Pro-Align: Spend the Off-Season Improving your Putting

Most golfers think they'll do something over the off-season to improve their games. Maybe they'll do some work at the gym, or perhaps they'll work on some swing changes in the garage. Most likely, they'll just sit around the house thinking about what they should be doing to get better. I know, I've been there...

When looking to get better, virtually every golfer I know will focus on the full-swing. But, what about that crazy place where we spend most of our extra strokes?

Getting better at putting doesn't have to be boring, or even all that time consuming. About 10 years ago, I decided that I was simply missing too many putts and that there was no reason for my confidence level on the greens to be so much lower than it was on the rest of a golf course. For me, better putting was found in a couple basic rules that I was breaking without knowing it. Once I followed those rules, my putting improved immediately and has been fair to good ever since.

The Pro-Align is a very clever tool that can help you to follow the most basic rule of putting, to aim the putter at the intended line of roll. It comes in a handy carrying case that has now found a comfy home in my golf bag. It is made from injection molded plastic so its very lightweight and durable. The Pro-Align is easy to assemble and once you get it together you'll very likely figure out how to use it for its basic function without reading the instructions.

Still, I think you'd be wise to read the excellent instructions provided at the Pro-Align web site. Suffice it to say that there is more than one use for the Pro-Align. For me, it is an invaluable indoor tool that allows me to keep my ability to aim the putter on my intended path. Really, it's that simple. Over time, as my stance or posture varies, or as I use a shorter or longer putter, I find that my abaility to aim the putter degrades. It helps a little to stand behind the ball and to see the line but the Pro-Align retrains me in mere minutes.

Beyond helping with aim, the Pro-Align helps me to stay-in my putts. It does this when I use the orange dot at the end of the beam as an instant line-check. If I keep the orange dot as the secondary focus as I'm over the putt and then make it the primary focus as I (hopefully) watch the ball roll directly beneath it, I can keep from being too intent on the hole while I should be concentrating on my stroke. This may sound complicated but it's really just about trusting your stroke and letting the Pro-Align help you do it.

About the only aspect of the Pro-Align that I'm not too sure about is the laser. The funny thing is that it's the one feature that I thought I would like the most. First of all, it's only for indoor use (for obvious reasons). Second, once it's mounted on the Pro-Align it's hard not to gently tweak the aim while pushing the laser's button, thereby skewing the aim slightly. Since the whole point to the laser is accuracy, that's a rather ironic problem.

That nick-pick aside, the Pro-Align is a very inexpensive and easy to use device that will help you to make more putts. So what if you don't get to the gym as often as you'd hoped this winter? Buy a Pro-Align and spend your winter in the comfort of the great indoors working on your putting. Come golf season, you'll be making a making a lot more putts.