Seeing the line

Does anyone have experience with training themselves to “see the line” of a putt?

I know that Mike Malaska wants his students to see the line. He recommends moving the head around (forward/back/up/down) until you believe in the correct aimline, as dictated by the line on the golf ball. My issue is that no matter where I put my head/eyes, sometimes I simply cannot see it. This is especially true on short, L-R breaking putts.

I point a line on the ball at my target, let’s say left edge of the cup. When I get over the ball, it looks like if I hit it along that line, I will miss it right. And go figure, when I line up with and hit it according to the line on the ball (the one that looks right to me), it misses right. Now, to be sure, the line on the ball IS indeed pointed at the left edge of the cup, as evidenced from behind the ball or when I look at it from the other side as if I were putting left handed.

For reference, I’m in full agreement with the importance of seeing the line, especially for short putts. Is the correct aimline something that I can train myself to see through repetition and with the help of a chalk line? Does anyone have experience with training themselves to “see the line” of a putt?

I know that Mike Malaska wants his students to see the line. He recommends moving the head around (forward/back/up/down) until you believe in the correct aimline, as dictated by the line on the golf ball. My issue is that no matter where I put my head/eyes, sometimes I simply cannot see it. This is especially true on short, L-R breaking putts.

I point a line on the ball at my target, let’s say left edge of the cup. When I get over the ball, it looks like if I hit it along that line, I will miss it right. And go figure, when I line up with and hit it according to the line on the ball (the one that looks right to me), it misses right. Now, to be sure, the line on the ball IS indeed pointed at the left edge of the cup, as evidenced from behind the ball or when I look at it from the other side as if I were putting left handed.

For reference, I’m in full agreement with the importance of seeing the line, especially for short putts. Is the correct aimline something that I can train myself to see through repetition and with the help of a chalk line?

I think it comes with experience. I'm convinced that I'm a good green reader because I've seen so many putts in my life. I think if you get out and practice putts, over time you'll get better as that collective experience gets into your brain.

So yeah, if you like the chalk line go do that a lot, the more you see the better you'll get IMO.

Practice things on the practice green. Difference stances. Different head angles. Different ideas of what line is. Some think of a lane rather than a line. And don't stress out over it, after all, on most putts speed is equally, if not more important. So practice imagination. Chalk lines and such are great for practice, but be aware of what you're practicing. Some folks practice stroke when they need to be practicing set up and a putting PSR...

If the ball and the putter face are aimed left edge and you are still missing right, then your shoulder line might be aimed to the right. Try getting your head behind the ball...think Jack Nicklaus or Greg Norman in their prime. Jack did it hunched over and Norman did it from a more upright position. It's more difficult than it looks to get your head behind it but still keeping weight on your left foot. You might even have to open your stance slightly, but try it. Moving your head behind it will probably help you see the line better and will more than likely move your left shoulder up and left...resulting in getting your shoulders back on the line of the putt.

I sometimes struggle as well. If I line the ball up beforehand it usually looks to be slightly left of where it should be when I address it. I've recently found that if I stand half way along the target line and look across it I can 'sense' the slope. I can't really see it but I can feel whether I'm looking down across the line or up across it.

But my main problem isn't alignment, it's distance. I hate lag putting and sadly that means I often come up short, and they don't go in at all that way :(

Still - I mostly two putt, often one putt, rarely three or worse so I'm not a bad putter. I just wish I could convert the close calls. On Sunday I had a chance to par a par 3 that usually foxes me and my mate. I had a one yard putt and it scraped by the hole. Then again most of what happened Sunday outside of the tee box was naff for me.

I haven't been able to see"see the line" of the putt while standing over at the ready position when putting. Curiously I see the an imaginary line through the ball more when I'm on the tee box

The only time I see a line on the putting surface is when I crouch down below the hole Then when I walk to my ball the line disappears and is replaced by a path I think what happens in my mind is that I thinking about speed so automatically my senses chooses a wider path to the hole Then when I take a few practice stroke looking at the hole I start narrowing the path It's important that I look hole while practicing my stroke its for distance only not for aiming Once I figure my stroke length then setup to the ball and start narrowing the path smaller than the diameter of the ball and choose a aiming spot in front of the ball and stare at that spot while I stroke the ball

This has worked well for me

I´ll echo the shoulder statement above.

What might work for you is to get your dominant eye (and specifically your dominant eye), on top of the golf ball. Set up like this, and close both eyes. When you turn your head to look your head will follow your shoulder plane, so when you open your eyes you will see where you´re aiming

When I squat down behind the ball I don't see the line on the ground

I use a "stink eye" method . Look at the hole with my eyes darting from the edge of my eye sockets and alingn up with my putter shaft No need to do practice strokes Make sure the butt end is pointed at my body at all times during the stroke