As easy as the pros may make it look, anyone who has ever stepped on a green knows that making putts is no simple task. To get the ball to find the center of the cup, you’ve got to perfectly marry line and speed — not to mention avoiding any imperfections that may throw the ball off line.
As you get closer and closer to the hole, the more important controlling your face angle becomes when putting. On putts that are “makable,” you’ve got to get the ball started on the precise line you intend, which is determined largely by your face angle at impact.
Recently, when my putting was feeling off, I went to see GOLF Top 100 Teacher and PGA Tour putting consultant Stephen Sweeney. And during our lesson, he showed me a great trick for seeing exactly where the putting face is aimed at address.
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How to check your putter aim
Lots of measurements in golf require fancy technology or training aids track. But when it comes to putting, you can check your face aim with something you’ve got on your person at all times: your phone.
“If I go ahead and set the back of my phone up to your putter face, and you come back and look down that line, you can see [the face aimed] on the right edge,” Sweeney said.
It can be difficult to understand exactly where you are aimed in golf, especially when you have instilled bad habits into your game. But by using a straight edge on the ground, it becomes much simpler to see exactly where you are aimed when you feel like you are aimed “straight.”
“If you have a friend with you at the golf course, have them put a square edge — a scorecard or something like that — down against your putter face, and then get into a position from there,” he said.
With a straight edge on the ground lined up straight down your line, it becomes much easier to get a feel for where your putter face is aimed at address — and should help you make more putts.
