# Eye dominance and putting



## One Planer (Apr 30, 2014)

Fact or fiction?

Can/Does eye dominance play a factor in the putter you 'should' choose or how effective your aim is when putting?

Any opinions?


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## nemicu (Apr 30, 2014)

I guess eye dominance *combined* with your putting style makes a difference. One either works in harmony with, or against the other. IMO, the putter should fit the eye (not dominance, i.e. you like the look of it) but fit the stroke ultimately. So stroke is the overriding factor?


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## the_coach (Apr 30, 2014)

Think our stereoscopic vision even with 20:20, plays into our perception of depth of field of vision, therefore aim anyways. Any vision abnormalities which means the brain is processing different sized images from the different eyes viewing the same area, path, object, is bound to make aim, perception of depth, slope, a ways more problematic. 

Guess it's down to whether you're able to make any compensations for any vision issues naturally, would seem some folks better at that than others naturally, some folks learn from their experience of 'reading' greens, for some others that doesn't really seem to happen over much.

Don't think it would have any real meaningful sway in the type of putter a golf should choose, that's more down to feel, the weight, & balance in the hands & whether they're comfortable with how it looks.


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## garyinderry (Apr 30, 2014)

diddley squat to do with the putter.  im pretty sure it affects aiming though!  


I might try reading greens with my dominant eye for a while.


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## One Planer (May 1, 2014)

garyinderry said:



*diddley squat to do with the putter*.  im pretty sure it affects aiming though!  


I might try reading greens with my dominant eye for a while.
		
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And I would agree, however, I'm going to quite Rife Putters here:




			For a right-handed player who has a dominant left eye, the eye closest to the hole, we would typically fit them with a straight shafted putter because that puts their dominant eye over the ball. For a person who is right eye dominant, the eye furthest from the hole, we would give them an offset shaft. Putting the ball under the dominant eye helps the player line up the putt with more accuracy. Offset putters typically help golfers keep their hands in front of the ball at impact and promotes less break down in the wrists.
		
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They seem to think it plays a part, and fit accordingly to it.


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## garyinderry (May 1, 2014)

I am currently putting with a seemore fgp putter.  it has a straight shaft, that suits my eye much better than most off set heads / shafts.  I am right eye dominant. 

one size cannot fit all for these things!


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## Imurg (May 1, 2014)

I'm Left eye dominant and have always looked down on a CS putter and retched!
Face-balanced Half-mallets with a double bend shaft for me - anything else just looks wrong.


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## North Mimms (May 1, 2014)

I have one eye that can see in the distance but is rubbish close up.
The other can read small print but can't see anything more than 10 feet away.

Do I now have a valid excuse for being rubbish at putting?


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## One Planer (May 1, 2014)

garyinderry said:



			I am currently putting with a seemore fgp putter.  it has a straight shaft, that suits my eye much better than most off set heads / shafts.  I am right eye dominant. 

one size cannot fit all for these things!
		
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Imurg said:



			I'm Left eye dominant and have always looked down on a CS putter and retched!
Face-balanced Half-mallets with a double bend shaft for me - anything else just looks wrong.
		
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I don't for one second accept that there is a one way suits all method when it comes to putting.

I find it a little curious to be honest, when eye dominance, in conjunction with off-set (Potentially) affecting how you aim.


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## Val (May 1, 2014)

Im left eye dominant and have used a centre shaft for years after having issues with an offset anser style. I discovered this long before i'd heard anything about eye dominance and putting being linked.


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## One Planer (May 1, 2014)

Just too add to this.

I did a test last night to find which is my dominant eye. As it happens I'm left eye dominant, but play right handed.

I decided to pop to my local range at lunch today, just to try some centre shafted/low offset putters. The results were, well, there's no other word than startling that does them justice!

I tried an Odyssey White Hot Pro #7CS and an Odyssey White Hot Pro 2CS (CS = Centre shaft).

Loved the look and feel of both despite preferring a milled face, but performance was they key issue that I was interested in. 

This is going to sound so weird but I felt it easier to align both myself and the club to the hole. As a result, my putts started on a much better line, giving the ball more of a chance to drop.

Night and day when compared to my Scotty 

I think they Scotty Cameron my find it's way into the "For Sale" section later this afternoon.


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## Region3 (May 3, 2014)

I got curious about this a while back and did some research on the internet.

You don't have to look for very long to find articles from supposedly reputable sources which totally contradict each other with regards to which eye is dominant meaning more or less offset required.


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## SGC001 (May 3, 2014)

Gareth said:



			I don't for one second accept that there is a one way suits all method when it comes to putting.

I find it a little curious to be honest, when eye dominance, in conjunction with off-set (Potentially) affecting how you aim.
		
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Not to mention grips that are put on open


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## One Planer (May 3, 2014)

SGC001 said:



			Not to mention grips that are put on open 

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You can blame my pro for that one :rofl:


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## SGC001 (May 3, 2014)

Gareth said:



			You can blame my pro for that one :rofl:
		
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To be fair it's a nice excuse to shove a super stroke back onto it.


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## One Planer (May 3, 2014)

SGC001 said:



			To be fair it's a nice excuse to shove a super stroke back onto it.
		
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Oh I don't know. 

You seemed to be rolling it pretty sweetly yesterday.


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## standrew (May 4, 2014)

For me, it clearly can make a difference if you focus purely on the ball. For me, most humans are capable of moving a club back a bit to hit a fairly visable object in a straight line, without having to have laser focus on the object.

If it was a football being passed to you at high speed, then the need to focus on the ball more would be much greater. For me i try to look down but try to take in all the visual information i can. Bobby Jones in his instructional video said ' i dont actually stare at the ball im merely conscious of its location'.


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## Evesdad (May 9, 2014)

I'm right eye dominant and very right handed. If I get lazy my aim drifts to the right a lot. I had a putting lesson where the pro lined my putter up aiming straight at the hole and then got me to address it. I felt as though I was aiming about a foot to the right! I'm slowly getting to grips with this and missing less to the right. A putter that helps I've no idea.


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