Click here and enter your email address to watch the full video
Tyler Ferrell is the only person in the world named to Golf Digest's list of Best Young Teachers in America AND its list of Best Golf Fitness Professionals in America. Meet your new instructor.

Subscribe now to watch the full video.

Visual Alignment Calibration - Putting

Training your eyes to see a "straight line" can provide a huge boost to your putting, especially if you feel uncomfortable over the ball. More specifically, it can greatly improve your start line and allow you to make a flowing stroke without manipulation. Ultimately, golfers may need to re-calibrate their eyes several times over the course of a season, depending on any bad habits they pick-up. Thankfully, to do this, all you need is an alignment stick and the diligence to run through (5) visual calibration tests.

Playlists: Putting

Tags: Putt, Drill, Intermediate

00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,000
Strel is visual alignment calibration.

00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:10,000
So getting your eyes to see a straight line is really helpful for controlling start line.

00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:16,000
And freeing up your ability to swing the putter and control the stroke or swing the putter

00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:20,000
without trying to guide the stroke too much but controlling your face control.

00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:26,000
So I use a three ball drill but in order to do that when you need a partner.

00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:31,000
So this one's a little bit easier to implement but it can be challenging for some

00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:32,000
offers.

00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:36,000
So basically what we're going to do is I'm going to get behind the ball and I'm going to aim

00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:37,000
this putt pretty straight.

00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:43,000
So I'm going to point the alignment stick and in my case the line on the ball as well

00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:44,000
at the target.

00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:51,000
I've got about a straight 10 footer maybe 12 feet but I wouldn't do this too long or too short.

00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:54,000
You want your eyes to have to track a little bit.

00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:59,000
So a putt inside of say you know six feet wouldn't work too well because your eyes wouldn't

00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:01,000
really have to track anything.

00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:09,000
Okay so now I've got the alignment stick and I can use the line on the putter if you can

00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:15,000
or the shaft on the putter to confirm that the alignment stick is a pretty much where

00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:16,000
I wanted to go.

00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:25,000
And now I'm going to get in my setup position and I'm just going to use my eyes and

00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:31,000
I'm going to walk down the stick and see where it looks like it's aimed and compared

00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:37,000
to the the whole location when I first did that it looks like it's aimed to the left.

00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:45,000
So my next goal is to change my visual alignment so that I can adjust where this is looking.

00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:51,000
So there are a couple there's five different ways I can move my alignment my visual alignment.

00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:54,000
I can move it out that way that makes it more left for me.

00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:59,000
I can move it that way you know that either those two don't have a big impact for me but

00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:03,000
they could move it enough for for some golfers.

00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:08,000
I could move it up that makes it more and that does make it a little bit better so I can

00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:13,000
move up and down and the one that doesn't make a whole lot of sense is forward back

00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:18,000
with this way because that's basically the same thing as just a longer shorter part.

00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:22,000
So then we get to the three rotations and these typically have a bigger impact.

00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:27,000
The first two are the ones that I use the most and then the last one would be a rare exception.

00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:34,000
So the first two would be either bringing my chin down which that does help some or

00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:36,000
bringing my chin up that makes it worse.

00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:41,000
So for me bringing chin down makes it better but I had a lesson on Friday where chin up made

00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:42,000
it better.

00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:46,000
This is something that you have to play around with and then tilt.

00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:53,000
So basically bringing my head a little bit to the right that helps a bit bringing my head to the

00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:55,000
left and then if I track with my eyes that makes it worse.

00:02:55,000 --> 00:03:01,000
So I'm just measuring okay getting down made it better, talking my chin made it better,

00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:03,000
right tilt made it better.

00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:07,000
The opposite made it worse and then the last one would be rotation.

00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:11,000
There it's hard for me to track and if I turn towards the target it makes it look more

00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:12,000
left.

00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:14,000
So that one seems like a wash.

00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:16,000
That's the one that's rare that it really helps people.

00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:21,000
I like to have the rotation plane closer to neutral.

00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:29,000
So then once I have so now I'm going to kind of play with a combination of those until

00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:34,000
that looks pretty straight right there and now to test it I'm going to bring a ball

00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:42,000
in and just put it parallel to the stick and I'm going to try and roll it straight down

00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:44,000
that stick or parallel to it.

00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:52,000
And that looks to me now like this is a little bit more straight.

00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:57,000
So one of the reasons that you may be missing parts right away, you know if you've been

00:03:57,000 --> 00:04:01,000
pulling parts or pushing parts could be because of your visual alignment.

00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:05,000
You can use something shorter like a pencil but I typically use an alignment stick because

00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:10,000
you'll have them in your bag and it's a long enough path that it gives you a good part

00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:15,000
of the path of a straight put but it doesn't give you a whole thing.

00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:19,000
The other place where this is useful to calibrate is if you're just at home and you've

00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:25,000
got tile on the floor you can practice getting in your posture and tracing the line with

00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:28,000
your head and making sure that it looks straight.

00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:32,000
If you have a hard time seeing a straight put you're going to have a harder time hitting a

00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:38,000
straight put and that visual alignment and the face control is really important for controlling

00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:39,000
your start line.

Subscribe now for full access to our video library.