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Alignment aids on golf balls

I free hand about a 1 inch(?) stripe on opposite sides of the ball. I try to line it up on my intended line, though I don't obsess over having it perfect. When the ball gets rolling it looks like a solid stripe, so I know I hit it square. I guess it probably helps me get the ball started on my line. I've done it so long just part of my routine now. I'd say I'm a very good putter who has some great days on the greens and very few lousy days, so it's not hurting me any.
 
I draw a line with my ball marker tool or birdicorn tool over the alignment mark on my Srixons. I have a dozen ERC soft with triple track too! TT is amazing!
 
I loved using TT this past year and plan to do so again as I felt it definitely helped my putting. Looking forward to seeing what's new this year in terms of alignment ;)
 
I can't seem to get the line on the ball lined up exactly where I want it. Or I think I do, then I stand over it and don't have the confidence that it's right and then I'm all messed up. Can't do it anymore even though it makes sense until I actually do it. Then all confidence is out the window.
 
I've always used the 'secondary logo' to line up. Because its part of the ball, I don't get distracted on other shots as has been pointed out about the Callaway triple track thing. BUT- the last few rounds I have not bothered just to see if my lining up and setup with the putter is correct.

On the tee, I line it up to give me a line to come from the inside, not necessarily where I'm aiming.
 
I remember doing tests and found I didn't putt any better or worse with drawing a line on the ball. Triple Track however I absolutely putt noticeably better with. I'd be curious to test some time to quantify it.
 
I have one of those ball spinner gizmos, where as the ball spins you touch it with a sharpie, and line is drawn around the ball.

This iirc was developed to find the balance point of the ball, and the line also offered up an alignment aid on the ball.

I used it as a mark to identify my ball. I used red ink.

I was shown many years ago that a line on the ball, used as an alignment aid, could easily give the golfer a false line (read) to the hole. Especially on longer putts.

The guy running the seminar had us line the ball up to the center of of the hole from 10' feet. Then stand back, and see wher the line on the ball pointed. Quite a few times the line on the ball was pointing left, or right of the hole.

A line on the ball would work, but was not fool proof, and required some practice.

It was determined that standing behind the ball, visually lining up the whole ball to the hole was more accurate. Especially when using an intermeadiate target in front of the ball a few inches that was also on the target line to the hole.

So, based on that seminar, drawing a line on the ball for aiming purposes sometimes worked, and sometimes it didn't.
 
ToddJ027b said:
I can't seem to get the line on the ball lined up exactly where I want it. Or I think I do, then I stand over it and don't have the confidence that it's right and then I'm all messed up. Can't do it anymore even though it makes sense until I actually do it. Then all confidence is out the window.
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That is my biggest fear, adding something else to my routine that would cause me second guess my stroke. I guess I need to just go and practice with it and see how it goes.
 
I don't always use the alignment aids even though I'll add a sharpie line but when I do it tends to be far more often on the tee as opposed to lining up putts on the green.
 
I use a line on the tee and the green, whether it's a factory marking or one I draw myself. If I didn't, I might accidentally hit it in the right direction.
 
I do not, I like the ball to have as little of markings as possible personally. I love the new Chrome soft X with TT for the ball itself, but could do without the triple track personally. I love the Bridgestone tour B logo for this reason.
 
MagicSpell said:
Add me to the Triple Track camp. Definitely seems to help my alignment. When I'm not using the Triple Track ball, though, I still use the alignment aid on the ball. What's weird (to me at least) is that I don't really fiddle to get the alignment 100% correct when placing the ball down. I use it more as just a general guide for the direction I want to start the putt on (but the exact line isn't necessary). I guess that's the part that's weird as I don't want to take a long time trying to exactly line up my putts due to pace of play.
The other part that's a little OC is that I always have to align the ball with the brand name oriented a certain direction. I tell myself that's to insure I'm rolling the ball always the same way, lol.
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I'm a bit the same. I try not to waste too much time aligning the ball (due to pace of play issues). I may need to start, though. I had one f the worst putting weekends I've ever had this past weekend. It's usually the one part pf my game that I can count on but I was missing some unforgivable short putts this past weekend. Train wreck.
 
i use to draw 1 single red line on the ball now i jsut use the triple track balls from callaway...love the lines.

i think this is personal presence type thing...a little mind thing for people
 
WLG1952 said:
It was determined that standing behind the ball, visually lining up the whole ball to the hole was more accurate. Especially when using an intermeadiate target in front of the ball a few inches that was also on the target line to the hole.
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This has always been my approach, also. I'm typically much better putting to an intermediate point. This past weekend, though.......woof.
 
I always use a line. If you cannot get the line to roll over itself, all the putting practice in the world could be in vain imo if you aren't rolling it correctly.
 
I put Triple Track to the test during the Grandaddy. The alignment works like a charm. But, you better be damn sure you are aiming it exactly where you want it to go. If you are lazy or misalign it, I had no prayer of adjusting my line without realigning the ball. If I lined the track up a little too far one way or the other, I could not mentally adjust off of the line. I like to play fast and I am not used to taking a lot of time on the greens. I have to practice with it some more and make sure I am lined up exactly on my aim point with it. Just get used to a new routine I guess.
 
I love the triple track! I heard this idea that, "Technically, all putts are straight putts. If you aim the right direction and hit it at the right speed, gravity and such will take it's course." Once I got that in mind, the triple track gave me a point of reference that seem to help me get the putter face through the ball square every time and I can just focus on the speed of my putts.
 
Triple Track has been a huge part of my putting improvement this year. I've never been able to use one line on a ball but the science behind Triple Track is legit for me, especially on short putts.
 
OtterMan said:
Yes! This.. I actually think it helps more on the tee than on the green. The one thing I have found with putting is, I see the line on the ball then get over the putt and it doesn't look quite right. So I alter the line and tend to miss right where I changed my mind. It also helps me making the stroke by giving me a target for the putter head path.
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I agree that it might not look right, which means it probably is! I make my read, line up the ball with the alignment aid, and trust that I made the correct read...even if it looks a bit off as I stand over it.

And, using the alignment aid off the tee, helps me align correctly before I take the shot.
 
I draw a nice blue alignment line, but I do it to make my ball easier to identify. I don't use it at all for alignment.
 
I don't think you'll ever see one on my ball. I've played with them and don't like it at all. It's distracting, and I putt worse. I don't need a line to see when I've made a bad putt, and and a wobbly line isn't an accurate indicator of a bad putt anyway, because placing the ball with it aligned perfectly to my intended putt is just about impossible. I focus more on trying to keep the line straight than what I should be doing. I really kind of hate them. If I find a shiny new ball on the course that I play and it has one, I give it away.
 
I’m in the Triple Track club. Played it all of 2019. Now being winter I switch to the Supersoft. I feel lost without it.
 
I always line up a putt with the blank part of the ball up, if I had a choice, I would use a ball with no markings at all.
 
Here a link to a test done to see if makes any difference.

I agree with their assessment that for the average golfer spending time to line up putts with a line on your ball, especially on putts outside of 10 feet, is a waste of time. Luckily none of my regular playing partners do this because it would certainly slow down play. I played a round two years ago with a couple of strangers who were both meticulous about where the line on their ball was aimed and it added about 30 minutes to our round. Both were also slow with their full shot routines which resulted in a 4:15 hour round as a threesome with nobody in front of this. My regular group walks in 3:00 - 3:15 when the course is moving. I think they picked up a lot of their habits from watching the pros on TV which is, unfortunately, all too common. They also both had multiple 3 putts and shot in the 90's that day.




mygolfspy.com

MyGolfSpy Labs: Line vs. No Line

Does Marking Your Golf Ball With A Line Improve Your Putting We went to the lab to find out.
mygolfspy.com mygolfspy.com
 
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