GOLF.com: Your Putting Alignment Problem May Start With How You Look at the Hole

If your putts consistently miss the intended line, the root cause may lie not in your stroke, but in how you perceive and set up to the putt. Instructor Stephen Sweeney offered a revealing lesson by working with GOLF's Jake Morrow, exposing two overlooked fundamentals that quietly sabotage alignment.

Head Rotation, Not Head Tilt

The most common mistake Sweeney identifies is tilting or shifting the head—and sometimes the whole body—just to peek at the target line. This distorts green-reading: straight putts can appear to break, and actual breakers look flatter or more dramatic. The fix is deliberate head rotation toward the target, keeping the body square. In the before-and-after demonstration with Morrow, the improvement in body symmetry was immediate and visible.

Eyes Over the Ball

Distance from the ball matters more than most golfers realize. Standing too far away forces compensatory posture adjustments that knock alignment offline. Sweeney recommends positioning the eyes directly above the ball—or fractionally inside—at address. A simple self-check: drop a ball from eye level and see where it lands relative to your ball position.

Sequence Is Everything

Changing eye position may require grip adjustments, as the putter will naturally sit more upright. Sweeney is clear about order: setup changes come before stroke changes, and short putts before long ones. Skipping steps in the sequence undermines the fix.

Strokeslab Take

SG: Putting improvements are often chased through stroke mechanics, but alignment errors upstream of the stroke render those gains marginal. Addressing perception and setup first is the higher-leverage move—and this lesson makes a compelling case for it.