[markbila]

I alternate between using an alignment mark to point down the line of the putt or not. I had always been a strictly feel putter. By that, I mean I just putt the ball back down, preferably with nothing but white showing, picked a line from behind the ball, and made the stroke. I putted very well like that.

At some point a couple of years ago, I was struggling with my putting and I decided to start to use the alignment mark. This seemed to help my putting considerably because it made me keep my eyes concentrated on that mark through the stroke.

Lately, I have days where using the alignment mark is helpful and other days where I am much better off visualizing the line from behind the ball and not using the alignment mark at all. Those days, it is all about feel, not mechanics.

How do you putt the best, or do you experiment at all?

[Audi_z]

Depends on the length, but most of the time I get my read, walk up to the ball looking at the hole, take my stance, another look at the hole, look at my putter face, focus on the back of the ball, and then stroke the putt. Some days are better than others.

[Emalodoulouts]

Which eye dominate are you?Makes a big difference. If you are left eye dom then you want no alignment aid. For you righties this would be opporsite for you

[Suvuseh]

I do the same thing C Tech but I recently replaced my 10 year old two ball putter with a itsy bitsy that has alignment lines on the putter. I have to say that I put better using those lines on my visual line. I finally have confidence that I'm lined up correctly without having to line up the ball on every single putt. Having a putter you are confident with is the first step to ridding yourself of those 3 putts that seem to creep up a few times a month. I guess I would say that I am a MUCH better feel putter as when I get mechanical in golf I seem to struggle.

[LeslieMoran]

I alternate between using an alignment mark to point down the line of the putt or not. I had always been a strictly feel putter. By that, I mean I just putt the ball back down, preferably with nothing but white showing, picked a line from behind the ball, and made the stroke. I putted very well like that.

At some point a couple of years ago, I was struggling with my putting and I decided to start to use the alignment mark. This seemed to help my putting considerably because it made me keep my eyes concentrated on that mark through the stroke.

Lately, I have days where using the alignment mark is helpful and other days where I am much better off visualizing the line from behind the ball and not using the alignment mark at all. Those days, it is all about feel, not mechanics.

How do you putt the best, or do you experiment at all?

I just went through about 6 months of experimenting and changing everything, grips stances putters, everything, I was average probably 36 or 37 putts a round until I started doing the following on putts, now I am turning in cards with 28 and 29 putts a round almost every time. Some of that is better iron play getting th ball closer to the hole but you still have to make them.

Putts inside 10 feet I try to keep the stroke as mechanical/technical straight back and through as possible and sometimes I will line up the logo or something as an aim point. I do not like using a line on the ball, it causes me to baby the putt too much and they come up dead center but short by two or three inches all day long. Longer putts of 20 plus feet I line up and hit them kind of like I would a chip with a more handsy, more feely type of stroke, it is kind of a potshot at the hole. For me grinding over these longer putts will tend to make me stiff them and leave it way short or hammer it and run it way past the hole. A smooth full stroke hit along a good line, aim for a foot or 2 past the hole, and some of them will go in. If you seem to putt better from just a foot or so off the green than you do from on the green on these really long putts or if your chips sometimes end up closer to the hole than a putt does from the same distance then this looser more of a feely or touch based putting approach is the reason. You have to give longer putts a little pop to get them there, a mechanical stroke won't get the ball to the hole on a 40 foot putt unless you hammer it and then you lose control of it. Putts in between 10 and 20 feet are the hardest for me I think, it is all hit and hope and depending on the slope I might hit uphillers more handsy and downhillers more rigid, mechanical stroke. I expect to make every putt from inside 6 feet and I expect to do no worse than 2 putt from 20 plus up to 60 feet. My second putts are usually not more than 1 or 2 feet out 90 percent of the time.

[trilochana.nejman]

I alternate between using an alignment mark to point down the line of the putt or not. I had always been a strictly feel putter. By that, I mean I just putt the ball back down, preferably with nothing but white showing, picked a line from behind the ball, and made the stroke. I putted very well like that.

At some point a couple of years ago, I was struggling with my putting and I decided to start to use the alignment mark. This seemed to help my putting considerably because it made me keep my eyes concentrated on that mark through the stroke.

Lately, I have days where using the alignment mark is helpful and other days where I am much better off visualizing the line from behind the ball and not using the alignment mark at all. Those days, it is all about feel, not mechanics.

How do you putt the best, or do you experiment at all?

I have to have "nothing but white" staring back at me when I'm putting; I am strictly "feel" all the way.

I once tried an alignment line just to see if it made any difference and it felt way too mechanical and the obvious issue is the placement of the line. If the alignment line isn't pointed in the right direction and I stand over the ball and sense that, I'd either have to stop and reset everything or try to adjust while standing over the ball which is hard to do with that line sitting there.

So I dropped that very quickly (I only used it on a few holes) and went back to just setting the ball down so that I don't see any marks at all. I have always been an excellent putter and I consider putting to be the strongest part of my game but it's always been about feel.

That's one of the reasons why I could never see myself using one of those "branding irons" that pass for putters because they're not designed for toe or heel hits the way a simple, heel-shafted, blade-styled putter is. I like my Odyssey because when I find myself in a situation where I'd like to "toe" the ball a bit to allow for a bit more swing but not the corresponding force, I can do that. Or if I want to "heel" the putt a bit to help hold the line on a sharp left-to-right breaking putt, I can do that as well.

The "branding irons" and other large headed putters are designed to make the ball go straight (where the head is pointing) and don't allow for that nuance. To me, putting is all about nuance and touch so alignment lines and big-headed putters don't work well in that regard.

I can see alignment lines if someone is a very "square" and mechanical putter who sets up the same way every time and applies the same stroke every time. In that case, the only thing they'd have to be sure of is aiming the alignment line correctly after which everything else is more or less identical.

But for a feel putter like myself, alignment lines don't work and for me it's all about sensory input. Sometimes I can tell more about what a ball will do just by how the green feels under my feet than all of the plumb bobbing and indexing could ever hope to do. That's not to say that I don't use a plumb bob once in a while, but like everything else, that's only part of what I need to line up a putt.

Personally, I think alignment lines fall into the category of "swing aids" and shouldn't be allowed, but that's never going to happen as long as the pro's want to use them. I really don't care if someone uses them, I just know that I for one don't have any use for them.


-JP

[Glamyclitlemi]

I read a study that said putting a line on the ball did not improve the amount of putts made over 10 feet, in fact it hurt a little.

I used to put the line on the ball but I have recently switched to the all white camp. I think speed is more important that where you aimed.

[eladiopsislab]

I draw alignment marks on my ball, but I only use them for lining up my tee shot and my clubhead "squareness" to the ball. I still prefer to look at a completely blank part of the ball when addressing my ball before putting.

I tried using the line once or twice during putting, but no matter how well I lined the line up to my intended putting line, I always second-guessinig myself when I addressed the ball. Instead, I'd rather focus on some small point along my putting line, and line up the alignment mark on my putter to that.

[VtLe67WR]

I use the alignment mark already on the ball

[RG3rGWcA]

I use the alignment mark on my putter to reach a spot on the line between myself and the hole. After reading the line I find a spot as close to the ball as possible to putt at, or sometimes I need to be within a 1/2 inch, or what ever, of that spot.

The trick for me is to find my line, get a feel for the distance, pick the spot and then let her go without too much undo thinking. My putting has been very good so far this year.

[Glamyclitlemi]

I use the alignment mark on my putter to reach a spot on the line between myself and the hole. After reading the line I find a spot as close to the ball as possible to putt at, or sometimes I need to be within a 1/2 inch, or what ever, of that spot.

The trick for me is to find my line, get a feel for the distance, pick the spot and then let her go without too much undo thinking. My putting has been very good so far this year.

I read an article in Golf Digest once where Dave Stockton said he used this exact method for putting. He would find a spot an inch or so in-front of the ball and if his ball rolled over that spot he knew if he made the putt.

[Franchise]

Good thread guys.

I think this works for some and not for others.

I am a relatively poor putter and have tried using an alignment line. I'm not sure it helps me. Lately, I've been using the alignment line on longer putts, but all white on shorter putts. I'm going to stop using the alignment line altogether.

[markbila]

Which eye dominate are you?Makes a big difference. If you are left eye dom then you want no alignment aid. For you righties this would be opporsite for you

I am definitely left eye dominant. I seem to putt my best when I concentrate on a spot close to the hole that the ball would roll if it were straight. I aim at that point and swing the clubhead directly toward that mark. I asked the question because I am seriously considering going back to my original style where I saw nothing but white at address and used feel more than mechanics to putt.

It seems like most of the putters on this forum use that method and are satisfied with their skills.