Ball Position - Putting

[Bushwood Country Club]

Curious as to where you position the ball when you are putting: Front of center, dead center, or rear of center. Also - please comment on whether this is "natural" for you, or whether you consciously align the ball at that place in your stance.

 

I've found that my natural placement is front of center, so I am curious as to how others respond to this.

 

Thanks

[ThunderBuzzworth]

Slightly back of center

[Shipwreck]

Front of center, then a slight forward press to initiate the backstroke.

[Matt J]

Front of center.

 

Theoretically your eye dominance and how you see the line should dictate ball position.

 

I find my putting setup has a lot of compensations for misses. I think I play it forward because I traditionally fought a push due to slow tempo and dragging the handle down the line, chasing the head to the target. I also typically setup a bit closed to force myself to pull it a little to get it to the hole.

 

My best putting happens when I favor a miss each putt... as a lefty a fast left to right putt I'll use a nice slow tempo and allow for the slight push, while a slow uphill right to left I'll try and setup closed and pull it down the target line through a little of the break.

[Ed Settle]

Slightly front of center. Trying not to hit down on the ball, but also allow my natural arc to be square to the target

[MtlJeff]

I have it on my front foot. A little unnatural but I feel it helps the putter get off the ground in my back swing and not brush against the grass

[jslane57]

Front of center. Slightly open stance.

 

When I play the ball center with a square stance, I become robotic and my putting suffers...

[golfgirlrobin]

Dead center. Used to be forward, but once I went to a center shafted putter I moved it back.

[Jack Pearsall]

In order to have his dominant eye directly over the ball, he needs to have it slightly front of center.

[thevaporz]

For me, right inside of left heel. This vid really helped me. As long as you're seeing the ball roll end over end you know your stroke is good. It's more important to line up, aim, and trust your line when you address your putt based on your dominant eye.

 

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[andrue]

I used to go for middle of stance but have found better consistency if I have the ball slightly forward.

 

But it's the only thing I think about when putting. I've never seen any reason to think about stroke mechanics or club positions. I'm a pretty good putter anyway (mostly two putts, a few one putts rarely three putt) so I just hold the club the way that feels most comfortable and swing it the way that feels right.

 

It's always kind of puzzled me. I mean it puzzles me that some people apparently think about what their body is doing during a full swing but there at least I do usually have a few thoughts before I start the process and will often count off the tempo. But putting..meh. Hold the club. Swing the club. Pick your ball out of the hole. Once I've worked the line out the physical act seems too simple to analyse.

[Hjosh7_]

I have it right in the center. I also stand closed to the line just because it feels natural. I fight a push sometimes so when that happens, I move it forward, but mostly it's in the center.

[taylorx300]

Mike Shannon has a formula that most tour players which is 2x3 or 2.5 x 3.

The 2 or 2.5 equals the number of putter head lengths (4") from the heal of the blade at address to your toe line.

The 3 equals the number of putter head lengths ( 3x4=12" ) that the inside of your feet should be apart.

Lastly the ball should be played one putter length (4") from the inside of your left foot - right handed player.

[rocketmutt]

Front of center. I like to have the ball under my dominant eye, it feels more natural to me

[North Butte]

I clicked “front of center” but it’s not much. Maybe one ball width ahead of dead center, if that.

 

My dominant eye is pretty much straight over the ball in that position which makes it “natural” for the ball to be there. In fact, I can check it using a Eyeline mirror and my dominant eye is vertically over the ball in both dimensions.

[Reidman]

I just finished a putting analysis with SAM lab at Club Champion. I am right-handed, right eye dominant, and putt left hand low. Recommended ball position for me was 1 ball back of center

[PreppySlapCut]

I play mine forward of center, but there’s a bunch of factors involved in where each person should play theirs.

[North Butte]

Having my dominant eye directly over the ball seems to make intuitive sense, I suppose. But that's not actually how I figured out the ball needed to be in that position.

 

I'm a big believer in eliminating any need for manipulation in the putting stroke. So I did an experiment to find what ball position would make the ball roll on my intended line if I closed my eyes during the actual stroke. It clearly favored "slightly forward of center" over the dead-center position I had used for years. And also shows that more than very slightly forward does not work.

 

I placed a ball on a four-foot metal ruler. Set up by aiming straight down the ruler. Just as I started the stroke I closed my eyes and didn't open them until after the ball was rolling.

 

It was quite astounding how moving the ball 2" forward or back from my correct spot would consistently veer the ball off the ruler before it had traveled four feet. But with the ball in that one optimum position I can roll eyes-closed putts all the way to the end of the ruler and beyond, time after time.

 

There is a similar eyes-closed test I used to figure out which of my several putters will roll longer putts on my intended line. I love, love, love a couple of plumbers neck Anser style putters that I own but if I make eye-closed putting strokes of 10-20 feet it's my face balanced blade that consistently sends the ball toward the target.

[Bushwood Country Club]

I just finished a putting analysis with SAM lab at Club Champion. I am right-handed, right eye dominant, and putt left hand low. Recommended ball position for me was 1 ball back of center

This sounds like a very helpful exercise/ . Any info on what the SAM lab is?

[Matt J]

Science and Motion

 

Tracks the club head and the ball within a very tight parameter to tell you path, loft at impact, tempo, face angle, "jerking" is whether you flinch, etc.

 

Here's a link to their page, check page 6, which looks like the report it produces...

 

http://www.scienceandmotion.com/download/docs/New%20Features%20PuttLab%206%20Doc.pdf

[smeech8000]

Slightly front of center. I'm comfortable having the putter sit dead center of stance so that dictates the ball position for me.

[hybrid25]

I used to go for middle of stance but have found better consistency if I have the ball slightly forward.

 

But it's the only thing I think about when putting. I've never seen any reason to think about stroke mechanics or club positions. I'm a pretty good putter anyway (mostly two putts, a few one putts rarely three putt) so I just hold the club the way that feels most comfortable and swing it the way that feels right.

 

It's always kind of puzzled me. I mean it puzzles me that some people apparently think about what their body is doing during a full swing but there at least I do usually have a few thoughts before I start the process and will often count off the tempo. But putting..meh. Hold the club. Swing the club. Pick your ball out of the hole. Once I've worked the line out the physical act seems too simple to analyse.

I will agree with you in regards to actual golf play, but a golfer should be thinking of their mechanics while correcting/practicing their putting game so their stroke is almost instinct on the course. This is what most refer to in here. I had to go check where I positioned the ball before responding to this post.

http://golftodaynw.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Left-Eye-Dominant.png

 

http://golftodaynw.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Right-Eye-Dominance.png

 

[Marco Colo]

Never even thought about that. I think I use the dead center, but I’ll make some tries to see what suits me the best. That’s the reason why I like this site