015 at 2:47 pm
Great article on getting the ball rolling on the intended line at hopefully the proper speed. But what if your “intended line” isn’t the correct line to hole the putt? The idea is to actually make putts, right? Or at least have a chance. Best of both worlds happens with the P&SI-EGOS..
Christestrogen
Nov 21, 2015 at 10:02 am
Another A+++ article…..
You are on a roll…..pun intended
-Christosterone
Wallace
Nov 20, 2015 at 5:06 pm
Tom, this is a great article with good information. Very few people can properly line up a putter. And it doesn’t have to slow down play. Just be ready and put the ball down the way you want it. I wish some of these people knew how hard a Trackman University course is. Keep up the good work and thanks for feeding this site with great content.
Don
Nov 20, 2015 at 4:38 pm
There’s nothing more frustrating than waiting around while a golfer aligns, then re-aligns, the line on their ball before putting. This “tip” promotes more slow play than it improves a golfer’s putting.
TAKE THE DAM LINE OFF THE BALL. And, keep up the pace of play.
Bert
Nov 21, 2015 at 6:42 pm
+2 play weekly with a golfer who repeatedly does this; please attend the flag-stick while line up the line on my ball for my 10 foot putt. Then you remove the flag-stick and after they miss the putt, they go through the same routine again aligning up the stupid line on the ball. I doubt they ever read the contour of the green, grain, or just how the ball will roll. The USGA and R&A should have addressed for the 2016 Revision. It’s slow play and torture to those in the same group.
Stretch
Nov 20, 2015 at 4:00 pm
A lot of shanks for a direction for the average player to help improve.
Having been a land surveyor I cannot line a line on the ball perfect enough to satisfy a need for extreme accuracy.
Lining up body angles does help the arms swing the shaft in plane with the aim line. How ever the most important body part to get lined up is the eye line. The best example is Jack Nicklaus who had every body line way open and the body mass behind the ball. This let him shove the putter down the line as well as bottom out at Impact which put the magic roll on the ball.
Rich
Nov 20, 2015 at 3:35 pm
When I see a player with a big line on the side of their ball playing in my group, I know I’m in for a slow day on the course. Our club champion does this and he is the slowest player on the greens I have ever seen. EVERY putt gets lined up with the stupid line! It’s painful!
Bob Jones
Nov 25, 2015 at 3:36 pm
I played with a guy who was bent down like forever tweaking the line on his ball, and it was a 60-foot putt! The ball ran two feet left of the hole and ended up ten feet past. Oh, well…
Jang Han
Nov 20, 2015 at 1:08 pm
Good tips from the melon head guy!
alanp
Nov 20, 2015 at 12:42 pm
thanks for the article. there is alot of merit to your last point. next time do an article on how not to be a negative person and suck at life. seems like thats all these people know how to do
Scott
Nov 24, 2015 at 9:53 am
+1
Chris
Nov 20, 2015 at 10:38 am
Good info here! And that is a really nice looking putter!
Jimmeh
Nov 20, 2015 at 2:37 am
Something else that might work is making sure your dominant eye is on top of the golf ball. That way when you look at your intended target (hole, line etc) there is no visual distortion from your (right eye in my case) being a couple of inches away
McPickens
Jan 4, 2017 at 7:09 pm
YES!
snowman
Nov 19, 2015 at 11:40 pm
What I’ve had some success with is looking TOWARD the hole (rather than zeroing in on the hole itself) but at the same time trusting my feet to set into proper position and then aligning my shoulders to my ‘foot line’ and starting the ball on a path that is parallel to my shoulder/foot alignment (make sense?). Eyes/brain/feet all work together to magically give you a good start line.
WP
Nov 19, 2015 at 7:38 pm
I personally find that having a line on the ball and my putter is A LOT worse than looking at no line/logo and a putter with a simple dot on top. I’ve tried the line technique and besides the fact that it never looks the same from a stance as it does when you aligned it, all the focusing on “lines” removes all feel from the process. Different strokes for different folks I suppose…
mike
Nov 19, 2015 at 8:52 pm
WP,
I agree with you 100% I’ve used many putter with different sight line and none worked. This year i went to a putter with just a Dot. My putting has improved 90% went from a 13 hcp to solid 8 hcp. I don’t put any markings/lines on my ball it’s worked for me so far.
Kevin
Nov 22, 2015 at 5:16 pm
Use the line and trust it. Easier to aim the ball from looking behind and it’s a different perspective when you look down at it. Aim it and then trust that line!
Sek
Nov 19, 2015 at 4:51 pm
What his putter model/Brand?
Thank
Aaron
Nov 19, 2015 at 6:38 pm
Looks like a blacked out TM Spider mallet. Maybe their new spider mallet.
Sek
Nov 19, 2015 at 7:18 pm
Aaron…Thanks
Dylan
Nov 20, 2015 at 9:32 am
it’s a ghost tour monte carlo. all blacked out
golfpro92
Dec 10, 2015 at 9:09 am
It’s a spider mallet 2.0. Wish I knew where he got that finish done!
Tom
Nov 19, 2015 at 1:44 pm
Seems like it’s worth tryin.
Steve
Nov 19, 2015 at 1:29 pm
Yes put a line on the ball, align it with the line on the putter, square shoulders, shaft inline with back forearm. Wow how do you think of this? This is going to change putting forever, all this new information.
dwc
Nov 19, 2015 at 1:45 pm
Come on man, don’t be that guy
prime21
Nov 19, 2015 at 2:17 pm
Too late, he WILL ALWAYS be THAT guy. Maybe someday Steve will bless us with an article that provides the secrets of golf, until then, he will simply remain the troll he is, waiting for an opportunity to unleash his attacks from his Mac, safely hidden from reality in his childhood bedroom where he still resides. Nice article Tom, EVERYONE could learn something from it.
Justin
Nov 19, 2015 at 1:47 pm
You missed the whole point. Did you read the title? It’s techniques for monitoring and figuring out if you are properly aligned. Most people don’t know what causes their shoulders to be open or closed or the causes of other faults.