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Help with aiming while putting

gcruz86

gcruz86

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Need help with aiming putts. My vision is pretty bad. Take off my glasses and the world becomes a blur. I have been missing a lot of short putts (anything inside 5 feet) as I simply have a hard time aiming. I've tried lining up the putt using the aiming line on golf balls but the minute I get ready to putt, it just doesn't look like it is aimed correctly. On straight putts and using the line on my putter (T-frame), I think I'm aiming correctly but then I miss it a little right or a little left.

Any tips/exercises to help alleviate this problem would be greatly appreciated.
 
I use the line on the golf ball, step back about five more feet and then see if it's still on line. Adjust if necessary ... and then I trust it. It will look off line, but you just have to trust it's right because you've seen with your own two eyes that it's lined up properly. If I can see the cup out of the corner of my left eye, I just shut it and make my stroke.
 
Quit second guessing yourself. I trust the line on the ball at short distances and had to ignore my brain trying to make me miss putts.
 
Moved to swing tips.

It's a little thing, but what helped me more than anything was to aim a little more outside the hole than I think it is. Find what you think your line is and then go just a little bit more. They call missing low the amateur side for a reason.

Your problem is with short putts though. Are they really straight putts and you are pushing or pulling? If so, disregard what I said for your problem!
 
I have the same problem. I have pretty bad astigmatism, and I'm pretty sure it screws with your ability to see straight lines. I suck at pool also.

If you're sure you're hitting the ball square and not missing because you pushed or pulled it, I think the best you can do is try to correct for your vision problem. Or alternately, try to find a shorter aim target when you're standing behind the ball, like a little blade of grass sticking up funny, a pitch mark, whatever, and aim for that.
 
Once good drill:
Find a straight 5' putt. Use a 2 tees and some string.


140419-patrick-reed-518.jpg
 
Thinlinegolf.com has a cool alignment tool/ball mark that could help you with this.
 
How's about you leave your glasses on G. Lol

But seriously the line will look off once you stand over the ball. Line up you putter or ball with an intermediate target, not the hole. Maybe two feet in front of your ball. Try to put over that spot.

Also if you are leaving putts short you may want to pick a target 2' beyond the hole and allow the hole to get in the way of your line.
 
Oh and this may not help you, but last night I picked up a $40 Lynx putter from Golfsmith--it has no aiming line. None. I hit more long putts close with that than any other putter I played with. I think it's because I had to stop trying to aim with a line and instead picture the putt in my head and just go execute it.
 
deuce said:
I use the line on the golf ball, step back about five more feet and then see if it's still on line. Adjust if necessary ... and then I trust it. It will look off line, but you just have to trust it's right because you've seen with your own two eyes that it's lined up properly. If I can see the cup out of the corner of my left eye, I just shut it and make my stroke.
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^^^^^THIS^^^^^^

I had a bad habit of lining up the putt using the mark on the ball on my intended line, then when I would stand next to the ball and address it the line would usually look like I was going to hit it left so I would change my line. Your plane changes from behind the ball vs when you're standing on the side of it. Once I learned to just trust the line I found from behind the ball and ignore the line it "seemed" like from the side my putting improved tremendously.
 
Hawk makes a good point. Trust your first read and stick to it. More times than not when I miss a putt, it's because I adjust when I'm over the ball.
 
deuce said:
I use the line on the golf ball, step back about five more feet and then see if it's still on line. Adjust if necessary ... and then I trust it. It will look off line, but you just have to trust it's right because you've seen with your own two eyes that it's lined up properly. If I can see the cup out of the corner of my left eye, I just shut it and make my stroke.
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Thanks. Never thought of backing up that far from the ball. I usually just aimed it while squatting behind the ball. Will try that and then trust my aim.
 
The Triangulator at SeeMore Golf is the ticket!
seemore_zps3ef279ef.jpg
 
Tringulator never did much for me, but I know others have used it with success.

The other thing I'd say on short putts especially is that I like to track the head towards the hole on the follow through. It's just my way of actually taking a true stroke rather than stabbing at the ball. Being too cautious never helps.
 
Have someone stand behind the ball and tell you where you are lining up. I have a friend who is a great golfer and pretty decent putter, but for the longest time he just couldn't line himself right. One day while playing a scramble, I stood behind the ball and adjusted his alignment and he did much better. If we thought a putt should be on the right edge, he would be lined up outside left and have no idea (we had a lot of good laughs at his expense about this). After a while of doing this (many rounds, not just a few holes) he finally figured out what he was doing and has it corrected now and seeing it the right way and makes more putts.

I guess my point is that it could just be a visualization thing or line of sight and what you think you are doing is correct, but is actually wrong. Once you get the sense of what is right, it will make it much easier.
 
gcruz86 said:
Thanks. Never thought of backing up that far from the ball. I usually just aimed it while squatting behind the ball. Will try that and then trust my aim.
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I did too, but my instructor had me work stepping back and looking at my line again as part of my routine. It's hard to see, when you're over the ball, being off by a degree or two ... but by stepping back it becomes quite obvious your putt will be offline by the time it reaches the hole. You won't have to readjust every putt, for me I'm good on about 7 out of every 10 ... but it will help with the others where you're off by a hair. Good luck!
 
deuce said:
I use the line on the golf ball, step back about five more feet and then see if it's still on line. Adjust if necessary ... and then I trust it. It will look off line, but you just have to trust it's right because you've seen with your own two eyes that it's lined up properly. If I can see the cup out of the corner of my left eye, I just shut it and make my stroke.
Click to expand...

This.

Your binocular vision (lining up from behind the ball) is 100% correct. What you see when you step over the ball is not. I can't tell you how many times I've lined up a putt from behind, gotten over it, said, "that doesn't look right," changed my alignment and missed when it clearly would have gone in had I trusted my read from behind.

Now, that doesn't mean you'll suddenly start making 100% of putts. You still have to have chosen the right amount of break, hit it with the right pace and start your putter online. But when you get over the ball, you've got to block out all thoughts regarding alignment and trust what you saw. If it's so bad you feel you just can't, back off and read it again, but chances are you're going to get the same read.
 
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Gcruz, I kind of figured this out for myself when I was testing the Bridgestone e6. I wasn't putting well (never had really) but began using the alignment line on the ball. I'd line the ball up with the hole from behind and then stand over it ready to putt and say it didn't look right and adjusted my stance. My adjustment caused me to miss the putt. I began trusting the alignment mark on the ball and didn't readjust anything one I was ready to putt. My putt attempts were much better. I wasn't sinking any more but I was more online and that's a lot of my problem.
 
Hawk said:
Quit second guessing yourself. I trust the line on the ball at short distances and had to ignore my brain trying to make me miss putts.
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Agree. I use a line on my ball, and aim at a spot on longer putts with break. If I have a putt of say 10 feet that will break a foot at the mid point, I go to that spot, and look at it as a putt from there. Once you hit that spot it is all about the speed. Most pro's do this on longer putts and my teacher had me start this last year when we began rebuilding my putting.
 
Whatever drill you utilize, the more you practice it, the more your brain will make the line/eye connection and you will get more comfortable with how your are set up.
 
I started a thread about a month ago about seeing the line. The overwhelming majority of the people on here accept the fact that their perception of the line is off. This is fine if you can and do trust the line. Thinking it is one thing, overruling your subconscious is another; the post about closing an eye if you see the hole shows it isn't that easy.

I, with the assistance of my putting instructor, built my posture/stance to match what I see from behind the ball.


Either way, pick a spot a foot or so in front of your ball and focus on rolling it over that spot. You can use a dime or something smaller as a practice drill. If you can't roll the ball on your intended line you will never be successful at putting.
 
Some great points raised. My line always looks like it bends slightly to the left when I stand over the ball & over the years it has molded into my lining up. My brain sees the straight line as a curved line when standing at set up. I'll have to give it a try. Cheers.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2
 
Tadashi70 said:
Line up you putter or ball with an intermediate target, not the hole. Maybe two feet in front of your ball. Try to put over that spot.
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This along with a SeeMore give me a lot of confidence that I'll hit the putt on my line.

I just need to get better at picking lines and distance control.
 
deuce said:
I use the line on the golf ball, step back about five more feet and then see if it's still on line. Adjust if necessary ... and then I trust it. It will look off line, but you just have to trust it's right because you've seen with your own two eyes that it's lined up properly.
Click to expand...

Did this today and it made a massive improvement for me. After I lined it up and was over the ball, I would glance at the hole a couple times to judge distance then putt. I ignored how the ball was aligned while over it because I knew it would look off. Thank you deuce:good:
 
Hawk said:
Quit second guessing yourself. I trust the line on the ball at short distances and had to ignore my brain trying to make me miss putts.
Click to expand...


Pretty much this.
 
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