Bubble level as marker?

[hlca]

I saw a mygolfspy post about using a bubble level as a ball marker.  Has anyone tried it?  I just ordered a 50mm level to try out.  Curious if this has helped anyone (even if it is not strictly USGA legal)...

 

[hammergolf]

Pretty cool idea, and would be cool to use for practice, but obviously not conforming to the rules of golf. 

[MattM97]

Not legal for play you would also need to drop it at multiple points for longer or heavy breaking putts. 

[TheFatArmadillo]

Saw the same article earlier, ordered a 3 pack to try out.  Hoping it will help my kids learn to read breaks a bit better.

[st1800e]

Why?  and you think this will help?  

[st1800e]

2 hours ago, TheFatArmadillo said:

Saw the same article earlier, ordered a 3 pack to try out.  Hoping it will help my kids learn to read breaks a bit better.

Good luck with that.  All golf is visualization , your minds eye. If I putt it on this line, where do I think it will go?   

[sharkiesj]

I’m sure you could use it on the course and it’ll be legal as long as you insist you’re not using it to gauge the break and it’s not what you think it is. You can insist that it’s a device for counting your strokes and the bubble fluid is in it to help you count your putts. Just saying if you insist it’s not what you think it is, and you don’t use it how you THINK it should be used for, it’s completely legal.  This is 100% true.  Honestly, just ask Bernhard Langer about his putting. Same thing.  

[TheFatArmadillo]

7 hours ago, st1800e said:

Good luck with that.  All golf is visualization , your minds eye. If I putt it on this line, where do I think it will go?   

Well I’m not sure what got you so excited about this…

 

My youngest is 7, sometimes he doesn’t see that there is a line because he doesn’t look.  This is a ‘fun’ way for him to see that there is one.

[MattM97]

9 hours ago, st1800e said:

Why?  and you think this will help?  

 

People are desperate to do anything other than practice.

 

Honestly people a water bottle or any clear bottle with liquid will do the exact same thing.

[95124hacker]

All it would do is tell you the slope at your ball location. Most likely the slope will break in different directions & severity between your ball & the hole.

Edited September 10, 2023 by 95124hacker

[third-times-a-charm]

Great, more things for bums to try and figure out for their 5 minute putting routine on the weekends so they can finally win those $5 bets from Bob and George.

[golfday]

I don't think it will help, but I also don't get the vitriol. It helps some people to be more scientific about green reading and think about slope % and putt distance to estimate amount of break. Thinking about that over and over so you have a reference point of what .5%, 1%, etc. looks like is practicing. I don't think that ball markers going to do anything bc it's measuring such a small surface area of the green when you need to think about all of the ground between your ball and the hole, not just that tiny spot behind your ball.

 

But I'm all for whatever helps you out, as long as you can do it 45 seconds. 

[hlca]

I tried it this weekend.  It didn't seem to help that much!  My new pre-shot routine seemed to be more helpful.  I'll probably move the bubble level to my range bag to play with on the practice green.

[mshills]

Can't really recommend this for play.  Practice green fine, but I'd never take this to the course.  It's not legal, it's unlikely to do much other than get you totally hidebound and analysis paralysis, and PoP impact is not good.

 

I've played with one person who did this, and the time he spent on the green was totally out of order.

[Puttersaurus Rex]

15 hours ago, golfday said:

I don't think it will help, but I also don't get the vitriol. It helps some people to be more scientific about green reading and think about slope % and putt distance to estimate amount of break. Thinking about that over and over so you have a reference point of what .5%, 1%, etc. looks like is practicing. I don't think that ball markers going to do anything bc it's measuring such a small surface area of the green when you need to think about all of the ground between your ball and the hole, not just that tiny spot behind your ball.

 

But I'm all for whatever helps you out, as long as you can do it 45 seconds. 

Not really vitriol in this thread. 

 

You and others said it well that it only references the break at that one reference point on the green.  The green could break five additional times from that point to the hole.

[golfday]

 

 

5 hours ago, Puttersaurus Rex said:

Not really vitriol in this thread. 

 

You and others said it well that it only references the break at that one reference point on the green.  The green could break five additional times from that point to the hole.

I agree with your objective take and reasoning for why it's not a great device, but there is certainly some bitter criticism of this ball marker and people who would want to use it in earlier posts. 

[Puttersaurus Rex]

1 hour ago, golfday said:

 

 

I agree with your objective take and reasoning for why it's not a great device, but there is certainly some bitter criticism of this ball marker and people who would want to use it in earlier posts. 

I can see your point.  In perspective, this is light compared to posts about logos, or product names.

[MattM97]

25 minutes ago, Puttersaurus Rex said:

I can see your point.  In perspective, this is light compared to posts about logos, or product names.

 

Or clothing, blades, players, course conditions, green fees, music, young people, old people, weather.

 

I miss anything?

[Puttersaurus Rex]

19 minutes ago, MattM97 said:

 

Or clothing, blades, players, course conditions, green fees, music, young people, old people, weather.

 

I miss anything?

Shipping, capri pants, hoodies, forged vs cast, instruction, sand on a wedge face, rust, gss, scotty, maltby, tiger, tyson lamb, torque, announcers, tungsten, puring, fittings

 

I didn’t start the fire...it was always burning...

[blopar]

probably works for inside 10 feet, outside of that, probably too much green to measure unless you check multiple sites.  illegal except for casual play or games to be posted for hdcp.

could help refine green reading skills.

would ditch this thing and learn AIM POINT.

[golfday]

16 hours ago, Puttersaurus Rex said:

Shipping, capri pants, hoodies, forged vs cast, instruction, sand on a wedge face, rust, gss, scotty, maltby, tiger, tyson lamb, torque, announcers, tungsten, puring, fittings

 

I didn’t start the fire...it was always burning...

Don't get me started on rust.

[Flip4000]

I think it would be cool to use while practicing to help confirm reads on putts

[btyh]

32 minutes ago, Flip4000 said:

I think it would be cool to use while practicing to help confirm reads on putts

Doesn't confirm anything. If you don't know a line is breaking left or right then that's a bigger problem.   Level Doesn't say how much it breaks or if there's multiple breaks to the hole. Let alone knowing how hard or soft to play the break to get in the hole. 

[Flip4000]

4 hours ago, btyh said:

Doesn't confirm anything. If you don't know a line is breaking left or right then that's a bigger problem.   Level Doesn't say how much it breaks or if there's multiple breaks to the hole. Let alone knowing how hard or soft to play the break to get in the hole. 

We have all had putts that we misread or weren't sure on the break because it was subtle.

 

It's fair if you don't find value in it, but I think it might provide some to how I practice

 

 

Edited October 11, 2023 by Flip4000

[btyh]

 

44 minutes ago, Flip4000 said:

We have all had putts that we misread or weren't sure on the break because it was subtle.

 

It's if you don't find value in it, but I think it might provide some to how I practice

 

 

Yes, but a level isn't going to tell you anything you shouldn't already know by looking down at your line. 

[kiwigolf72]

On 9/9/2023 at 11:24 PM, TheFatArmadillo said:

Well I’m not sure what got you so excited about this…

 

My youngest is 7, sometimes he doesn’t see that there is a line because he doesn’t look.  This is a ‘fun’ way for him to see that there is one.

A great way for kids to start seeing the break is to ask them, if you poured a bucket of water on the green where would the water run to?

Edited October 12, 2023 by kiwigolf72
Grammar

[st1800e]

17 hours ago, Flip4000 said:

We have all had putts that we misread or weren't sure on the break because it was subtle.

Once you roll a ball on that line, you’ll see the break.  That will tell you far more about the break than a little level.  

Edited October 12, 2023 by st1800e

[nitram]

On 9/14/2023 at 8:05 AM, blopar said:

probably works for inside 10 feet, outside of that, probably too much green to measure unless you check multiple sites.  illegal except for casual play or games to be posted for hdcp.

could help refine green reading skills.

would ditch this thing and learn AIM POINT.

and AIMPOINT strongly suggests you use a level to learn the difference in percent of slope.

[TheBiles]

Other than being non-conforming, I don’t get the negativity here. Reading the exact slope is literally the entire principle of Aimpoint, and that seems to be incredibly popular on tour. 

[2Down]

It would break in my pocket and leave an ugly stain..  

 

otherwise just get an face balanced putter. Support it with the handle on your shoulder and look past it at your line,  the face should be level as a reference.  Kinda like a plumb bob but level instead of vertical..