This article was machine-translated from the Korean original. Read the Korean original
Many amateurs confuse aiming and alignment. Today, before explaining the two, I would like to help you accurately understand the concepts first. In fact, simply understanding these concepts alone can be of great help.
01Aiming is the face, alignment is body
The path the ball rolls along is called the 'path'. Determining which direction to head to send the ball along this path—that is, aligning the putter face at a 90-degree angle to the target line—is called aiming.
Next, the process of aligning the toes parallel to that face is called alignment. To summarize, aiming means aligning the face, while alignment means aligning the body at a 90-degree angle relative to that face.
02Most amateurs do it in the opposite order.
The problem is that most amateurs do it in reverse order. They align their body with the target first, and then adjust their pace. Since they stand with their feet aligned with the target line first, their body aligns to the right; if they then adjust their pace to that, they end up looking far to the right. Consequently, this inevitably leads to a mishit where they push the ball to the right.
That is why the order is important. Aim first, and align later. You align the putter face with the target line first, and then align your body relative to that face.
03In practice, it is like this
Look at the target line from behind and visualize a dot or line in front of the ball. Align the putter face with that imaginary dot first, and once the face is aligned, prepare by aligning both arms parallel to the face, then execute the stroke.
...Just don't forget that face comes first, and the body comes second.
