Improve Face Control on Short Putts with Alignment Stick Drill

Short putts are usually won or lost with face control. On a putt from close range, the face angle at impact matters far more than making a big, flowing stroke. If the putter face twists open or closed even slightly, the ball starts off line and the miss feels frustratingly small. This alignment stick tracing drill gives you a simple way to train a squarer face through impact while still hitting real putts. It also helps shift your attention away from “hitting at” the ball and toward making a cleaner, more stable stroke through it.

How the Drill Works

The idea is straightforward: you use an alignment stick on the ground as a visual reference for the direction of your putter face. If your putter has a line or clear leading edge you can track, you try to keep that face line parallel to the alignment stick as the putter moves through the hitting area.

You are not trying to force the putter to travel exactly straight back and straight through for the entire stroke. That is not the point. The goal is much more practical: keep the face looking square to the stick for a small window around impact, especially the few inches just before and after the ball. That is the window that controls where the ball starts.

The clever twist in this version of the drill is that you do not place a single ball directly on the stick and try to blend two visuals together. Instead, you set two golf balls just to the side of the stick and make the stroke while tracing the stick with your face alignment. This makes it easier to see the reference clearly and still hit putts.

That setup does two useful things for you:

• It gives you a strong visual for a square face through impact.
• It teaches you to stroke through the ball instead of making the ball the main target of your motion.

That second point is important. Many golfers get overly ball-focused on short putts. They try to “hit” the ball, and that often creates extra hand action, face rotation, or a jabby motion. With this drill, your mind is on tracing the stick. The ball simply sits in the path of a good stroke.

Step-by-Step

1. Find a straight putt. If you are practicing on a green, choose a putt with minimal break. On a breaking putt, one of the balls is likely to miss even if your stroke is good, which can confuse the feedback.

2. Place an alignment stick on the ground. Aim it directly on your starting line. This stick is your visual guide for face direction, not necessarily a track for the entire putter path.

3. Set two golf balls just to the side of the stick. Position them near the front portion of the stick so you can make a few rehearsals behind the balls while still seeing the reference clearly. The balls should sit close enough that you can strike them naturally while tracing the stick with your putter face.

4. Address the putt and look at your putter face relationship to the stick. If your putter has an alignment line, use that. If not, use the leading edge. Your intention is to keep that face line looking parallel to the stick through the impact zone.

5. Make a few rehearsal strokes. Without hitting anything, move the putter back and through while watching how the face behaves relative to the stick. You want the face to appear stable and square for a few inches through the bottom of the stroke.

6. Hit both balls with the same tracing feel. Do not switch your focus to “strike the ball.” Keep your attention on the stick and make the same rehearsed stroke. Let the balls get in the way of the motion.

7. Watch the starting direction of both putts. On a straight putt, a square face and clean stroke should allow both balls to start online. If the face twists, one or both balls will usually start off line.

8. Gradually increase the stroke length. Start with very short putts, where face control matters most. As you improve, you can make longer strokes. Just understand that the putter may naturally arc a bit more as the stroke gets bigger, so focus on staying square in the impact window rather than forcing a perfectly straight motion forever.

What You Should Feel

A good version of this drill tends to feel quieter and more connected than what many golfers are used to on short putts. You should not feel like you are manipulating the face with your hands. Instead, the putter should feel as though it stays organized through impact with very little last-second rotation.

1. The face feels stable through the ball

The main sensation is that the putter face is not flipping open or snapping shut. It stays looking square to the stick for that small impact window. If you have struggled on short putts, this alone can be a huge improvement.

2. Your stroke moves through the ball, not into it

You want to feel like you are making a stroke along the reference line and the ball just happens to be there. This creates a much smoother motion than trying to strike the ball as the main event. The result is usually better face control and better speed control.

3. Your wrists stay quiet

If your wrists are overly active, the face will be hard to keep square to the stick. A solid rehearsal should feel like the putter, hands, and arms are moving together with very little independent hand action.

4. Your shoulders feel connected

The stroke should feel powered by a simple rocking motion rather than a lot of separate arm lift or hand manipulation. When your shoulders and arms stay connected, the face tends to behave more predictably.

5. Your lower body stays calm

You do not want a turning, rotational pivot that drags the putter around too much. The lower body should feel quiet, while the upper torso creates a compact rocking motion. That helps the face remain more stable through impact.

Useful checkpoints

• Before impact: the face still looks parallel to the stick, not fanned open.
• At impact: the strike feels centered and the face feels quiet.
• After impact: the face still appears square to the stick for a few inches.
• Ball roll: both balls start on a similar line with clean roll rather than glancing off to one side.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Trying to keep the putter on the stick for the entire stroke. The goal is not to force an exaggerated straight-back, straight-through motion. Focus on the face staying square through the impact area.
• Hitting at the golf ball. If your attention shifts from tracing the stick to striking the ball, you will often add tension and face rotation.
• Using too much wrist action. Extra wrist hinge or roll makes the face unstable, especially on short putts.
• Over-rotating your body. A stroke with too much turning motion can pull the putter around and change the face angle through impact.
• Practicing on a breaking putt. This drill gives the clearest feedback on a straight putt. On a sloped line, a good stroke may still produce one miss.
• Starting with strokes that are too long. Begin with short putts so you can own the impact window first. Then build up.
• Ignoring setup. If your eyes, shoulders, or putter face are misaligned at address, the drill becomes harder than it needs to be.
• Watching the balls too much. The stick is the reference. The balls are there to confirm whether your stroke held up.

How This Fits Your Swing

Even though this is a putting drill, it connects to a bigger theme in your motion: controlling what the clubface does through the strike. In full swing terms, golfers often battle too much manipulation from the hands, too much steepness or redirection, or a pivot that over-rotates and makes the club hard to control. On the green, those same tendencies show up in miniature.

If your putter face struggles to stay square to the stick, the problem usually comes from one of three places:

• Too much wrist twist
• Poor connection in the shoulders and arms
• An overly rotational pivot

That makes this drill valuable beyond simply making more short putts. It teaches you how to organize the motion so the clubface is not constantly being rescued at the last second. You learn to create a stroke where the moving parts support one another instead of fighting each other.

For players who tend to get steep or overly handsy in the full swing, this kind of drill can also reinforce a better overall pattern: less abrupt manipulation, more structure, and more stable face control through the strike. The scale is smaller in putting, but the principle is the same. A controlled face is easier to repeat than a face that depends on timing.

This drill is especially useful on short putts because that is where face angle has the biggest influence on whether the ball goes in. You do not need a dramatic stroke to make a five-footer. You need a face that stays square long enough to start the ball on line. The alignment stick gives you a simple external reference, and the two-ball setup lets you train that skill while actually hitting putts.

As you improve, you can stretch the drill to longer putts. Just keep your expectations realistic. On a longer stroke, the putter may not appear to stay parallel to the stick for as long, and that is fine. Your job is still to own the impact zone. If the face is stable there, you are building the kind of control that holds up under pressure.

In the end, this is why the drill works so well: it simplifies the task. Instead of thinking about mechanics, making, missing, or steering the ball, you give yourself one clear assignment—trace the stick with a square face through impact. When you do that, the stroke gets cleaner, the face gets quieter, and short putts start online more often.