For You
For You
MyGolfSpy
MyGolfSpy
Our mission is #ConsumerFirst. We are here to help educate and empower golfers. We want you to get the most out of your money, time and performance. That means providing you with equipment reviews you can trust, as well as honest reporting on the latest issues affecting the game today. #PowerToThePlayer
MyGolfSpy
MyGolfSpy
Tackling the 12th at Augusta – Amateur Edition
Apr 11, 2024 |
0 Comments
What Club Should You Use to Get Up and Down?
Feb 22, 2024 |
14 Comments
Ball Lab Golf Ball Quality Awards
Jan 22, 2024 |
31 Comments
ENTER TO WIN: Rapsodo MLM2Pro Launch Monitor
Dec 23, 2023 |
1 Comment
MyGolfSpy
MyGolfSpy
| Driver Ping G30 | Hybrids PXG 0317 |
| 3/4 IRON PXG 0311XF | 5-GW Srixon Z 565 |
| SW PXG 0317 | LW PXG 0311 |
| Putter EVNROLL |
MyGolfSpy
MyGolfSpy
comments
Sean Connors
3 years ago
No line. Used the blank side of the ball starting this year and putting stats have improved dramatically. I used to stand over the ball and start second guessing the line or wanting to adjust repeatedly.
Rodney
3 years ago
I actually flip flopped on this idea. I saw a lesson from a putting coach and he said this about using a line. Everyone’s eyeline is different and it can change from day to day. Not everyone sees the line the best when your eyes are directly over the ball but some see it better if they are a little inside and others a little outside. For those that struggle using the line as an aid, before the round go to the putting green and find a short (5’ or so) dead straight putt. Putt down your ball and make sure it’s aligned exactly at the center of the cup. Now address the ball and see if it appears to be left/right/center of the cup. If the line doesn’t look like it’s pointed at the middle of the cup then your sight line is off. Move around until the line is exactly in the middle of the cup. This is your best sight line and try hitting a few putts with that sight line. Once you know where your eyes should be positioned, on the course of you take the same approach with your sight line, you won’t make adjustments after addressing the ball. My issue was I would line up the ball using the alignment line on the ball but once I stood over the putt I would make small adjustments based on what I saw. Well after continually missing putts, I tried this and now when I stand over the ball I feel confident in the line and it looks correct so I don’t make adjustments anymore. For those that doubt it, you should give it a try. It does take a little longer to line up the ball initially but over time it isnt much longer than just addressing the ball and putting. I think you’ll have more success! Good luck and I hope this helps!
GilB
3 years ago
I have all by golf balls marked with a line. I align the ball using the line to where I want it to start and I’ll be damned that about 95% of the time I’ll align my body and stroke slightly different from where I wanted it to go. Based on that, my next batch of balls will be lineless.
Scott S
4 years ago
LOVE this test!!! There are a few guys who I have played with who spend more time lining up the line on their ball with their desired line than it takes me to walk an uphill par 6 hole from tee to green. AND they aren’t making many of those putts. I have been playing golf since the 70s, I have never used a line on my ball and rarely use the logo etc. to line up a putt and I am pretty good with the flagstick (1.6 putts per hole average). Pick a spot, line up the putter and get your distance right. Articles by well known teachers that urging players to focus on speed and distance control, I cannot remember the last time I read advice or drills that tell players to practice lining up a line drawn on the ball with the line they want to putt to. Thanks for doing this test. One can only hope more players will read it, reference it and heed it.
Cheers
James
4 years ago
Since taking peltz course several years ago I have consistently used not just a line but two additional parallel lines and one perpendicular. I use an odessy putter with two round white circles and a line. Once I replace the ball with alignment to my start line based on aim-point break analysis I’m done. I stand over ball and use my personal distance gauge method and stroke the ball consistently end over end as the line indicates. The placement of the ball takes no more time than placing the ball and is a tiny part of the overall time involved. The greatest time on the green is waiting for the other players until my turn to place the ball with my analysis taking place while others are puttering around with their prep.. I.’m a fifteen Handicap and typically have 32 or so putts per round which is the most consistent part of my game. Soo, I have absolute faith and trust in the line which speeds my play and benefits my score.
Mike
4 years ago
I always use a line on the ball. This way, when I slide a putt on inches to to the side of the hole, I can always say I hit it where I aimed it but I misread the break!
Sean
4 years ago
My opinion is it depends on if you’re more right brained or left brained putter. For Rory, it free’d him up to stop using a line and go by feel. On the other hand Bryson needs it because he is more analytical. Ive noticed switching to a no-line putter, personally, was a game changer. The line on the putter for short putts made me go straight back and straight through which led to push or pulled putts. A single dot on top of the putter allows my mind to free up my stroke and create my natural arc.
Jeff
4 years ago
I’ve been a line guy for about 10 years. When switching from no-line, the biggest obstacle was BELIEVING the line I’d put down once I was above the ball. Always felt like I needed to make an adjustment. I’m a pretty decent green-reader. Once I started trusting my line, putting improved. All I have to think about is speed. I would recommend to all to at least try.
Marc
4 years ago
On the practice green the line on a ball allows me to see whether I strike the ball properly.
I don’t put an extra line on the ball, in most cases the logo or ball name will do. If the line wobbles when it rolls I didn’t strike well.
So I consider it valuable for practice, don’t use it during a round.
Wayne Kullander
4 years ago
I’ve found if I use a line on the ball instead of lining up on a spot on my line six inches to a foot in front of the ball, I have less confidence in the line I’ve chosen.
This is mostly because when I use the line on the ball, if I don’t position the line on the ball in a perfectl vertical line beneath my eyes at address, I can easily miss my intended line by inches.
Mike W
4 years ago
I started using a line this season. I had to move to progressive lenses in my glasses last fall and I noticed that when I move from the back of the ball to take my stance, there’s a small distortion that make me see the line from my stance way far to the right. I apologize to the golf world, but the line on the ball helps people like me make more putts and therefore speed up play.
Jordy
4 years ago
After reading Dave Pelz’s Putting Bible a few months ago I started using a line.
More specifically I mark my golf balls ahead of time by using a Check Go Pro golf ball sweet spot finder to draw a black line around the center of balance equator and one of Dave Pelz’s O-Ball marking clamps to draw two red lines on either side of the equator and another smaller red line perpendicular to those three lines.
Since I’ve been doing this and lining up my putts using the lines my Arccos putting handicap has improved and is now +3.9 and my GHIN index has dropped from 8 to 6.
It is definitely working for me. It might not work for everyone. For example, one of my regular playing partners is right handed but left eye dominant and he lines up his ball and putter face in a way that makes no sense to me but it works for him.
If you can do something repeatably that allows you to make more putts then I would say do it and don’t worry if it doesn’t work for someone else.
Jim Jones
3 years ago
I agree, and also use the high speed spinner to find and mark the true balance equator of the ball, and mark two parallel lines alongside. I’ve been doing this for more than 12 years, and once I trusted in the line I set from behind the ball (it looks way different from above), I focus on nothing but speed from there.
Willie T
4 years ago
I’m one of those line marking kind of guys. I do and don’t use it to faithfully say it makes a real difference. The results of the test does not surprise me as I have had seen where when I needed to pull a spare ball “non-marked” after losing a marked one, my putting did not change. Sometimes I think its a vanity not sanity thing – we like to think it helps us see the “line”.
don
4 years ago
We tested this with 50 junior golfers by writing down their results as they putted from cup to cup trying to 2 putt each hole. Though no where as scientific as your test, we came out with the exact same conclusion.
Mark M
4 years ago
I’m a No Line guy.
I use the Dave Stockton method of picking a spot in front of the ball to roll the putt over (he says 2″, but I like 6″ to a foot) . It frees my stroke up more than trying to hit through the line on the ball.
For short putts I will line up to the spot and then look at the spot during my stroke instead of the ball. Roll it over the spot and it’s in every time, IF you pick the right spot. ?
Darryl
4 years ago
Completely agree with this, i’ve found that sometimes when i line my ball up, i stand over it and question wether it’s good or not, from that point i can’t concentrate on my pace at all and as a result i stopped using a line 2 weeks ago
Nick
4 years ago
I do the same. When I trust my initial read I hole way more putts.
Barry R
4 years ago
This is very interesting. I’ve tried using an alignment line and feel I putt worse when I do. I find I’m focusing so much on the line, and often keep 2nd guessing myself as I’m trying to align my putter.
Dave
4 years ago
Just started adding a line; always use to hate that.. However, on 10-15″ putts I’ve found its a good sanity check to your planned line and putter alignment. In my round yesterday was the best putting of the year I made several alignment adjustments standing over the ball that resulting in made putts.
I do feel it doesn’t help as much on long putts.
Frank O'Hara
4 years ago
Could it be that from 10′-20′, the testers lined up the ball ‘off-line’, which would then send the ball off the true line for the putt, which would result in more missed putts? Would Harry know the true line better than Tony, and therefore, the line might help him more?
Rodney White
4 years ago
I use a line inside 10 tp 15’. I naturally line up left. Especially if I have my eyes over the ball.
Ray
4 years ago
Yes, I believe when putting over 3’, the alignment helps because once you setup over the ball, your line to the hole is non existent and the only thing your sight should be on, is the ball and making a good strike.
Jeff
3 years ago
I like a line on my putter, not the ball. I can see the center of my putter lined up to the ball and that is all I need.. I also like the 2 ball putter but really liked it more when they added the line to it. The line on the ball never seems to one up right amd became frustrating. I would rather have a logo the line ony putter and center up.