{"id":723162,"date":"2026-06-08T13:59:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T13:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/723162\/"},"modified":"2026-06-08T13:59:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T13:59:08","slug":"improve-putting-alignment-by-changing-how-you-look-at-the-hole","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/723162\/","title":{"rendered":"Improve putting alignment by changing how you look at the hole"},"content":{"rendered":"

If your putts keep starting offline, the problem might not be your stroke, it could be how you\u2019re looking at the hole. In the debut episode of The Lab with Stephen Sweeney<\/a>, presented by Baird, GOLF\u2019s Jake Morrow put his stroke under the microscope, and Sweeney revealed a simple adjustment that helped Morrow boost his alignment. It just might be the key to dialing in your aim on the green.<\/p>\n

When breaking down the fundamentals to a proper putting setup, Sweeney explained that how you look at a putt before pulling the trigger can be just as critical to your alignment as aiming the putter face at your target.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want you to make sure when you look down the line that you really trace your head this way [rotating slowly toward the target],\u201d Sweeney says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As Sweeney explains to Morrow, many amateurs tilt their heads back\u2014or even shift their bodies\u2014just to \u201csee\u201d the line. But this can subtly throw off your alignment and distort your perception of the green. A putt that\u2019s actually straight might appear to curve, while a breaking putt can look weaker or more dramatic than it really is.<\/p>\n

The difference becomes clear as Sweeney guides Morrow into a proper setup. In the before-and-after comparison, his alignment improves noticeably when he starts square and rotates his head to the target instead of altering his posture to find the line.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can obviously see a lot more symmetry to the body,\u201d Sweeney says. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t look like you\u2019re kind of leaning back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another factor that could be shifting your alignment, Sweeney notes, is standing too far away from the golf ball at address.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the things that I do feel a lot of golfers are very guilty of is trying to be too athletic in their putting posture,\u201d he says, \u201cI really like to get people generally a lot closer to the golf ball.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ideally, your eyes should be positioned directly over the ball\u2014or just slightly inside it\u2014when you set up to a putt. To check your position, have someone take a photo or video of your setup and compare the location of your eyes to the ball. You can also try dropping a ball from eye level to see where it lands in relation to your ball position.<\/p>\n

As Sweeney demonstrates with Morrow, getting your eyes into that ideal position may require a few other adjustments to your setup. With your posture improved, you may find that your putter sits more upright at address, which could mean gripping down slightly on the handle to ensure the putter rests properly.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why sequence matters when making putting modifications.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I\u2019m doing this, there\u2019s a couple of little things that I have to make sure I do in order,\u201d he says, \u201cAlways short putting before long putting, and it\u2019s setup before stroke mechanics.\u201d<\/p>\n

By focusing on how you look at the hole, maintaining a proper setup, and following the correct sequence of adjustments, you can dramatically improve your alignment\u2014and give yourself a better chance to start putts on line.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If your putts keep starting offline, the problem might not be your stroke, it could be how you\u2019re…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":723163,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[64,63,755,85],"class_list":["post-723162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/723162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=723162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/723162\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/723163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=723162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=723162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=723162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}