HELP! Eye Position!!

EVandy · December 19, 2017

Hi all,

So i have been a relatively successful putter. Average around 30 putts a round with strokes gained putting -.5 for the fall season. I recently got on an eyeline putting mirror and noticed that my eyes are outside of the ball. I tried manipulating everything and could not get comfortable with my eyes inside or on the center line. Is it ok to have my eyes outside of the ball? Have there been any great putters on the pga tour with their eyes slightly (about an inch) outside of the ball? Thanks for all replies.

hehateme2285 · December 20, 2017

There may have been, but having your eyes outside the line is going to cause issues with alignment and stroke. But if you're a good putter and make enough, who cares?

If you do want to change, it's going to feel uncomfortable, but so does a grip change. You need to just hit putts over and over again until it feels comfortable.

Man_O_War · December 30, 2017

just make sure your dominant eye is in the right place.I am left eye dominant and for decades been setting up open to bring my right eye into play...so I have been ffffed up>

davep043 · December 30, 2017

Hi all,
So i have been a relatively successful putter. Average around 30 putts a round with strokes gained putting -.5 for the fall season. I recently got on an eyeline putting mirror and noticed that my eyes are outside of the ball. I tried manipulating everything and could not get comfortable with my eyes inside or on the center line. Is it ok to have my eyes outside of the ball? Have there been any great putters on the pga tour with their eyes slightly (about an inch) outside of the ball? Thanks for all replies.

There may have been, but having your eyes outside the line is going to cause issues with alignment and stroke. But if you're a good putter and make enough, who cares?

If you do want to change, it's going to feel uncomfortable, but so does a grip change. You need to just hit putts over and over again until it feels comfortable.

I generally agree with hehateme, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." In my view, there is a wide range of acceptable positions. Sure, if you were starting from ground zero, you should start with your eyes directly over the ball. But you're a competent putter, especially if you're gaining strokes on others in your handicap range. If you're consistently hitting your intended start line, that's all that really matters.

ferrispgm · December 30, 2017

Do the 3 ball test. Line 3 balls up in a straight line from your address ball to the hole. Take your address and move around until the balls look to be in a straight line from address. If you need your eyes to be outside the address ball then so be it. Everyone is different. You can do a similar thing with a chalk line. I started getting back to this recently and my putting has improved dramatically