WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:10.240
This putting drill is alignment stick tracing. So this might be my new favorite

2
00:00:10.240 --> 00:00:11.000
putting drill

3
00:00:11.000 --> 00:00:17.520
for working on face control, especially for those on short putts. I've used the

4
00:00:17.520 --> 00:00:18.360
alignment

5
00:00:18.360 --> 00:00:21.040
stick version, but I'm going to show you how you can actually hit putts with it

6
00:00:21.040 --> 00:00:21.600
. And that

7
00:00:21.600 --> 00:00:25.910
was always the big barrier, the reason why it didn't quite work. So the

8
00:00:25.910 --> 00:00:27.000
principle is

9
00:00:27.000 --> 00:00:30.570
really simple. I've got alignment stick on the ground. My putter has a white

10
00:00:30.570 --> 00:00:31.700
line there.

11
00:00:31.700 --> 00:00:36.200
I'm going to try and keep the white line of my putter pointing in the same

12
00:00:36.200 --> 00:00:37.720
direction as

13
00:00:37.720 --> 00:00:43.530
the alignment stick. Now, I don't care too much if it stays exactly on top of

14
00:00:43.530 --> 00:00:44.360
it. That

15
00:00:44.360 --> 00:00:48.160
would just mean that you're, you have much more of a straight back straight

16
00:00:48.160 --> 00:00:49.160
through putting

17
00:00:49.160 --> 00:00:54.350
stroke. But I want it to stay pretty much parallel to it coming through the

18
00:00:54.350 --> 00:00:54.800
ball for

19
00:00:54.800 --> 00:00:58.240
at least a few inches there. So I can see from overhead that it's staying

20
00:00:58.240 --> 00:00:59.440
really nice.

21
00:00:59.440 --> 00:01:02.490
Now often what I would do then is I would put a ball inside of it and try to

22
00:01:02.490 --> 00:01:03.560
match it,

23
00:01:03.560 --> 00:01:06.660
but people would have a hard time kind of like changing that visual. So now

24
00:01:06.660 --> 00:01:07.200
what we're

25
00:01:07.200 --> 00:01:12.390
going to do is instead we're going to hit two golf balls. You're going to put

26
00:01:12.390 --> 00:01:13.160
them just

27
00:01:13.160 --> 00:01:17.930
off to the side of the alignment stick like this. And now I'll do that towards

28
00:01:17.930 --> 00:01:18.360
the front

29
00:01:18.360 --> 00:01:23.810
of the stick so I can rehearse it right here. So there's the putter face

30
00:01:23.810 --> 00:01:25.200
staying nice and

31
00:01:25.200 --> 00:01:30.650
square to the stick. And now if I execute that same feel, the putter is still

32
00:01:30.650 --> 00:01:31.200
square

33
00:01:31.200 --> 00:01:34.810
to the stick. And you'll see if I do have a straight putt, I'll be able to get

34
00:01:34.810 --> 00:01:35.240
both

35
00:01:35.240 --> 00:01:40.780
putts to make it. And what I get used to is I get used to hitting an object or

36
00:01:40.780 --> 00:01:41.320
swinging

37
00:01:41.320 --> 00:01:45.310
through an object. The other thing that I kind of find is when golfers are

38
00:01:45.310 --> 00:01:46.000
focused on

39
00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:50.110
the stick, they're not really focused on hitting the golf ball. They're focused

40
00:01:50.110 --> 00:01:50.800
on tracing

41
00:01:50.800 --> 00:01:54.970
the stick. And they learn the skill of stroking through the ball and just

42
00:01:54.970 --> 00:01:56.080
letting the ball

43
00:01:56.080 --> 00:02:00.420
get in the way of a good stroke rather than being like the destination or the

44
00:02:00.420 --> 00:02:00.920
focus of

45
00:02:00.920 --> 00:02:05.170
the stroke. So I'm trying to stroke or make my stroke and the ball is just

46
00:02:05.170 --> 00:02:05.920
going to get

47
00:02:05.920 --> 00:02:10.470
in the way of this stroke. It's not like I'm actively trying to hit at the golf

48
00:02:10.470 --> 00:02:11.000
ball.

49
00:02:11.000 --> 00:02:16.490
Now I primarily use this, like I said, for shorter putts, but you can ramp it

50
00:02:16.490 --> 00:02:17.000
up and

51
00:02:17.000 --> 00:02:21.020
you can do bigger and bigger strokes. Just know that it's going to deviate more

52
00:02:21.020 --> 00:02:21.520
and more

53
00:02:21.520 --> 00:02:27.150
off the stroke, but you can still work on it being nice and square for at least

54
00:02:27.150 --> 00:02:27.840
a little

55
00:02:27.840 --> 00:02:32.670
window there. In general, if you have a hard time with the putter face staying

56
00:02:32.670 --> 00:02:33.120
in line

57
00:02:33.120 --> 00:02:37.010
with the stick, it either means that you're getting too much twist from your

58
00:02:37.010 --> 00:02:37.600
wrist. You're

59
00:02:37.600 --> 00:02:42.310
getting too much twist from your shoulders or your pivot is too rotational. It

60
00:02:42.310 --> 00:02:43.240
's that

61
00:02:43.240 --> 00:02:47.340
another way. If you're wrist or stable, your shoulders are connected and your

62
00:02:47.340 --> 00:02:47.840
pivot is

63
00:02:47.840 --> 00:02:53.030
more quiet lower body and more of a kind of rocking motion instead of a turning

64
00:02:53.030 --> 00:02:53.440
motion,

65
00:02:53.440 --> 00:02:57.740
it'll be easy for you to keep the putter face square. So we'll do one more one

66
00:02:57.740 --> 00:02:58.200
a little

67
00:02:58.200 --> 00:03:04.340
longer. This is a little bit more of a test here. And if it gets there, so we

68
00:03:04.340 --> 00:03:04.760
got both

69
00:03:04.760 --> 00:03:08.000
of them, putter face was nice and square. If you're struggling with your short

70
00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:08.600
putts,

71
00:03:08.600 --> 00:03:11.900
like I said, this is my new favorite drill for working on short putts. You can

72
00:03:11.900 --> 00:03:12.280
either

73
00:03:12.280 --> 00:03:15.500
do it at home or you can do it at the course. If you do it at the course, find

74
00:03:15.500 --> 00:03:16.320
a nice straight

75
00:03:16.320 --> 00:03:19.530
put, otherwise they're going to miss. Whichever one is the low side is

76
00:03:19.530 --> 00:03:20.640
definitely going to

77
00:03:20.640 --> 00:03:25.880
miss. So try that to clean up your putter face control on your short putts.

78
00:03:25.880 --> 00:03:40.560
So you can do it on the longer putts as well. They just won't go in.