There are a number of factors that need to be taken into consideration when putting. One of the most common errors among golfers of all levels is that they do not have their eyes properly aligned with their putting setup. In this Play Better Golf segment, short game guru, Dave Pelz, offers some putting alignment tips to help your eyes align correctly over the ball at address.

Hi, I’m Dave Pelz, and welcome to putting week. It’s presented by Cleveland Golf in their new 2135 putter and today I want to talk to you about getting your eyes in the proper place to see the best alignment. We’ve measured, most golfers do not have their eyes over the line the putt is going to start on and that’s where I think they should be. 80% of the golfers don’t have it there. So if that’s you and you’re not going to practice and you’re not going to listen to me and you’re going to put with your eyes off of the line, then make sure you get a putter that you can still aim correctly and align to having that situation. But let me show you how to fix that situation.

If this is my ball and I’m gonna mark it on the green. I’m gonna mark right behind the ball and now I want to show you how to get your eyes oriented. I’m assuming it’s a straight putt the ball is gonna roll right down the line into the hole. If I put my putter behind it and aim it I want to position my body so my eyes are looking along that line I don’t want to be over here looking back at the line or way in here looking out at the line. Now, I know you’re gonna have a little bit of it and the putter itself can take care of that if you get the right putter.

I’ve heard a lot of instructors say that you drop the ball from your eyes to see where your eyes are relative to the putting line. The problem is when you’re putting you don’t look straight out of your eyes like this you don’t look right past that ball when you’re looking down I can see that ball it’s way inside my line. Now there, now the ball is in the way of my eyes, I can’t see the line, I can’t see the ball down there. You should drop the ball from your nose, almost to the tip of your nose.

See if you’ve got a short nose, go all the way to the tip. If you’ve got a long nose like mine kind of just before the end of the nose but look if I drop from my eyes, I drop there, outside the line. If I drop from my nose, the right point of my nose, that was over-the-line. So I want you to get your eye on the line as much as you can, I want you to putt a lot out that way, and then I want you to find the putter you can aim the best because alignment is the first fundamental of putting I want you to aim your putter and your stroke wherever you think you’re aiming.