Putting alignment lines...

[Bulls9999]

Well, I wouldn't argue about a 'thin blue line', but the emblem does have a large black line in it

Originally Posted by GolfSavage

Well, you know of course, that a thin blue line is far superior to a thick black one.

[Wazmankg]

Originally Posted by Texas Wedge

Yeah, you eventually get over that, but you still find yourself WISHING you could line it up...even from the fringe. So how many putts did you have in your last few rounds where you felt it was working to line it up?

All of them really. I've sunk 3 or 4 over 20 feet the last 3 rounds, which is usually a once a month occurrence. I've been making a higher % of 3-7 footers too. It takes the whole alignment issue out of the equation. Today was a bad example. I took at least 40 putts at a place I haven't played in years. The greens were sloooow. Alignment wasn't the problem. Having to hit it much harder than my brain was telling me to just threw off my whole stroke. Going from fast to slow is a lot harder than vice versa IMO. It's something I'll stick with.

[Bulls9999]

I definitely agree with that (going from fast to slow is harder than other way around). I play on bent grass greens around here in OK. We routinely go down into Texas and there's Bermuda greens....they are SO SLOOOOWWWW. When we went to San Antonio, I swear I left 20 ft putts 10 ft short...could not convince my self to hit it hard enough....the remaining 10 ft putt was left 4 ft short, lol. It took being there 3-4 days to get used to that.

Originally Posted by Wazmankg

. Alignment wasn't the problem. Having to hit it much harder than my brain was telling me to just threw off my whole stroke. Going from fast to slow is a lot harder than vice versa IMO. It's something I'll stick with.

[Texas Wedge]

Bulls, I usually don't even have to put a line on my ball. I use the line that's already on the ball as my line. I used to mark a line or an arrow with a green, blue or red sharpie, but since most balls add a line (or the ProV1 text) on their balls now, I just use that. I love it.

[Texas Wedge]

Originally Posted by Bulls9999

I definitely agree with that (going from fast to slow is harder than other way around). I play on bent grass greens around here in OK. We routinely go down into Texas and there's Bermuda greens....they are SO SLOOOOWWWW. When we went to San Antonio, I swear I left 20 ft putts 10 ft short...could not convince my self to hit it hard enough....the remaining 10 ft putt was left 4 ft short, lol. It took being there 3-4 days to get used to that.

I'm going to have to make a trip to OK...I've only played bent grass greens one time and I loved them!

[Texas Wedge]

Originally Posted by Wazmankg

All of them really. I've sunk 3 or 4 over 20 feet the last 3 rounds, which is usually a once a month occurrence. I've been making a higher % of 3-7 footers too. It takes the whole alignment issue out of the equation. Today was a bad example. I took at least 40 putts at a place I haven't played in years. The greens were sloooow. Alignment wasn't the problem. Having to hit it much harder than my brain was telling me to just threw off my whole stroke. Going from fast to slow is a lot harder than vice versa IMO. It's something I'll stick with.

Sorry...bad wording on my part. What I meant was...how many putts did you have in your last few rounds? I'm just curious as to how many putts you had since you felt the method was working so well.

[Bigvivec]

I have recommitted to the line and had 22 putts for 16 holes yesterday and 13 for 9 holes today...

I'm not saying that it will work for everyone, but in my case the results speak for themselves...

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by Bigvivec

I have recommitted to the line and had 22 putts for 16 holes yesterday and 13 for 9 holes today...

I'm not saying that it will work for everyone, but in my case the results speak for themselves...

Yup.... and I had 27 for 18 (12 for the front 9) on Wednesday without a line or any other attempt at using a ball alignment feature. If it helps your confidence, then it's a good method for you. But if you're already a confident putter, I don't see that the change will necessarily help much.

To each his own...

[JPsuff]

Originally Posted by Bulls9999

Texas Wedge, I'm one of those that uses a big black line on my ball (see photo below). Some posters who tried it said they were busy focusing on the line and took their mind off reading the speed. I suppose that something you get used to once you do it for a while, but I would agree, you don't want to 'focus on looking at the line'... it is there to help quickly establish where the putting line is without having to look at the ball, the hole, the swale in between and make another judgement. I don't even use the line for short putts of less than ~8 feet... I mainly use it for long putts that are going over swales on the green (we have lots of them at our home course) so speed is as important as getting the right line. Once I determine the line and point the ball in the right direction, then I concentrate on the speed I'm going to strike the ball....make a few practice motions in front of or over the ball, then position behind and make a similar strike. I can glance at the line to quickly re-affirm what direction the line is going.

Funny, when this thread was started and I got some heat about 'the line method', I started putting worse for the following week, because every time I was about to putt and see the line, I would think of this thread and distract myself away from thinking about what the speed should be to get the ball in close proximity to the hole....glad to say, I'm back to normal.

Black line...Blue line... either way they look like range balls to me.


-JP

[Bigvivec]

Originally Posted by JPsuff

Black line...Blue line... either way they look like range balls to me.


-JP

If you are going to mark that thing properly, forget the branding and draw right through that model number...the break in the line is more distracting than anything, as is the jagged edge on the line drawn...


...and for the purist's who rely only on their sense of feel and scoff at the line...the way that putts have been falling for me lately I'm not questioning the why's, only happy with the what's...

[Bulls9999]

Although people do putt better when they are 'confident' in their putting, you seem to be making an issue of using a line is simply a confidence booster, when there's some practicality in using the line. I suppose you would say, rifle shooters who are confident in their shooting skills don't need to use a rifle sight? I'm confident in my putting either way, but enjoy using the 'line' as it allows me to devote most of my attention to speed as my putting line is already identified by the direction I've place my ball line.

Originally Posted by Fourputt

Yup.... and I had 27 for 18 (12 for the front 9) on Wednesday without a line or any other attempt at using a ball alignment feature. If it helps your confidence, then it's a good method for you. But if you're already a confident putter, I don't see that the change will necessarily help much.

To each his own...

[Bulls9999]

Bigvivec, lol, I should have chosen better lines to use as an example .... but I don't need to worry about jagged edges or 2 segmented lines, it doesn't bother me....I just like to use the line on the ball to indicate the chosen line on the green from a brief glance...I don't stare at the ball and get bothered by nuance of line drawing. I've also been dropping 15-20 footers and 30 footers are usually never more than 1-1.5 feet from the hole, tap-ins. Now if I could just get longer off the tee...it's costing me missing many GIR's for having long approach shots .... my putting is saving me many times over.

Originally Posted by Bigvivec

If you are going to mark that thing properly, forget the branding and draw right through that model number...the break in the line is more distracting than anything, as is the jagged edge on the line drawn...


...and for the purist's who rely only on their sense of feel and scoff at the line...the way that putts have been falling for me lately I'm not questioning the why's, only happy with the what's...

[JPsuff]

.


A rifle sight, just like a line on a golf ball is only a guide. A perfectly sighted rifle in the hands of a person who does not know much about how to aim that rifle is useless.

A line on a golf ball only works as a putting aid if the ball is placed in such a way as to point the line in the correct direction to begin with. But just like the poor marksman, if the line isn't pointed in the right direction to begin with, then even the most perfectly aligned putter followed by a perfectly aligned putting stroke will cause the ball to miss the target anyway because the ball was never pointed at the right target at the outset.

Let's say you do what most good players do and that is to decide on a direction and then align the line on the ball so it points towards an intermediate target (like a discolored grass blade). You then align your putterhead so that it is perfectly perpendicular to the line on the ball and if you swing the putter properly, the clubface should strike the ball in that same perpendicular alignment and it should cause the ball to move in the direction of your intermediate target and then onward towards the hole.
It's true that once the ball and putter are aligned correctly, all that's left is the speed, but this only works if your choice of direction was correct to begin with. If you've pointed the line on your ball at the wrong intermediate target, then everything else will be wrong as well.

So how is that any different than simply picking an intermediate target (using a ball with no line on it) and aligning your putterhead so that it points towards that target? It's the same thing as far as I can tell. And as I pointed out in another post, if (using a line on the ball) when you stand at address, and you sense that you may not have your line pointed in the right direction, you have to step away, mark your ball again and re-align your line and then set up again. With no mark on the ball, if I sense that I'm not pointing at my intermediate target, all I have to do is shift my stance until I am and then make the putt.

If drawing a line on a ball makes you feel more confident, then there's nothing wrong with that. But to compare an unmarked ball to an improperly sighted rifle is a bit much because a perfectly sighted rifle - aimed at the wrong target - is as inaccurate as a "line-adorned" golf ball also aimed at the wrong target.

To me, having to line up a line and then line up WITH that line is just more stuff I have to worry about and my goal is to simplify, not further complicate this game.


In my opinion.


-JP

[Wazmankg]

Originally Posted by Texas Wedge

Sorry...bad wording on my part. What I meant was...how many putts did you have in your last few rounds? I'm just curious as to how many putts you had since you felt the method was working so well.

Number of putts doesn't hold much meaning for me. I only actually average about 3 or 4 GIR, but I hit at least that many fringes and another handful where I'm a couple of paces off the green in reg. I described my improvement about the best I could in my previous post, but FWIW I had 25 when I shot an 84 last week. I need to start tracking how many times I use my putter rather how many putts.

[Wazmankg]

Originally Posted by JPsuff

.

So how is that any different than simply picking an intermediate target (using a ball with no line on it) and aligning your putterhead so that it points towards that target? It's the same thing as far as I can tell.


In my opinion.


-JP

How can you be sure that your putter head is pointed at your intermediate target when you are addressing your ball without a reference line on the ball ? I don't draw a line I use the label. BTW Callaways with their curved labels do not work.

[Bigvivec]

Originally Posted by JPsuff

.


A rifle sight, just like a line on a golf ball is only a guide. A perfectly sighted rifle in the hands of a person who does not know much about how to aim that rifle is useless.

A line on a golf ball only works as a putting aid if the ball is placed in such a way as to point the line in the correct direction to begin with. But just like the poor marksman, if the line isn't pointed in the right direction to begin with, then even the most perfectly aligned putter followed by a perfectly aligned putting stroke will cause the ball to miss the target anyway because the ball was never pointed at the right target at the outset.

Let's say you do what most good players do and that is to decide on a direction and then align the line on the ball so it points towards an intermediate target (like a discolored grass blade). You then align your putterhead so that it is perfectly perpendicular to the line on the ball and if you swing the putter properly, the clubface should strike the ball in that same perpendicular alignment and it should cause the ball to move in the direction of your intermediate target and then onward towards the hole.
It's true that once the ball and putter are aligned correctly, all that's left is the speed, but this only works if your choice of direction was correct to begin with. If you've pointed the line on your ball at the wrong intermediate target, then everything else will be wrong as well.

So how is that any different than simply picking an intermediate target (using a ball with no line on it) and aligning your putterhead so that it points towards that target? It's the same thing as far as I can tell. And as I pointed out in another post, if (using a line on the ball) when you stand at address, and you sense that you may not have your line pointed in the right direction, you have to step away, mark your ball again and re-align your line and then set up again. With no mark on the ball, if I sense that I'm not pointing at my intermediate target, all I have to do is shift my stance until I am and then make the putt.

If drawing a line on a ball makes you feel more confident, then there's nothing wrong with that. But to compare an unmarked ball to an improperly sighted rifle is a bit much because a perfectly sighted rifle - aimed at the wrong target - is as inaccurate as a "line-adorned" golf ball also aimed at the wrong target.

To me, having to line up a line and then line up WITH that line is just more stuff I have to worry about and my goal is to simplify, not further complicate this game.


In my opinion.


-JP

On analysis, the golf swings seem infinitely more difficult than they actually are...

You aim, you swing, you write down score...if your aim is wrong you miss, regardless of when that aiming occurs...

Like I said, my percentage of made putts drops signifigantly if I second guess line when standing over the ball, line or no line, and will always do better to step away and start again...

One negative of the line is that it can pull focus from the target and have you focusing on the line of the putt, which should be handled in short order in the preshot routine then allow the focus to remain on the hole and the feeling for the distance to the target, as this is the true art in putting and where most of the focus should be...

Biggest help of the line IMO is the squaring of the face to the line...the right angles make it easy...but once things are aimed and aligned, I stare at the cup and don't worry about the former...that is if I want to actually make the putt...

[Bulls9999]

That's what I mean...without the line, you have to spend part of your time, share your thoughts of speed with that of identifying where the 'intended line of the putt' is. By using a 'line on the ball...lined up with that intended putting line', I have removed part of the process that takes away from my thoughts on speed. It is a functional deployment of a putting aid if you want to call it that. Somehow, JP makes it into a 'if you are not confident in your putting ability, use a line' type statement. I suppose if your not confident in your ball striking ability, you use a tee on a par-3?, by extension of that thought.

Originally Posted by Wazmankg

How can you be sure that your putter head is pointed at your intermediate target when you are addressing your ball without a reference line on the ball ? I don't draw a line I use the label. BTW Callaways with their curved labels do not work.