Combating the parallax effect in putter alignment

[dannykos]

So I've been doing a fair amount of research into the topic of the parallax effect - which initially stemmed from this excellent video on the topic:

So - I spent some time searching various alignment aids / lasers / mats etc etc... as I often my putts don't end up where I think I'm aiming.

Then, owing to the current lockdown - I have a 12ft putting mat in my office - I began to experiment with closing my dominant (right) eye when over the ball and looking at the hole. Then once I've set the putter square to my target line, I look back at the ball and open my right eye again and make the putt.

To say its been a revelation would be an understatement. Other than poorly struck putts, everything just goes in!? Literally chomping at the bit to see if this is a real thing, and will translate out on the course.

Anyhow - just thought I'd share incase anyone else is struggling to marry up what they see, with where it goes.

[jdubba]

No way! I’ll have to try this out! Do you line up the ball? I always struggle with trusting the line on the ball even though I know it’s perfect when standing behind the ball

[dannykos]

I don't line up the ball, so this for me has been a revelation. Presumably, those people who do like to spend half their lives minutely adjusting the angle of the ball over and over again - may well not have this problem.

[farmer]

I use a line to combat parallax problems. Like any other change in golf, it takes time to learn to trust the line and not your lying eyes. When I have made my read, I put the ball down and very rarely change it, "first read is the best read". My line lets me focus on speed, which is my biggest determinant on making a putt and avoiding three putts.

[juststeve]

More than any single thing my putting improved when I started to aim the putter the Dave Stockton way. Pick a spot an inch or two in front of the ball on your intended starting line and roll the ball over the spot. The parallax effect has little effect because the spot is just a couple of inches away. How this type got so big and bold I don't know.Steve

 

[D0ch0l1d4y]

I've found this to not be true for me - In the video OP posted, I tested my alignment with a line on the ball and a point 4-6" in front of the ball. When I lined up the ball from behind, it looked left as I got over the ball when my eyes are directly over the ball.

I had to calibrate my eyeline with where it looked on line. My eyes need to be about 2" inside the ball for the line to look right. If i'm over the ball, my miss is right - my body adjusts because my head sees it left.

[MonteScheinblum]

The easiest way to do it, IMO, is what I call kick a field goal.

 

3 foot putt or 300 yard drive, you pick out two spots within a couple of feet in front of the ball, then align between them. Almost totally neutralizes parallax.

[Nels55]

I have been doing this drill for a number of years now and it seems to help me a great deal to get aligned correctly:

I simply tap the back of the club ruler with my normal stroke usually while looking at the hole. Also I often put a ball so that the back of it is just barely over the back of the ruler and then do the same stroke tapping the end of the ruler and if the stroke is good the ball will roll straight down the ruler. The couple of times I have been on SAM PuttLab system my alignment has been very good, 0.1 degrees closed the last time so I guess that this system works pretty well for me.

[Nels55]

I remember an article recommending something to that effect in a major golf magazine many years ago. They had a picture of soldiers lined up down the fairway on each side of the line I think. A sports psychologist sort of guy was giving different tour players images of this sort and it was of course working very well for them hence the article. LOL I don't remember exactly what was said but it was something along those lines...

On the putting green I have a really hard seeing one spot and then remembering where it is let alone trying to see two spots and then remember them over the ball so that idea would not work very well for me while actually playing. I have used similar gate drills with tees or coins or whatever while practicing though.

[bluedot]

Or, you could putt facing the hole with binocular vision, the same way you lined the putt up. Poof! Parallax error gone forever!

Not only that, but you're swinging the club with one hand, just the way that you would roll a ball, instead of trying to swing two arms across your body while trying to stay still, all from a position used in sports ONLY for creating power thru speed and torque, except for putting a golf ball. Literally, there's not another precision movement in all of sports done using two hands from a position parallel to the line of play. That parallax error goes away is a HUGE benefit, but only one.

Sorry; I NEVER get evangelical about this. But if you are asking how to deal with parallax error, you're asking the wrong question.

[juststeve]

My experience is a lot like yours. I get lined up to my spot, then when I get over the ball it doesn't look right. You just have to trust you alignment, no second guessing and roll the ball.

Steve

[tthomasgolfer605]

True story. I was using a Newport style putter for many years. I missed an 8 foot birdie putt where it didn't even touch the hole. I had a buddy line my club face at the hole and looked down and the face appeared dead shut. Decided to get a putter fitting and sure enough I was aiming well to the right with a laser attached to my putter. Put in a mallet head with one line on it and set it down with what I thought was the correct aim. Sure enough I was aimed in the dead center of the hole from 10 ft. We tried every combo with the Newport style: Length/Lie/Different alignment lines and just couldn't get it right. There is something about that style of putter that threw my aim off. If you think you're aiming correctly and you actually aren't, it wouldn't hurt to change the shape of the putter head or get a good putter fitting. Next was getting those compensations out of my stroke which didn't take too long because I could now trust my aim and just let it go.

 

[iteachgolf]

Get fit for a putter. The right putter in your hand fit by a competent fitter will make straight look straight. Can change aim easily up to 5 degrees just by changing/adjusting putter

[dennis4190]

Couldn't agree more, iteach. I went to the Bettinardi studio about 5-6 years ago and got fit. I was aiming about 4-5 inches to the left of the hole when I got there and after adjusting the length, lie, and loft, I was dead on when I left. Took all my Bettis (6) with me and they adjusted all of them for me.

[dannykos]

Love this - I tried it with a 30cm ruler I had and it was great, so I ordered a 1m last week. Looking forward to it arriving to see how hard it is to putt all the way along!

[dannykos]

As long as the fit also take into account the parallax effect, and isn’t just a static fit.

[dannykos]

Anyone tried my suggestion yet and can verify or otherwise?

[Nels55]

I started using this idea back when I was seeing a lot of talk about using a laser with a mirror on the clubhead to check the alignment. I was too lazy to build a laser setup so I ended up with the square piece of metal approach as I had a couple of club rulers laying around. I have seen other ideas like using a 2X4 but then you can't so easily try hitting a ball with that setup. I mostly just tap the end of the ruler or push on it while looking at the 'hole' as that seems to get my eye calibrated.

I have wondered over the years of doing this if it might be better to get fit for a putter that does not need to be calibrated all the time. Not sure if that would make any difference.

Also another use for the ruler is to get setup with a ball aiming at the hole normally and then hold the putter steady while a helper takes the ball away and puts the ruler down to check if you are aimed correctly. I have done this one a few times and it can be instructive.

Enjoy and happy putting!

[iteachgolf]

Why I said competent fitter. A static fitting isn’t a fitting. I’m talking a competent fitter with SAM or similar who can measure what’s going on along with multiple shapes and alignment features to test

[DLiver]

This is really helpful, because when I line up the ball from behind (using a line on the ball), then get into address position, the line on the ball always looks like it is pointing left of the hole. Even when I would use an intermediate aiming point, it would look like it was left of the correct line when I was over the ball.

I'm not sure how much of this is subconscious behavior thought. I tend to close the putter face during my stroke, which led me to start unknowingly aim right of the correct line. What a freaking mess!

What I link about the vid is that 1) it teaches the importance of learning a stroke that hits the ball true(ly). I have some old Pelz O-balls that are a perfect training aid for this. I don't worry about where the ball is aimed, I just learn to hit the ball so that the lines don't wobble. 2) I now have a process for figuring out how to line up over the ball so that I can trust the line.

Every time I see one of Mike Malaska's videos, I find them very very interesting. Hmmm....

[DLev45]

This is how I have done it as well. I still face several putts per round where I set the line on the ball from behind and then stand over it and it doesn't appear its aimed correctly. But through experience, I know that if my eyes and the line are in conflict, my eyes are the liars.

All it took was a couple dozen putts where I adjusted over the ball without changing the Sharpie line because I thought "the line isn't playing enough break" or "the line is playing too much break," only to burn the edge on the high/low side when the Sharpie line would have sank it.

It's not that the Sharpie line never looks wrong to my eyes anymore. It's that I've learned which to trust when there is a conflict.

[D0ch0l1d4y]

Yeah...just trusting it wasn't the problem. I went to get fit on a SAM machine at Club Champion here in KC. At the time I had a Betti BB1. I set it down and was always aimed outside right edge when I thought it was dead center. That produced a loop and a pull in my stroke. In addition to the loop, I had too much loft - essentially I was hitting a baby fade with all my putts. Not coincidentally most of my misses were short. Changed the Lie angle a couple degrees and reduced the loft to get the roll right. Still had the loop/pull so I changed my eyeline over the ball from right over the middle of the ball to about a half ball inside.

Every line up was center cut and the loop almost went away.

This was in 10-15 min at the fitting. It recommended a mallet style, so picked up a QB8. Practiced over the winter and in my first round this year (and only so far) had the fewest putts with the most makes in the 4-8' range I've had since tracking putts.

Setup before the fitting - 35" Bettinardi BB1 @ 70* lie angle, 3* loft

Post fitting - 34 1/2" Bettinardi QB8 @ 68* lie angle, 1.5* loft.

*edit - also started standing off-center to read the putt (left eye dominant) and picked up a Trident Align ball marker. It's helped tremendously getting the line on the ball correct. That with the updated setup and correctly fitting putter makes a huge difference in confidence over the ball as well.

[juststeve]

Glad the putter fitting worked for you.

 

Steve

[BigEx44]

Yes!! One of the great benefits of sidesaddle putting. I'm surprised more people don't explore this option.

[Wardonation]

On 4/24/2020 at 9:40 AM, dannykos said:

So I've been doing a fair amount of research into the topic of the parallax effect - which initially stemmed from this excellent video on the topic:

 

So - I spent some time searching various alignment aids / lasers / mats etc etc... as I often my putts don't end up where I think I'm aiming.

Then, owing to the current lockdown - I have a 12ft putting mat in my office - I began to experiment with closing my dominant (right) eye when over the ball and looking at the hole. Then once I've set the putter square to my target line, I look back at the ball and open my right eye again and make the putt.

To say its been a revelation would be an understatement. Other than poorly struck putts, everything just goes in!? Literally chomping at the bit to see if this is a real thing, and will translate out on the course.

Anyhow - just thought I'd share incase anyone else is struggling to marry up what they see, with where it goes.

Thanks for the share this is brilliant

[philsRHman]

I’ve been on the meandering path to better alignment, thinking it’s all about finding the holy grail of putter head shape and getting more and more frustrated and stumped because no matter what, every putter seems to line up to the hook side for me. As I started reading this and watching the video I realize maybe my eyes and eye position is the culprit and I can work to fix it. One thing I’ve noticed is I have trouble determining my dominant eye. For instance, the text of making a triangle with your fingers, the object moves equally for me side to side. I need to make that hole tiny and then it’s dramatic. I’ve always had excellent vision, especially distance, and wonder if this is potentially part of my problem or solution. I’ll try the exercise with one eye closed at address.
 

Also will try the test done in the video. A quick try made me think I see the line significantly better from well away from the ball. Any thought on how that would potentially affect the stroke negatively? I’m like so many who had been drilled “get your eyes over the ball!”

[Nels55]

10 hours ago, philsRHman said:

I’ve been on the meandering path to better alignment, thinking it’s all about finding the holy grail of putter head shape and getting more and more frustrated and stumped because no matter what, every putter seems to line up to the hook side for me. As I started reading this and watching the video I realize maybe my eyes and eye position is the culprit and I can work to fix it. One thing I’ve noticed is I have trouble determining my dominant eye. For instance, the text of making a triangle with your fingers, the object moves equally for me side to side. I need to make that hole tiny and then it’s dramatic. I’ve always had excellent vision, especially distance, and wonder if this is potentially part of my problem or solution. I’ll try the exercise with one eye closed at address.
 

Also will try the test done in the video. A quick try made me think I see the line significantly better from well away from the ball. Any thought on how that would potentially affect the stroke negatively? I’m like so many who had been drilled “get your eyes over the ball!”

I am the same for determining dominant eye.  Most folks brains block out the image from the non dominant eye which makes it easy to do the test.  I am pretty sure I am right eye dominant as that  is the eye I will automatically go to doing something like using a range finder.  I am right handed and I play and putt right handed though I have considered switching LOL.  Anyway this thread makes me glad that I have never pursued finding a putter head shape in order to conquer my alignment problems!  As long as I do my alignment drill once every day or so my ability to line up correctly seems good.  At the risk of repeating myself excessively here is the drill:

 

 

[PracticeSwinger]

11 hours ago, philsRHman said:

I’ve been on the meandering path to better alignment, thinking it’s all about finding the holy grail of putter head shape and getting more and more frustrated and stumped because no matter what, every putter seems to line up to the hook side for me. As I started reading this and watching the video I realize maybe my eyes and eye position is the culprit and I can work to fix it. One thing I’ve noticed is I have trouble determining my dominant eye. For instance, the text of making a triangle with your fingers, the object moves equally for me side to side. I need to make that hole tiny and then it’s dramatic. I’ve always had excellent vision, especially distance, and wonder if this is potentially part of my problem or solution. I’ll try the exercise with one eye closed at address.
 

Also will try the test done in the video. A quick try made me think I see the line significantly better from well away from the ball. Any thought on how that would potentially affect the stroke negatively? I’m like so many who had been drilled “get your eyes over the ball!”

Just my experience - so take it for what it's worth... that video is asweome to get educated on the parralax effect - and get a putting mirror for immediate feedback on setup, is it far more 'damagable' to have your eyes on the other side of the ball; definitely a hook pattern as you can't commit, the hole seems on the left of path when over the ball, subconsicously pulling it... side effect of standing further (if that's how you make sure your eyes are over the ball or on the inside) is a more arched stroke all else being equal just from the lie, so keep that in mind

[ChaosTheory]

This winter I've been trying to get better.  First was to come up with a plan.  I have been waffling back and forth as far as what is the foundation: the ability to aim properly, or the ability to have a good, relatively pure stroke and then learn to aim it.  I had reasoned that the stroke was the first building block. 

 

But lately I think that aim is the first building block.  Because over time, bad aim screws up the stroke.   Now, you could build a nice stroke while putting to nothing.  That's what I started doing as my first step.  But now I think if the aim is off and the putts are missing, that nice foundational stroke will change.

 

Also:  Will good aim cause the stroke to get better?  Or will good aim simply not sabotage a good stroke?

 

Thoughts?

Edited February 7, 2022 by Snowman9000

[PracticeSwinger]

21 minutes ago, Snowman9000 said:

This winter I've been trying to get better.  First was to come up with a plan.  I have been waffling back and forth as far as what is the foundation: the ability to aim properly, or the ability to have a good, relatively pure stroke and then learn to aim it.  I had reasoned that the stroke was the first building block. 

 

But lately I think that aim is the first building block.  Because over time, bad aim screws up the stroke.   Now, you could build a nice stroke while putting to nothing.  That's what I started doing as my first step.  But now I think if the aim is off and the putts are missing, that nice foundational stroke will change.

 

Also:  Will good aim cause the stroke to get better?  Or will good aim simply not sabotage a good stroke?

 

Thoughts?

I've been on the same path - and my thoughts is that good aim is a prerequisite to a good stroke; in that I define it as a mechanical sound motion that sends the ball where I intend to... that seems easy enough, but said differently, you can practice and perfect a mechanically sound motion aiming nowhere... but your subconsious will take over if you can't commit to your stroke when you get over the ball and think it isn't right, screwing your otherwise fluid motion...

 

And I think it's where a lot of people go wrong - we can see it time and time again on relatively short range putts (4-8 feet); where the hole is within that parallax... while they don't have an issue with longer range putts (where they can commit and perform their fluid motion)