USER1999
Grand Slam Winner
I was reading an old rival mag last night, and they had some interesting views on reading lines / putting. Note, none of this applies to straight putts, and they were mainly talking 20 footers, with a single break.
A way of reading greens is to pick the point where the putt will start to break towards the hole, and then putt in a straight line to here, then let the ball run out. This is where guys who like to line up their alignment marks would be happy, as they can line up to this point.
However, only about 35% of people see things as straight lines. The other 65% see it as a curve (I am definitely one of these), where there is no straight part of the ball path to align with. For these, the alignment mark on the ball is useless.
What they then suggested was interesting.
Walk around, look at the putt from behind the hole, and then from behind the ball. Walking the green would enable your feet to feed back the slopes to your brain, and this could be more accurate information than your eyes provide.
Then stand near the ball, but far enough that you aren't going to hit it, and take your putting stance. Look at the hole, keep looking at the hole, have a practice putt, allowing your feet, and putter to naturally move to where they feel comfortable. Then look down, keep everything aligned as it is, shuffle forwards to the ball and make your putt, trusting that your mind/body has adapted to what is required, and naturally aligned itself.
Whilst I don't necessarily hold with this, there could be something in it. This could explain why, having painstakingly lined up the ball alignment aid to where I want the ball to go, when I stand over the putt, I think it is pointing in the wrong direction. I naturally want to hit the putt differently to what I have aligned to.
A way of reading greens is to pick the point where the putt will start to break towards the hole, and then putt in a straight line to here, then let the ball run out. This is where guys who like to line up their alignment marks would be happy, as they can line up to this point.
However, only about 35% of people see things as straight lines. The other 65% see it as a curve (I am definitely one of these), where there is no straight part of the ball path to align with. For these, the alignment mark on the ball is useless.
What they then suggested was interesting.
Walk around, look at the putt from behind the hole, and then from behind the ball. Walking the green would enable your feet to feed back the slopes to your brain, and this could be more accurate information than your eyes provide.
Then stand near the ball, but far enough that you aren't going to hit it, and take your putting stance. Look at the hole, keep looking at the hole, have a practice putt, allowing your feet, and putter to naturally move to where they feel comfortable. Then look down, keep everything aligned as it is, shuffle forwards to the ball and make your putt, trusting that your mind/body has adapted to what is required, and naturally aligned itself.
Whilst I don't necessarily hold with this, there could be something in it. This could explain why, having painstakingly lined up the ball alignment aid to where I want the ball to go, when I stand over the putt, I think it is pointing in the wrong direction. I naturally want to hit the putt differently to what I have aligned to.
