Putting using line on ball - how long did it take you to be comfortable?

[Golfbeat]

Now that we have determined that some people like the line and some don't, can we now finally determine what is better: flag in or out?

[ThinkingPlus]

7 minutes ago, Golfbeat said:

Now that we have determined that some people like the line and some don't, can we now finally determine what is better: flag in or out?

Out, if you have good speed control of the putt and can clearly see the hole.

[Phabs]

31 minutes ago, Golfbeat said:

Now that we have determined that some people like the line and some don't, can we now finally determine what is better: flag in or out?

Why would you want to shrink the hole size with a flagstick in it?

[Ghostwedge]

To the OP, never got comfortable with a line. Figured it was the right hand left eye dominance thing. What helped me was not obsessing over the line and getting the speed right instead. Pick a spot and let it fly.

[bladehunter]

19 hours ago, Zitlow said:

Maybe the universe was trying to tell you to mark a smile on your ball to make more putts. lol

True story. I did this.  Lined the curved line ( smile ) up to the contact point on the ball at address , and proceeded to have the best putting day I’ve had in 18 months.  Shot 70 with an OB drive on 14 , in a light rain and took enough skins to buy my kids upcoming basketball shoes ….. you might should think about trademark rights on the smile lined golf ball ! 😂

 

 

 

now all jokes aside. It was rainy and grey outside.  And I’ve always said I can “ see” so much better when it’s grey.  And today I could just see every read so clearly.  I’d give alot to be able to see that well every single round.  

[getitdaily]

9 hours ago, iceman1118 said:

 

 

And OP, stop buying new putters
 

 

Insert Dave Chappell "got anymore of those putters" crackhead.gif

[Obee]

On 4/22/2023 at 7:33 AM, Cliffy2020 said:

I thought so too until I actually started measuring it .

 

 

 

IMG_0988.MOV 13.97 MB · 0 downloads

 

This is where Malaska's video comes in. Get your eyes in a position where you can line up the putter line with the line on the ball. Magic will start happening.

Have a friend confirm for you or video, etc.

[Obee]

On 4/21/2023 at 7:26 PM, ThinkingPlus said:

Mostly, when I roll it well, my misses are just prettier.

So with me it was this: When straight in reality became straight my eye, I started readying far, far more putts "inside the hole" than I ever had before. While my elite putting friends would say: "This putt is left-center firm," I NeverEverEver read putts like that.

 

Everything was always, "on the right edge or one ball out left," that kind of thing. I use to always see break because my strokes what sh*tty and I lacked the confidence to hit putts firmly and I was always "tickling" the ball to the hole from inside 10 feet.

Now I regularly read putts inside the hole and have the confidence to play them there (because my stroke is more efficient and repeatable)

[Obee]

Great putting day yesterday. Our greens are 11.25 and in very nice shape. Made a small adjustment in my top hand (my left) grip, went significantly weaker with it, which enables me to feel like I'm "shoving" the ball down the line. Paid nice dividends yesterday:

1. 2-putt from 9 feet

2. 1-putt birdie from 10 feet

3. 2-putt par from 20 feet

4. 2-putt par from 24

5. 1-putt par tap-in

6. 1-putt 9-foot par save

7. 1-putt 5-foot par save

8. 1-putt 4-foot par save

9. 1-putt 1-foot par save

10. 1-putt 5-foot par save

11. 2-putt par from 25 feet

12. 2-putt par from 9 feet

13. 1-putt par save from 2-feet

14. 1-putt birdie from 2-feet

15. 1-putt par save from 18 feet

16. 1-putt birdie from 35 feet

17. 2-putt bogey from 22 feet

18. 2-putt par from 21 feet
 

That's about 100 feet of putts made. 25 official putts. Several of those 1-putts I was putting from the fringe, including two that were barely off the green.

Rolling it very well right now and my speed control is dialed in -- just in time for tournament season!

Edited April 23, 2023 by Obee

[ThinkingPlus]

2 minutes ago, Obee said:

So with me it was this: When straight in reality became straight my eye, I started readying far, far more putts "inside the hole" than I ever had before. While my elite putting friends would say: "This putt is left-center firm," I NeverEverEver read putts like that.

 

Everything was always, "on the right edge or one ball out left," that kind of thing. I use to always see break because my strokes what sh*tty and I lacked the confidence to hit putts firmly and I was always "tickling" the ball to the hole from inside 10 feet.

Now I regularly read putts inside the hole and have the confidence to play them there (because my stroke is more efficient and repeatable)

Having the stroke confidence to hit putts firm to the hole is important and something I lack. I also tend to over read makeable putts.  Miss a lot of putts grazing the high edge. That's a psychological issue from reading too many Golf Digests in the 80s and 90s. I have slain the "take an extra club" dragon, but am still fighting the "play more break" demon.

[Robert L.]

23 hours ago, Golfbeat said:

Now that we have determined that some people like the line and some don't, can we now finally determine what is better: flag in or out?

Flag in from beyond 10 feet, flag out inside of 10 feet.

[Cliffy2020]

4 hours ago, Obee said:

 

This is where Malaska's video comes in. Get your eyes in a position where you can line up the putter line with the line on the ball. Magic will start happening.

Have a friend confirm for you or video, etc.

Yessir, I tried that the first year and found having my eyes ~4” inside the ball with a little head tilt to the right helped line up the lines and all the dots I placed along a chalk line on my 16’ putting green.  At nearly 6’5” I extended a handful of putters and bent them to ~67*.  Needless to say, setting up that far away from the ball wasn’t ideal and the stroke got a little too arced.

 

The next year I focused retraining my eyes as I described in my earlier post.

 

This past year, I found a putter style I naturally aim better and have released all the demons and all the tension they bring to putting.  I even considered a 6hr road trip for an Edel fitting that would have saved my a lot of time and frustration.

 

I’ll reintroduce the line on the ball in due time but only after the prior wounds are fully healed.

 

( Great round earlier (posted above) and thank you for sharing your putting thread with us - I really enjoyed and learned from it )

 

 

[GoTime]

I use a line on pretty much any length putt, helps me commit to start line before my routine, which removes a major variable I used to think about over the ball. Also simplifies other thoughts....once the line is good I just focus on rolling it end over end. The line has also helped my alignment and eye position correct itself.

 

Finally - line on ball has really simplified pre-round putting warm up. If I roll some straight 10 footers and that line is end over end, regardless of whether it goes in, that's a huge confidence boost before a round. Sometime I'll roll less than 5 putts if the line is tight and speed is good. Only rolled 3 before the round this morning.

 

Line + iron clad pre-putt routine has really upped my putting this year.

 

Edit: I was a person who couldn't use a line because it looked funny once I was over it. I spent some time over winter in my basement with an Eyeline mirror and lined balls and moved the ball position and my head around until it look straight - then drilled the positions in to become normal. People saying they 'can't use a line' is like saying you can't figure your swing because it feels funny. Unless you have googly eyes like Sloth from goonies....you can use a line. You just need to fix your jacked up eye/head/ball position and put in the WORK. Sometimes the line can also look off because your stroke/path sucks. If you're used to pushing every putt right, when you're over the line it's going to look way left etc. You could also be playing the wrong length/lie putter, which would make it tough to get positions right to line up properly.

Edited April 23, 2023 by GoTime

[Jimjam651]

From a slightly different perspective, I could never get comfortable with how long it felt like it took me to actually line the ball up as i don't it easy to do for whatever reason.  I always got super self conscious about slow play and have found it far less stressful to pick a spot a few inches ahead of the ball

[tthomasgolfer605]

On 4/21/2023 at 8:09 AM, Obee said:

For those of you who can't get used to the line (I was one of you!), you need to watch this video (that someone else posted above). Combine the video below with the line, and you WILL become a phenomenal short (inside ~8 feet?) putter.

You cannot use the line effectively if the line doesn't look properly aligned to you. You MUST figure that out. The good news? You CAN do it. I am EXTREMELY right-eye dominant. My head has to be WAY behind and slightly inside the ball for the line to look straight. That's crazy. It NEVER looked straight prior to me figuring this out.

Watch this video. Combine it with the line. Watch magic happen.

Can you tell I'm PASSIONATE about this??? 😉
 

 

I think a lot of it is people want to 'look good' over the ball. The only good putting posture is where you can see the line correctly. If I had to stick an alignment shaft up my bunger to see a straight line, I would. Been experimenting in my house and I'm pretty much the same. Have to feel well behind and inside it to see a straight line. I wonder if it's a right eye dominant thing. Off to the proctologist because I actually tried the alignment stick thing. 🤪

[bladehunter]

19 hours ago, ThinkingPlus said:

Having the stroke confidence to hit putts firm to the hole is important and something I lack. I also tend to over read makeable putts.  Miss a lot of putts grazing the high edge. That's a psychological issue from reading too many Golf Digests in the 80s and 90s. I have slain the "take an extra club" dragon, but am still fighting the "play more break" demon.

Let me guess. Way more prevalent on birdie putts vs par putts ?!  😂.  

[ThinkingPlus]

6 minutes ago, bladehunter said:

Let me guess. Way more prevalent on birdie putts vs par putts ?!  😂.  

Maybe a little more, but I have it bad. I tend to over read everything. I am getting a little better, but it is a hard habit to fix.

[bladehunter]

30 minutes ago, ThinkingPlus said:

Maybe a little more, but I have it bad. I tend to over read everything. I am getting a little better, but it is a hard habit to fix.

Oh no I get it. That’s me to a T.  I don’t miss low unless I just absolutely leave it short.  I miss most straight putts where I don’t have a teach.  Because I don’t believe a straight putt exists until I see it roll out.  I consciously try to move the reads in as a  Round goes on if I’m missing way high.  I’ll read and then say “ ok.  Now move it in 3 inches “. And still miss high. 

then I have had some rounds where I play any putt that isn’t an obvious foot of break , straight.  Just play it straight and see what it does.  You won’t make anymore. But I have memorized a lot of angles and breaks that way for later. 

 

[Obee]

51 minutes ago, ThinkingPlus said:

Maybe a little more, but I have it bad. I tend to over read everything. I am getting a little better, but it is a hard habit to fix.

 

You might want to try this:

1. Find a 4-foot(?) putt with enough break so that it can reasonably be played with a correct read (depending on speed) that is both outside the hole and inside the hole
2. Do the "Faxon Drill" where you practice making the putt with 3 different speeds
   1. Very soft (Maybe this is a "2-balls outside the hole" read)
   2. Medium (One ball out or on the edge)
   3. Firm (Inside the hole)
3. Go back and forth between the three for a while
4. Then hit that firm-pace, inside the hole putt over and over and over until you get comfortable with both the read and the speed.

Pretty soon you will start reading more of your longer putts with a bit less break and next think you know you will start making more. Promise. 🙂

Edited April 24, 2023 by Obee

[ThinkingPlus]

2 minutes ago, Obee said:

 

You might want to try this:

1. Find a 4-foot(?) putt with enough break so that it can reasonably be played with a correct read (depending on speed) that is both outside the hole and inside the hole
2. Do the "Faxon Drill" where you practice making the putt with 3 different speeds
   1. Very soft (Maybe this is a "2-balls outside the hole" read)
   2. Medium (One ball out or on the edge)
   3. Firm (Inside the hole)
3. Go back and forth between the three for a while
4. Then hit that firm-pace, inside the hole putt over and over and over until you get comfortable with both the read and the speed.

Pretty soon you will start reading more of you longer putts with a bit less break and next think you know you will start making more. Promise. 🙂

Will give it a try.  Thanks.

[Obee]

12 minutes ago, ThinkingPlus said:

Will give it a try.  Thanks.

 

I will tell you this for sure: It's much easier to hit putts firmly if your strokes matches your line. Meaning: if you are cutting across your putts and hitting them with a glancing blow, it just never "feels/looks" right to aim inside the hole and putt with firm speed. It certainly never did to me until I learned to roll the ball end over end.

Everyone's different, of course.

 

[ThinkingPlus]

1 minute ago, Obee said:

 

I will tell you this for sure: It's much easier to hit putts firmly if your strokes matches your line. Meaning: if you are cutting across your putts and hitting them with a glancing blow, it just never "feels/looks" right to aim inside the hole and putt with firm speed. It certainly never did to me until I learned to roll the ball end over end.

Everyone's different, of course.

 

I agree. Another related, but different item is bumpy greens.  I get very "poppie" with my stroke.  I think I can feel/see the bumps and my subconscious concludes a putt is unmakeable. Anxiety ensues and the stroke starts getting jabby.

 

Same thing happens with some shots/lies when chipping. If my brain can't find a stroke solution that indicates success, then it ends up being a zero confidence stab. If I arrive at a stroke that solves the problem then I have some confidence and can execute.

 

I find these kinds of issues very irritating. Producing poor shots because it's golf, hard shots are real, and we can't execute as well as we would like all the time is acceptable.  Blowing a shot because my brain computes a null set and can't accept a more random than desired result is ridiculous.  Rant over.

[getitdaily]

19 minutes ago, Obee said:

 

I will tell you this for sure: It's much easier to hit putts firmly if your strokes matches your line. Meaning: if you are cutting across your putts and hitting them with a glancing blow, it just never "feels/looks" right to aim inside the hole and putt with firm speed. It certainly never did to me until I learned to roll the ball end over end.

Everyone's different, of course.

 

I think I'm going to buy a putting arc...

[PracticeSwinger]

On 4/22/2023 at 2:51 PM, Golfbeat said:

Now that we have determined that some people like the line and some don't, can we now finally determine what is better: flag in or out?

Statistically; make rate better with flag out. Only helps certain players on visuals, when the flag is in their peripheral vision and/or for longer putts depth perception 

[Obee]

1 hour ago, getitdaily said:

I think I'm going to buy a putting arc...

I am a SBST guy through and through.

 

[bladehunter]

2 hours ago, Obee said:

 

I will tell you this for sure: It's much easier to hit putts firmly if your strokes matches your line. Meaning: if you are cutting across your putts and hitting them with a glancing blow, it just never "feels/looks" right to aim inside the hole and putt with firm speed. It certainly never did to me until I learned to roll the ball end over end.

Everyone's different, of course.

 

Very true.  Another part of this though is the fear of missing low.  On fast Bermuda with slope. Missing low means a 5 footer coming back.  It’s never just a low tap in. It’s always low and then running away.  This leads to more die speed on a higher line.  You’ll watch them just creep by the hole on the high side. But at least they stop a foot or less past.  

[bladehunter]

2 hours ago, getitdaily said:

I think I'm going to buy a putting arc...

Go watch David Orr videos on that.  Dive deep. He shows plainly how it works or is supposed to work.   Sbst is a myth really.  Although plenty have the feeling of doing it. And that’s fine. A lot take it outside though and come back inside because they feel that the hole off backswing is straight back.  I can’t explain it as well as he can. But the videos are all over YouTube.  There’s even one about an hour long showing the proof of what he’s saying on the fancy diagnostic machine ( forget the name ).  

[Petethreeput]

2 hours ago, Obee said:

 

I will tell you this for sure: It's much easier to hit putts firmly if your strokes matches your line. Meaning: if you are cutting across your putts and hitting them with a glancing blow, it just never "feels/looks" right to aim inside the hole and putt with firm speed. It certainly never did to me until I learned to roll the ball end over end.

Everyone's different, of course.

 

I will say this is why I have gone to the line and I can't look at the ball.

 

If the hole is in my peripheral vision, usually anything short of 5' I become a voyeur.  I cannot, and it has been this way for 30+ years, stop from looking at the hole immediately after making contact with the ball.  When my short putts are really good, I almost go into a trance at a spot about 1' in front of the ball and then make my stroke.  Then by the time my putter head goes through my eye line (when I instinctively look to see the putt) the ball is already gone.

 

I have all the traits of ThinkingPlus in regards to over reading and dying everything at the hole even to my own detriment.

Edited April 24, 2023 by Petethreeput

[JDIL]

On 4/21/2023 at 11:15 AM, 596 said:

I tried the line many different times. 1. I could never get the line aimed at where I wanted it to aim.  2. Once it was aimed where I thought was correct, standing over the putt it looked way off 

 

Enter the TaylorMade Tour Response with the wide green line.  Totally changed my ability to aim it correctly and then over the putt it looks exactly where I aimed it. I can't use the single line. But this wide line is perfect.  I'm putting better then I have on years.  When only concerned with speed, my speed is much more accurate. Much more confident to hit a solid putt knowing it's starting on line. 

 

Everyone is told to aim shots at a spot a few feet in front of you off the tee.  I can't aim at that spot to save my life. But pick 2 spots about a foot apart, like a goal post, about 5 feet in front of me, and I can aim dead straight through those goal posts all day long. Basically the same concept. 

Funny because the wide green line messes me up. I need a thin main center one to focus, and I know there is a thin black one inside, but the wide green band dominates for me and I don't aim it as well. But I do like triple track. So I just buy something like this

https://www.amazon.com/Vibit-Template-Alignment-Maximum-Accessories/dp/B096RZ8KDR

For me, the line helps. I have tried the Malaska tip several times, but the line never looks straight for me, because it changes.  I have ridiculously wide peripheral vision (family and friends trip out when I catch something 90 degrees to my sides, meanwhile my wife wouldn't see me if I'm doing cartwheels 45 degrees to her side). So where the "line" looks straight changes depending on where the pin/flag is. But I like the line because my aim is way better since using it again.

 

I abandoned the line and chose a spot a few inches in front of the ball to aim. Once reintroducing the line my aiming has improved big time. Now I just focus on, looking at the flag only for pace/speed, then looking down, and only looking at the line, trusting the line. Everyone is different.

 

I like the flag in as it helps me visualize speed better. But I should just have a mate tend the flag. I thought there was data that said pin in helps. I'll pull it if there is wind and the flag is pushed towards me.

[bladehunter]

7 minutes ago, JDIL said:

Funny because the wide green line messes me up. I need a thin main center one to focus, and I know there is a thin black one inside, but the wide green band dominates for me and I don't aim it as well. But I do like triple track. So I just buy something like this

https://www.amazon.com/Vibit-Template-Alignment-Maximum-Accessories/dp/B096RZ8KDR

For me, the line helps. I have tried the Malaska tip several times, but the line never looks straight for me, because it changes.  I have ridiculously wide peripheral vision (family and friends trip out when I catch something 90 degrees to my sides, meanwhile my wife wouldn't see me if I'm doing cartwheels 45 degrees to her side). So where the "line" looks straight changes depending on where the pin/flag is. But I like the line because my aim is way better since using it again.

 

I abandoned the line and chose a spot a few inches in front of the ball to aim. Once reintroducing the line my aiming has improved big time. Now I just focus on, looking at the flag only for pace/speed, then looking down, and only looking at the line, trusting the line. Everyone is different.

 

I like the flag in as it helps me visualize speed better. But I should just have a mate tend the flag. I thought there was data that said pin in helps. I'll pull it if there is wind and the flag is pushed towards me.

Exactly.  It changes.  
 

curious. What’s your hat size ? Big headed folks usually have eyes set farther apart. I always attributed the extreme peripheral vision i have to that. This probably makes the close up parallax effect worse for us. As in binocular vision is harder for short distances. My fix to that is to only use my strong eye.  (Close the other ) just like sighting a rifle.  

 

ever notice a difference on grey days ( overcast no sun ) vs sunny days ?  I don’t know if it’s light sensitivity or what.  I simply see and play better on grey days.  Sunshine and shadows are in fact very much worse for sight for me.