Putting alignment help/drills

[TxTwinDad+2 151]

I'm looking for some advice on how to stop second guessing my putt alignment. Or do even know if i'm aligning properly I guess. I typically will line my ball up take a few steps back check it then either adjust or realign then remove my marker. Now here is where I have the biggest issue I stand over the ball and every time it seems that my ball is misaligned by like a foot. Any and all help is greatly appreciated  

[jlukes 16,464]

3 minutes ago, TxTwinDad+2 said:

I'm looking for some advice on how to stop second guessing my putt alignment. Or do even know if i'm aligning properly I guess. I typically will line my ball up take a few steps back check it then either adjust or realign then remove my marker. Now here is where I have the biggest issue I stand over the ball and every time it seems that my ball is misaligned by like a foot. Any and all help is greatly appreciated  

Check out this video from TXG. Gives some really nice cues on alignment and how your perception of alignment can change based on setup

 

[cnosil 25,205]

12 minutes ago, TxTwinDad+2 said:

I'm looking for some advice on how to stop second guessing my putt alignment. Or do even know if i'm aligning properly I guess. I typically will line my ball up take a few steps back check it then either adjust or realign then remove my marker. Now here is where I have the biggest issue I stand over the ball and every time it seems that my ball is misaligned by like a foot. Any and all help is greatly appreciated  

What you are describing is common and called parallax error.   The ideal solution would be to get yourself in the setup that eliminates that perception.   Buy adjusting things like how close you are to the ball and head position you can find a setup that will show what you are seeing for the side correctly.  Or you can do nothing and try to accept that the setup,is correct based on what you saw from behind the ball.   

[Kenny B 33,362]

37 minutes ago, cnosil said:

What you are describing is common and called parallax error.   The ideal solution would be to get yourself in the setup that eliminates that perception.   Buy adjusting things like how close you are to the ball and head position you can find a setup that will show what you are seeing for the side correctly.  Or you can do nothing and try to accept that the setup,is correct based on what you saw from behind the ball.   

Yes!  Watch this Mike Malaska video.

 

[cnosil 25,205]

9 minutes ago, Kenny B said:

Yes!  Watch this Mike Malaska video.

 

Thanks for looking that up; I was being lazy

[TxTwinDad+2 151]

2 hours ago, cnosil said:

What you are describing is common and called parallax error.   The ideal solution would be to get yourself in the setup that eliminates that perception.   Buy adjusting things like how close you are to the ball and head position you can find a setup that will show what you are seeing for the side correctly.  Or you can do nothing and try to accept that the setup,is correct based on what you saw from behind the ball.   

 

2 hours ago, Kenny B said:

Yes!  Watch this Mike Malaska video.

 

This is exactly what I was talking about!! Big thanks KennyB and Cnosil. I'm gonna head to the course after work to work on this for a bit!!! Update coming soon 

 

[TxTwinDad+2 151]

just wanted to come back and say thanks again for this help @Kenny B @cnosil this has helped a ton I still struggle see the correct line standing over the putt but I now have more trust that its correct. 

[TBT 3,888]

My favorite drill helps with seeing your alignment and keeping your stroke online.

this is not me in the photo, it’s a product you can buy....I took some old alignment sticks and cut them short and bought some heavy colored twine and made my own.

it helps you see your alignment and helps you to start the ball online....it works really well if you have a sharpie line on the ball.

[Kenny B 33,362]

1 hour ago, TBT said:

My favorite drill helps with seeing your alignment and keeping your stroke online.

this is not me in the photo, it’s a product you can buy....I took some old alignment sticks and cut them short and bought some heavy colored twine and made my own.

it helps you see your alignment and helps you to start the ball online....it works really well if you have a sharpie line on the ball.

I have a couple of these; can be made for a couple of bucks.  It's great if you putt with your eyes over the ball like I do; I don't think it's much help for players that have a strong arc and eyes inside the ball.

What I like about it is you can set it up on a straight putt to the hole, which helps to see if you can repeat a stroke.  It is also useful for breaking putts.  Place one end of the string a foot behind the hole on a line either right or left of the hole where a ball struck with the speed to stop at the end of the string breaks into the hole.  It's a good visualization of how much speed is needed for the amount of break.  If you leave breaking putts short, practicing with this string helps.

[TxTwinDad+2 151]

Yeah I've seen this string deal as well I guess I just worry about the frowning on me setting it up. 

When you guys practice putting how long do yall typically do it for?

 

[RickyBobby_PR 9,580]

34 minutes ago, TxTwinDad+2 said:

Yeah I've seen this string deal as well I guess I just worry about the frowning on me setting it up. 

When you guys practice putting how long do yall typically do it for?

 

30-60 mins. Depends on how many times I run thru the drills

[GolfSpy_CS 2,467]

I've always struggled with parallax error as well.  No matter how I set up to the ball, it never looks correct.  However, since I have been intentional about training my eyes to see what a proper alignment is, I've had much less time not trusting the line I pick.  It literally just took lots and lots of reps for me (aka practicing putting) to begin to trust, accept, and see the line properly at address. 

[Shapotomous 5,030]

I think it can change over time as your vision changes.  I was always an eyes over the ball putter and did quite well with it for a couple decades.  But a few years ago my putting game started a downhill slide even with tons of practice on the backyard green.  I thought it was related to adjusting to stronger glasses.  After seeing the you tube videos referenced above I experimented and moved my head back from the line a bit and my putting has improved a lot.  I also changed putters after testing the Heppler Fetch last fall but can pull out the old ping anser or bullseye flange and see better results too.  I recommend videoing your putting stroke and look for tendencies in your stroke and / or misses from a known flat putt distance of 10 to 15 feet.  

I played in the league last week with someone I hadn't played with since 2019 and after I dropped a couple mid rangers and a 30'er they commented they couldn't bust my stones about my putting game any more!  

[TxTwinDad+2 151]

I appreciate the input fellas this is literally the first year I have actually started working on putting somewhere other than in a round lol. I think i'll swap out one of my 9 hole days for chipping and putting practice for a couple of months and see how it works out. 

[TxTwinDad+2 151]

Just wanted to follow up and give an update putting and chipping has improved quite a bit since I started practicing. I do still from time to time back off the putt and check the alignment. I've used arccos over the past month and its been good for tracking issues with putting distances as well.