Should Marking Your Ball with a Line Be Illegal?

[Schulzmc]

Interesting article:https://golf.com/instruction/rules/marking-ball-with-alignment-line-should-be-prohibited/

[DavePelz4]

If that's the case, then the brand/logo shouldn't be on there as some can be used in the same way.

[cardoustie]

I don’t mind it except for players that take 3 tries to get the line aimed where they want

[Kaysquare]

It's only annoying when someone is taking a whole minute or so to line up their 4th putt.

[rzitup]

This is a strange view to take, when the most played ball in golf literally has an "alignment aid" printed on it.

[Pepperturbo]

To each their own whine... I put a line on my 1st ball with 2 dots and 2nd ball gets line and 3 dots, been doing that for years. What I don't do is waste time trying to line up the line on my ball with my imaginary putting target. Wish everyone would mark their ball even beginners, but that's a separate rant.

[North Butte]

You ought to be able to put whatever marks you like on the ball.

But it ought to be against the rules to fiddle around with it when you should be putting.

[Mr. Bean]

Well, this issue has not been up for a while.... at least not for a month or so...

[Mr. Bean]

Maybe the best way would be to force players to putt blind-folded...

[farmer]

I'm quicker with a line than without a line.

[North Butte]

As I say, the problem ain't the line on the ball. The problem is golfers fiddling around procrastinating when they need to go ahead and putt. The line just gives procrastinators one more thing to fiddle with.

[Greenie]

I tried putting with a line on my ball. I was that guy that had to fiddle with my ball a couple of times before I got it just right. Way to much thinking for me. I putt so much better doing a quick read of the green and walking up and putting the ball in the hole.

[BlackDiamondPar5]

A real pet peeve of mine is obsessive marking when the ball is at no risk of being hit by another. I'd love to have a rule that allows a ball to be lifted once upon arrival to the green (if cleaning is needed) then play it as is unless near another's line. This would make a line on the ball nearly moot.

[nsxguy]

Yeah. I've experimented with the line a few times but could never get it lined up correctly; that is, when I've gotten the line "perfect", I'm over the ball and have picked my spot to putt over, the line on the ball NEVER looked to be lined up to my spot.

So while I understand the benefit, I could never get it quite right. So instead of fiddling with it 2 or 3 times and still not liking it I just went back to not using the line.

Hitting a putt thinking you're not lined up correctly is pretty much doomed from the get-go.

[Mr. Bean]

People with healthy understanding of ready golf would not need such a rule. And those others would not understand the rule in any case...

[North Butte]

Some people want to fiddle around instead of playing golf. You're never going to make a Rule that keeps them from doing it. If you outlaw one form of procrastination and fidgeting, there is a army of golf psychologists out there who will teach them another instead.

[Mr. Bean]

Just imagine how much better this world would be if they used all that creative talent for something useful!

[North Butte]

I've been in golf just about long enough (since the 90's) to remember when the sports psychologists actually gave players positive thinking advice. Locally there was a guy who'd just gotten his PhD and would be at clinics and such giving what I thought was very helpful suggestions, a lot of it was about eliminating superfluous distractions and focusing on the upcoming shot. Stuff about reading greens while you were walking onto them, simplifying your preshot routine so you could move as directly as possible from pulling the club to hitting the shot.

Heck, I remember once clinic I went to where the guy would stand there with a stopwatch and if a player didn't hit the ball with like 16 seconds of pulling the club he'd make him stop and do it over until he could quit hesitating over the shot. I thought that was good stuff.

Then at some point along about that time, they transitioned into teaching all these endless, superstitious bits and pieces of "routine". I guess there's more money in getting famous athletes addicted to adding more and more little behaviors (and backing off if anything interrupts their endless routine). None of those shrinks seem to work with golfers on simplifying and streamlining their thinking and their actions. It's all about having your personal list of 20 quirks to be done before you can pull the trigger on a routine shot. What a waste.

P.S. Bob Rotella's seminal first book was called "Golf Is Not A Game Of Perfect". The modern sports psychologist's mantra is "Back Off And Start Again If Anything Is Not Perfect"!

[phil75070]

I started using Callaway's Triple Track with the ERC and now with the 2020 Chrome Soft. I tried using those lines to line up my putts but found it more useful on the tee. I even went and got a Triple Track putter thinking maybe the ball combined with the putter was the answer. I have determined I am a much better putter if I just "feel" the line. Otherwise I think I get too mechanical, too focused on line versus speed, or something so I no longer even line up the ball.

 

As to whether putting a line on the ball should be allowed, I have no issues with others doing it and lining up their putts provided it doesn't take an inordinate amount of time to do so. Fortunately, none of the three guys I typically play with line up their putts using an alignment aid.

[Hawkeye77]

Article was click bait with a pretty weak a__ argument.

Cant stand using a line but if someone isn’t fiddling with it forever I don’t care how they mark up their ball. I like nothing but white when I putt.

[2bGood]

I use a line. I am not a slow putter. In fact I often hit putts well people are talking as they didn't realize I was putting as it happens so fast typically.

I read putts as I am walking up the green and dropping off bag etc. and if I am out of the way I may have my putt lined up on the putting surface. I don't make practice strokes so I am pretty much ready to putt the second the previous putt stops.

My point is the line is to the issue....

[dlygrisse]

Lines do more harm than good in my opinion.

[sui generis]

You might be right. The extra weight they add is sure to shift the cg of the ball, plus nobody on TV ever uses a line. ?

[Twism86]

I prefer to place my ball on the tee and green with no line, logo or anything showing. Take the line away for all I care, I never use it. I would love to get balls manufactured without any markings!

[ThinkingPlus]

I would sure hate if the RBs were to make it illegal since it allows the only objective feedback of how a putt was missed. Also while it may take a bit longer to line up the line, there should be less fidgeting over the putt because you only need to think about speed once over the ball.

[8602081]

Everyone has their opinions..

I just started using the line.. It amazes me to see what I think is the line vs what the putter and ball shows me..

It's helping me on short putts..

 

I assume it's still legal

Chromesoft's new ball have 3 lines..

 

[double_d]

It should be illegal.

That said I use it because it IS legal and it is a pretty considerable advantage if done correctly.

 

[Mr. Bean]

If that was true all professionals would use the line. But they do not. I wonder why...

[double_d]

I guess I should have said it is an advantage for those of us who do not practice hours daily and it eliminates a potential variable.

It allows you to look at the line and establish the line with two eyes from behind the line so that you can trust it and make a confident stroke just focusing on distance.

I would be willing to bet most amateurs would putt better using a line on the ball.

[cxx]

Why stop with the line on the ball. Make all alignment aids on balls and clubs illegal, Maybe even putters with rectangular or symmetric profiles. They certainly help line things up.