Dear Sasho,
A nice bibliography, with annotations, is included on my website, at:
http://www.puttingzone.com/PZResearch/PZ-3-02-03.html.
Also, I have written an article about plumb bobbing, at:
http://www.puttingzone.com/MyTips/plumb.html.
Dave Pelz has a fairly recent tip addressing plumb bobbing, at:
http://www.pelzgolf.com/webtips.html.
My friend Larry Stanley in California has written a short book on the subject, at:
http://www.theputtingedge.com/
This book, Andrews, Gene Scientific Ananlysis of the Plumb Bob Method of Reading Greens (1968), I have not been able to see yet. Please let me know if you can find it!
My Tips section has a few other online references:
Bogart Golf:
http://www.bogartgolf.com/lesson/swings.asp?library=Tip
Golf Digest: TI: Can plumb bobbing help you?
AU: Goodner,-R
JN: Golf-digest-29(9), Sept 1978, 44-49
Golf Magazine: TI: All about plumb bobbing: what they're doing, why they do it and how it's done
JN: Golf-magazine-(Boulder, Colo.) 29(8), Aug 1987, 36-39
Golf Digest: Plumb-bob to confirm your first impression. Issue: Jan, 1999 BY JUSTIN LEONARD Winner: Players Championship,
http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/m0HFI/1_50/54390594/p1/article.jhtml?term=putting
Phil Richards - Secrets to Plumb Bobbing ,
http://www.golfsupport.com/richardstip.htm
Here is the full section from my Research Bibliography:
3.02.03.11. .-- -- -- PLUMB BOBBING
3.02.03.11. Abrahams, Jonathan The putting game: Read 'em or weep Golf Mag. 33(5), May 1991, 48-49 49: the "pro side": "When average golfers miss a breaking putt, it usually isn't on the "pro side," or high side, of the cup. When faced with a big breaker, they don't allow fo enough curve, so the ball rolls by the low, or "amateur" side and never had a chance to go in. It's not that these golfers haven't read the green properly, but a big break requires a harder hit, and that's not easy when worrying about knocking the ball four or five feet past. Also, putting off sidehills tends to open or close the clubface with the direction of the hill, making unwanted pushes or pulls common. Avoid the amateur side by adjusting your stance for big sidehill putts. On putts that break right to left, stay above the cup by closing your stance; for left-to-right, open your stance. Another precaution you can take is to play the ball off the toe of the putter for a right-to-left putt, off the heel for a left-to-right. By hitting the ball out at the ends, you ensure that the putterhead won't twist with the hill at impact. Remember, however, that since you won't be hitting the ball on the sweet spot, you have to swing a little harder to get it to the hole."
3.02.03.11. Abrahams, Jonathan The putting game: Read 'em or weep Golf Mag. 33(5), May 1991, 48-49 covers green reading of slope, grain, weather, and the "pro side": 48: slope: read from behind the ball; if unsure, read from behind the hole, and possibly from 10 or 15 feet to either side for uphill / downhill slope; plumb-bobbing procedure; stand; get as close to the ball as you can while plumb-bobbing; 48: grain: "The direction the grass is growing is called grain, and in many cases it will influence the roll of your putt." "bent grass, usually found on northern courses, grows in tight bucnhes and can be cut very short, reducing grain's influenece. Bermuda [49] grass, native to the South, grows more sparsely than bent and must be cut longer; as a result, grain is more of a factor."; 49: weather: "When moisture from rain or morning dew lies of the green, your ball will glide on a thin layer of water. This water slows the ball down and reduces grain's influence. Since the break is less severe, wet greens allow you to putt aggressively." Patches of extra sogginess can slow the ball dramatically; "Even though the ball is on the ground, wind can affect a putt's progress. Grain's influence can be completely eliminated by a high wind blowing against it. Conversely, if strong winds blow with the grain, your putss will roll appreciably faster and break more sharply."
3.02.03.11. Andrews, Gene Scientific Ananlysis of the Plumb Bob Method of Reading Greens (1968)
3.02.03.11. Beers, Richard H. Plumb-bobbing: For putters or for plumbers? Golfing physicist rules once and for all the validity of this popular method for planning putts Golf Dig. 20(7), Jul 1969, 38-42 plumb bobbing establishes two planes, one vertical (the putter shaft) and one perpendicular to the surface of the green where you are standing, and compares the two. The 2d plane depends on the golfer standing sqaure atop the surface, with no adjustment of any kind to right himself on any slope; Al Geiberger suggests standing a little stiff legged; do not crouch -- this is illegal in the world of plumb bobbing; stand a little wide with a conscious effort to keep both legs the same length and let the head be square on the shoulders; do not let the upper body compensate for any slope; stand a few feet behind the ball (any further back loses sensitivity to the slope), and no more than necessary to get the putter shaft on the ball; staddle an extension of the ball-hole line and locate your dominate eye over top of this line by shifting stance about 1 1/2 inch left or right; hold putter shaft in correct orientation (toe pointed at hole) suspended lightly from fingers so as not to interfere with gravity's pulling it straight; align shaft with ball and sight with dominate eye only (close other eye) up shaft until you see the hole; assuming the ground of the hole is the same slope as that you are standing on, the shaft indicates whether there is any slope -- hole to left of shaft, slope from right to left, and vice versa. May need several readings for multiple break putts, using a spot on green in place of the ball for others. Does not work if ground at ball is level but ground at hole is sloping and vice versa. "It is easy to sense visually whether a surface is warped. The more difficult problem arisies in determining if an apparently flat surface is truly level." (42) Plumb bobbing from behind the hole will likely indicate how ball will die near hole. golfer conventionally lines up a putt by seeking a natural horizontal level to assess slope of the surface, say, the horizon in the landscape, the flag, a building etc. In principle, he does the same as a plum bobbing golfer-- who seeks a vertical ref.
3.02.03.11. Dennis, Larry and Golf Digest Professional teaching Panel & Advisor Staff Art of putting: part 1: judging direction Golf Dig. 26(10), Oct 1975, 32-35 1. sight slope from distance: Middlecoff 150 yds; 2. use your eyes as a level: Runyan; 3. imagine flow of water on green surface to see break: Wiren.
3.02.03.11. Farnsworth, Craig L. See It and Sink It: Mastering Putting through Peak Visual Performance (New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1997) 33: "[T]he real reason most see any deviation of the hole to the side of the shaft is due to their subconscious, and nothing else." 33: "In actuality, if everything was perfectly in line, the ball and hole would always be aligned on the shaft. What really creates a situation of the hole being off the shaft starts with what golfers see. Their eyes tell them that there is a break, often based on previous knowledge or an obvious break. The players' subconscious positions them a little off line, or they tilt their heads to create an illusion of reality."
3.02.03.11. Foston, Paul, ed. The Encyclopedia of Golf Techniques: The Complete Step-by-Step Guide to Mastering the Game of Golf (Philadelphia: Courage books, 1992) 150-151: Plumb-bobbing; "Stand a few paces behind your ball, on a direct line with the hole. [ie, standing behind ball, establish a stright line through the ball to the hole] Take hold of your putter with one hand and hold it at arm's length, opposite your master eye. The putter must hang straight in relation to your viewpoint. Make sure that the toe of your clubhead points directly towards or away from you. Line up the center of your ball with the lower part of the shaft. Let your master eye come up the shaft until it is level with the hole. If there is a slope, the hole will be to the right or left of the shaft -- adjust your borrow accordingly. If the slope is obvious, plumb-bob to confirm exactly how much." (150-151)
3.02.03.11. Golf Digest All About Putting (New York: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan; London: Kaye & Wind, 1973) 134-140: Plumb-bobbing: how plumb-line sighting works
3.02.03.11. Golf Magazine All about plumb bobbing: What they do, why they do it and how it's done Golf Mag. 29(8), Aug 1987, 36
3.02.03.11. Golf Magazine Golf Magazine's Handbook of Putting (New York: Harper & Row, 1973; London: Pelham, 1975) 76: Plumb-bobbing "is a very good system for putts of under 30 feet when you want to verify your original impression of the break." Center-shafted putter will hang straight, but blade will not, so point toe away from body. Use dominant eye. etc. 78: "This technique is a great help in judging the break and yet the line it shows is not absolutely true. The reason for this is that you must take the speed of the green into consideration -- remembering that a fast green breaks twice as fast as a slow green."
3.02.03.11. Goodner, R. Can plumb bobbing help you? Golf Dig. 29(9), Sep 1978, 44-49 3.02.03.11. Grizzard, Lewis Plumb stupid Golf Mag. 34(10), Oct 1992, 16
3.02.03.11. Lampert, Lawrence D. The Pro's Edge: Vision Training for Golf (Boca Raton, FL: Saturn Press, 1998) 67-71: plumb bobbing described; first hold putter shaft horizontally and stand behind ball and move from side to side until you see the ball and hole lined up on the shaft; then dangle the shaft vertically, with long axis of putterface pointing to or away from the hole, not sideways; try to get the ball lined up at or near the bottom of the shaft and the hole near the top of the shaft, which requires you to be a certain distance back behind the ball; use dominant eye and the same-side hand to hold the putter; 68: "Using the "plumb" is not totally scientific or reliable. It doen't read "double breaks" or factor in green characteristics or the grain but it is still a valuable aid."
3.02.03.11. Lewis, Beverly Perfecting Your Short Game (New York: Sterling Publishing Co., 1988) 26-27: general method described; master eye only, other eye closed; extent to which hole is away from shaft indicates extent of break, but is not exact; only works if slope near hole is same as slope where golfer stands and if golfer stands perpendicular to sloped surface (not vertical).
3.02.03.11. McLean, Jim & Pirozzolo, Fran The Putter's Pocket Companion (New York: Harper-Collins Publishers, 1994) 3: when in doubt, plumb-bob; close non-dominate eye.
3.02.03.11. Michael, Tom & Golf Digest Editors Golf's Winning Stroke: Putting (New York: Coward, McCann, 1967; London: Souvenir Press, 1968) 54: "This method [plumb bobbing] is recommended mainly for use on courses in the mountains or by the sea. On mountain courses in particular, optical illusions can play tricks. The green may seem perfectly level when you are standing on it, but actually it will nearly alwys be sloping away from the nearest mountain. Similarly, greens on seaside coures nearly always slope toward the sea, although the slope may be imperceptible. In these situations, the plumb-line method can be most helpful."
3.02.03.11. Palmer, Arnold & Dobereiner, Peter Arnold Palmer's Complete Book of Putting (New York: Atheneum, 1986) 35: "[Plumb bobbing] performs one, and only one, function: it establishes a true vertical." On a "regular" slope [ie, flat slope with no changes between ball and hole], plumb bobbing indicates slope and extent of break. But on double breaking surfaces or where the surface slants in different directions at hole and at ball, plumb bobbing creates confusion. Since ball breaks most near hole, plumb bobbing should be used to read slope near hole. "Thus the sensible procedure on long putts is first to stand behind your ball and make a rough judgment about the line, then pick out a spot on that line about ten feet from the hole, such as a spike mark or other blemish, then plumb-bob from that spot -- again taking care not to stand on your line." Calibrate your puttr for lumb bobbing by sighting a true vertical such as a building, to determine orientation of putter and line of shaft. Not necessary to try to stand perpendicular to ground while plumb bobbing: "You can safely forget all about that refinement, too. Just let nature take its course. After all, if you were able to detect sufficient slope for you to adopt this leaning-tower-of-Pisa stance, you would hardly need to bother with plumb bobbing." Once done, "It does not follow, however, that if the hole appears to be four inches to the left of the shaft, the putt will break into the hole if stroked four inches to the right."
3.02.03.11. Pelz, Dave & Mastroni, Nick Putt Like the Pros: Dave Pelz's Scientific Way to Improve Your Stroke, Reading Greens, and Lowering Your Score (New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1989) 150-152
3.02.03.11. Rodgers, Phil & Barkow, Al Play Lower Handicap Golf (South Norwalk, CT: Golf Digest, 1986) 106: "I also like to use the plumb-bob method for this. To plumb-bob, hold the putter vertically in front of you and centered on your ball. look at the club with only your dominant eye, closing the other eye. You should be able to see the general contour of the ground but not the refinements."
3.02.03.11. Stockton, Dave & Barkow, Al Dave Stockton's Putt to Win: Secrets for Mastering the Other Game of Golf (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996) 48: "This has become a popular way to read the line of a putt -- although I'm not sure all golfers do it correctly. Plumb bobbing gives you a [49] general read of the terrain -- whether it breaks one way or another -- but it's not a precise method." [eye dominance determination; technique -- all on 49] 49: "To plumb bob, hold the putter at the tip of the handle and let it hang vertically in front of you with the shaft bisecting the center of the ball and the hole. Align the putter in relation to the ball and hole using only your dominant eye; the other eye closed. If you are right-eye dominant, as I am, you will see only the left half of the ball. Now, look up the shaft to where the hole is "covered." If you see all or a large portion of the hole, you have a right-to-left putt. If you see very little or none of the hole, the putt breaks right-to-left. if you see half of the hole, the putt is dead straight."
Cheers!
Geoff Mangum
Putting Theorist and Instructor
The PuttingZone.com
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