Does anyone putt without using the line on the ball?

[EarCat]

I tried this today and found it so much easier to give putts from outside 10 feet a good run at the hole, I figured that this is because correct pace is more important than correct line. I have found that when I line up the ball I am constantly changing my mind about the line and I am giving the pace of the putt little thought, this leads to a lot of putts coming up 2-3 feet short. I played 9 holes today and in the 5 holes I decided to try this, I made a 15 foot putt for birdie, a 30 foot putt for eagle, and burned the edge on the 3 other holes from outside 10 feet. I feel that you should try this if you are struggling to make anything from any sort of distance at all like me.

 

[Wildrover]

I use a putter with a large alignment line so I feel I don't need the line on the ball, I much prefer to place the ball in a position where I can't see anything on it. Works well for me.

 

[stevie_r]

I don't use an alignment line on the ball either.

 

[Robobum]

I have found that when I line up the ball I am constantly changing my mind about the line and I am giving the pace of the putt little thought, this leads to a lot of putts coming up 2-3 feet short. .

So it's not the line but your indecision??

 

[Qwerty]

I'll be giving this a go.. I Sometimes get a bit bogged down thinking about the line and Ive actually tried this on shorter putts as Ive been over thinking about the line on the ball and ended up pulling them and missing left.

Its probably the same reason that Ive never got on with larger putters with alignment aids, 2 balls etc. They're great for lining up the putt, but once the putter is moving the alignment aid isnt much use,its just a blur of lines and 2balls etc behind the putter head that I find not too easy on the eye.

 

[guest100718]

no line, no marking, just the white of the ball.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I use to use it religiously and spend what felt an age getting it lined up. Now I tend to use the line but just in a general direction type of way. I trust my Aimpoint read a lot more and so don't feel the line has to be so accurately line up

 

[EarCat]

So it's not the line but your indecision??

Partly. It is common sense that it is better to have the correct pace of the putt and an incorrect read rather than vice versa, as it is unlikely that you are going to misread a putt so poorly that you leave yourself anything outside 2 feet, I found a lot of the time I would send the ball off on a good line, only for it to come up short or go right through the break 4 foot past the hole, because I was so fixated on the getting the correct line and keeping the putter face square that I gave little thought about how hard I needed to hit the ball.

Obviously, you are a better golfer than I am and you should do whatever works for you, but I assume that I am not alone in my aforementioned problem and I discovered something that works for me today and decided to share it in the hope it might benefit others, and, of course, that is one of the main points of this forum.

 

[Robobum]

Partly. It is common sense that it is better to have the correct pace of the putt and an incorrect read rather than vice versa, as it is unlikely that you are going to misread a putt so poorly that you leave yourself anything outside 2 feet, I found a lot of the time I would send the ball off on a good line, only for it to come up short or go right through the break 4 foot past the hole, because I was so fixated on the getting the correct line and keeping the putter face square that I gave little thought about how hard I needed to hit the ball.

Obviously, you are a better golfer than I am and you should do whatever works for you, but I assume that I am not alone in my aforementioned problem and I discovered something that works for me today and decided to share it in the hope it might benefit others, and, of course, that is one of the main points of this forum.

It's whatever gets it done, but.....

If by using the line, you are getting everything on line but at the wrong pace - I'd be trying to separate the two actions so that once my line was picked and the ball pointing on it the ONLY thing of concern is pace - thus cutting out the indecision

For me, if I wasn't sure I was lined up properly, I couldn't commit to any pace either - double uncertainty

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

No alignment line - by the 'tone' of your question I take it you think I am mad not having one

I just don't want to become one of those golfing fiddlers who can't place their ball on the green without spending 'ages' trying to get the line on their ball 'just so'. I just plonk it back down so I don't have any worries about it not being 'perfectly aligned'. Putting is hard enough without what would become for me a potential distraction.

And one of those things that slows down play.

 

[Stuey01]

I don't use the line on the ball, but I had 10 3 putts last weekend after hitting loads of GIR too, so I wouldn't pay any attention to me when it comes to putting.

 

[CheltenhamHacker]

I think I'm too much of a perfectionist with this sort of thing, so to stop me doing that, there is no lining up at all. Just plonk it down a few inches in front of the marker , and however it ends up it ends up! Had a friend who likes to line it up, and it does make me chuckle at how perfect it must be!

 

[ger147]

I tried this today and found it so much easier to give putts from outside 10 feet a good run at the hole, I figured that this is because correct pace is more important than correct line. I have found that when I line up the ball I am constantly changing my mind about the line and I am giving the pace of the putt little thought, this leads to a lot of putts coming up 2-3 feet short. I played 9 holes today and in the 5 holes I decided to try this, I made a 15 foot putt for birdie, a 30 foot putt for eagle, and burned the edge on the 3 other holes from outside 10 feet. I feel that you should try this if you are struggling to make anything from any sort of distance at all like me.

Yes I use the line up line but just point it in the general direction of the hole. I don't have to have it pointing perfectly along my line of aim.

 

[EarCat]

It's whatever gets it done, but.....

If by using the line, you are getting everything on line but at the wrong pace - I'd be trying to separate the two actions so that once my line was picked and the ball pointing on it the ONLY thing of concern is pace - thus cutting out the indecision

For me, if I wasn't sure I was lined up properly, I couldn't commit to any pace either - double uncertainty

Maybe there is something in my psyche that cannot convert these two very separate things into one, just like how some people cannot see their ball going right to left without hooking it or hit the ball out off bunkers with any conviction, my brain doesn't let me give equal billing to both pace and line on longer putts. To be honest, I am talking about doing this for putts outside 10 feet, putts that no one in the world makes more than they miss, therefore if I miss the putt I want a very easy return putt.

 

[Allanxyz]

I use a line so that once I've lined it up I only have to think about pace... so all the directional stuff comes before (ok so part of the lining up is knowing what pace)... then as I stand over it I think only about hitting the pace I need to get to the hole

Having said that I'm not great at putting!

 

[Dave B]

Most of our greens slope so the answer for me is no as I want to be concentrating on lining myself and the putter face up on where I think I need to hit the ball rather than using the line on the ball.

To be honest I don't think there's a right and wrong way to do it If it gives you confidence do it.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

I think I'm too much of a perfectionist with this sort of thing, so to stop me doing that, there is no lining up at all. Just plonk it down a few inches in front of the marker , and however it ends up it ends up! Had a friend who likes to line it up, and it does make me chuckle at how perfect it must be!

My best golf buddy is the same - and it is both funny and a bit irritating as he can take so long trying to get it right.

 

[garyinderry]

in the general direction for me!

 

[Imurg]

The ball has a line on it...?

 

[Deleted member 1147]

I tend to use a line on the ball as an alignment aid, I figure that once the ball is lined up and my putter is square to this I don't need to think about line any more.
That way all I need to concentrate on is pace.