Adjust your intention and alignment with this common household item

Welcome to Play Smart, GOLF.com's regular game improvement column that will help you become a smarter, better golfer.

Getting into good exercise habits is important if you are serious about reducing your disability. Getting reps is always good, but you need to be good at your workout to get the most out of it.

One of the best ways to achieve successful adaptation is to use training resources. No matter what problem you're trying to fix, there's sure to be a product that can help.

Don't think that means you need to spend hundreds of dollars to fix your swing. In fact, some of the best training aids are very cheap – and some can be made from common household items.

Use the rope as a training aid

If you have a piece of string lying around – congratulations! You have found yourself a very useful training resource. It may sound strange, but if you know how to use it, a few pieces of wire can be used for all kinds of things.

“It's big for me,” said Jonathan Bale who is a young star. “The alignment of my feet, is the face of the club, the distance and the ball. Just something as simple as that helps me a lot.”

At every practice, Bale places a piece of string on the floor pointing to his line. Not only does he make sure his aim is correct, but he can also make sure his clubface is square before every swing.

“I've always had a problem with consistency,” said Bale. “So this is obvious [the string] it's parallel to the clubface and I can see that my clubface is square from there.”

Unlike the clubhead, the string can be very close to your clubhead as you make the swing. In fact, you can even put the ball on it and hit shots without touching your clubhead as it comes to the ball.

If you're someone who has trouble with threading and alignment, look around the house for a piece of string. It may be the secret to curing your problems.