Visual Alignment Calibration

WEBVTT

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This drill is visual alignment calibration so getting your eyes to see a

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straight line

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is really helpful for controlling start line and freeing up your ability to

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swing the putter

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and control the stroke or swing the putter without trying to guide the stroke

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too much

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but controlling your face control.

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So I use a three ball drill but in order to do that one you need a partner so

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this one's

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a little bit easier to implement but it can be challenging for some golfers.

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So basically what we're going to do is I'm going to get behind the ball and I'm

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going

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to aim this putt pretty straight so I'm going to point the alignment stick and

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in my case

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the line on the ball as well at the target.

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I've got about a straight 10 footer maybe 12 feet but I wouldn't do this too

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long or

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too short.

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You want your eyes to have to track a little bit.

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So a putt inside of six feet wouldn't work too well because your eyes wouldn't

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really

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have to track anything.

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So now I've got the alignment stick and I can use the line on the putter or the

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shaft on

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the putter to confirm that the alignment stick is aimed pretty much where I

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wanted to go.

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Now I'm going to get in my setup position and I'm just going to use my eyes and

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I'm going

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to walk down the stick and see where it looks like it's aimed and compared to

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the whole

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location when I first did that it looks like it's aimed to the left.

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So my next goal is to change my visual alignment so that I can adjust where

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this is looking.

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So there are a couple or there's five different ways I can move my alignment my

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visual alignment.

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I can move it out that way that makes it more left for me.

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I can move it that way you know that either those two don't have a big impact

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for me but

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they could move it enough for for some golfers.

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I could move it up that makes it more and that does make it a little bit better

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so I

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can move up and down and the one that doesn't make a whole lot of senses

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forward backward

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this way because that's basically the same thing as just a longer shorter putt.

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So then we get to the three rotations and these typically have a bigger impact.

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The first two are the ones that I use the most and then the last one would be a

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rare

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exception.

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So the first two would be either bringing my chin down which that does help

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some or bringing

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my chin up that makes it worse.

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So for me bringing chin down makes it better but I had a lesson on Friday where

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chin up

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made it better.

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This is something that you have to play around with and then tilt.

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So basically bringing my head a little bit to the right that helps a bit,

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bringing my

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head to the left and then if I track with my eyes that makes it worse.

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So I'm just measuring okay getting down made it better, tucking my chin made it

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better,

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right tilt made it better, the opposites made it worse and then the last one

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would be rotation.

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There it's hard for me to track and if I turn towards the target it makes it

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look more

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left.

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So that one seems like a wash that's the one that's rare that it really helps

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people.

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I like to have the rotation plane closer to neutral.

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So then once I have so now I'm going to kind of play with a combination of

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those until

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well that looks pretty straight right there and now to test it I'm going to

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bring a ball

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in and just put it parallel to the stick and I'm going to try and roll it

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straight down

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that stick or parallel to it and that looks to me now like this is a little bit

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more straight.

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So one of the reasons that you may be missing putts right away you know if you

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've been pulling

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putts or pushing putts could be because of your visual alignment.

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You can use something shorter like a pencil but I typically use an alignment

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stick because

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you'll have them in your bag and it's a long enough path that it gives you a

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good part

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of the path of a straight putt but it doesn't give you the whole thing.

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The other place where this is useful to calibrate is if you're just at home and

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you've got tile

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on the floor you can practice getting in your posture and tracing the line with

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your head

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and making sure that it looks straight because if you have a hard time seeing a

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straight putt

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you're going to have a harder time hitting a straight putt and that visual

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alignment

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and the face control is really important for controlling your start line.