Putting With The Lines

By Jack Moorehouse

While alignment isn't as important as speed, it's still a major factor in good putting.
You can't sink a putt if your putter is misaligned—even if you putt the ball at the perfect speed. Which is one reason why alignment is a major topic in almost all my golf lessons on putting. You can't sink a putt if you're not aligned properly no matter what the ball's speed or how well you read a break.

But aligning your putter correctly is hard. That's why you must find an accurate way of aligning your club to the target line if you want to be a good putter. If you're serious about cutting down your putts—and your golf handicap—you'll make alignment a priority when putting. An effective way of aligning your putter to the target line is using the club's natural lines as a means of aligning your putter to the hole.

Consider The Putter's Lines
Putters come with a wide variety of features. They also come in different materials, shapes, sizes, and shaft bends. And while you need to examine each of these features if you're buying a putter, you also must consider the putter's natural lines and how they help you align the putter. Some putters are easier to align than others because of their shape, which may include lines both perpendicular and parallel to the target line.

An oft-forgotten design element that contributes to a putter's natural lines is the hosel, the point at which the club's shaft and putter face join. Certain hosel configurations work better with certain putter strokes, so it's helpful to know the difference between one hosel design and another. Below are descriptions of the most popular hosel styles:

Plumber-Neck
The plumber-neck has a horizontal bend just below where the end of the shaft and the hosel meet. The design provides a medium amount of offset, which as I've mentioned in my golf tips, never hurts. It helps the golfer keep his hands ahead of the putterhead through impact. This in turn tends to make the club more forgiving and easier to use, which probably explains why it's so popular.

Flare-Tip
The flare-tip is typically a "shaft over" hosel, meaning the shaft covers the top of the hosel where the two connect. These designs have less offset and are more blade like in construction. They also tend to be a bit toe-down in their weighting scheme. They usually work best for golfers who like to rotate the blade open and shut through the stroke, which is how Tiger putts.

No Hosel
Face-balanced putters often have no hosel. Instead, they have an S-bend shaft that goes directly into the putter head. These putters are designed specifically for golfers who want to take the club straight back and straight through in a piston like motion. If you typically like to rotate the clubhead during your stroke, these types of putters probably won't work as well for you.

Slant-Neck
These hosels are plumber-necks that bend from the shaft line. Usually, this design is used to create a more substantial amount of offset, which promotes more of an upward strike into the golf ball.

Chose a putter with the right hosel—one that not only matches your stroke, but also provides you with the natural lines you need to align the putter to the target line. In other words, you need to find a putter that's right for you, as I've said in my golf tips. These clubs provide confidence when you're on the course. Once you've find the right putter, you need to practice putting whenever you can, if you want to improve game and lower your golf handicap.

Putter Alignment Drill.
This drill not only conditions you to align you putter to the target line, but also to keep your putter head square as it goes through impact—another key to good putting I emphasize in golf instruction sessions.

Find a flat part of the green no more than eight to ten feet from the hole. Now take two clubs and line them up parallel to the target line. The clubs should be about a foot apart from each other. Within that space insert two tees, just about the width of your putterhead. You want just enough space to get your putterhead through without touching the tees. Now take your address position and align the natural lines of your putter with the two clubs on the ground. Putt the ball.

Use this alignment drill as often as you can. If you're serious about knocking down that golf handicap, work on alignment and ball speed. And practice your putting as much and as often as you can. It will pay off.

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book "How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros." He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction.