Dear Bastiaan,
I don't promote using a line or logo on the ball in putting because the physical procedure of aiming the ball is not without problems that can hurt the golfer's aim and stroke unless he knows how to avoid them. I have another approach to the ball itself for helping get the aim correct that does not require the trouble of correctly aiming the line on the ball. It's entirely possible that a correct method for aiming the line on the ball can be helpful even in my approach, but so far it has just been too much trouble for the benefit. I'll probably come around eventually, because there is one thing a line on the ball helps with -- seeing the front part of the ball's equator that is nearest the target.
Here's what I see as the problem with aligning the line or logo on a ball:
In positioning the ball at the target to point the line at the target, it is necessary to use a less-than-optimal physical position of head-eyes and a less-than-propitious sequence of targeting movements. The elevation and closeness of the eyes in setting the ball line require a series of up-down head tilts to "look" from ball to target during the positioning. This sequence of movements relies upon the neck proprioception of "lifting the head" and "dropping the head" along the same plane of motion, and is done well only with some attention to the sameness of the lifting and dropping motion. Eye muscles shifts are pretty hurtful in this action, due to the closeness of the eyes to the ball requiring / allowing larger saccades in refixing on the ball after "looking" to the target.
The bottom line is that aiming the ball and its line like this should always be followed by stepping back from the ball and checking the aim from a distant perspective with the dominant eye and the body squared to the line and facing the line squarely (head and torso and lower body). While back there checking, it also makes sense to use the shaft edge as a visual ruler, to connect the dots of the ball and target splitting the ball vertically with the shaft edge and then assessing or judging how well the line on the ball parallels the edge of the shaft. Due to the shortness of the line on the ball, this requires some care and steadiness to detect any slight but significant misalignment.
As a final note, so long as the gaze is straight out of the face down at the ball, AND the eyes are vertically above the ball and sweetspot of the putter so that the line of sight runs to the surface at 90 degrees, looking down on the line on the ball will match the "skull line" across the face and the aim of the putter head properly squared to the ball's line. However, if the head is tilted up a little (but gaze still straight out), so that the forehead is slightly higher above the ground than the chin, the line of sight meets the ground in a tilted angle off 90 degrees. This perspective looking at a line "wrapped" over the top of a ball makes the "line" appear to be "draped" over the ball, and hence appear more like a curved rainbow shape than a straight line. This phenomenon often gives a golfer who is otherwise properly setup square to a well-aimed putter face the sensation from the "line" on the ball that he seems to be aimed a little to the inside (left, for a right-handed golfer). The trick is to tilt the ball's line towards the face until the line of sight transits thru the line on the ball on its way to the center of the ball. This eliminates the "draped" appearance. of the line and consequently does away with this source of confusion and doubt. Hence, if you use a line on the ball, gaze straight out of the face and make the line of the gaze pass right thru the line on its way to the ball's center, tilting the line into the face if needed.
With respect to your comments that beside-the-ball targeting has difficulties, I would say that behind-the-ball targeting is a different process from beside-the-ball targeting, but both can be equally accurate when done correctly. There is no doubt the beside-the-ball targeting is a learned skills that requires good instruction and training, or that a beginner trying to work it out for himself will experience the difficulties you describe. But the sound training results in a skill for beside-the-ball targeting that is normal, easy to use repeatedly, and far more accurate than anything else I have ever seen for beside-the-ball targeting. I really believe it is the ONLY accurate way to target consistently well from beside the ball -- at least it is free of unnecessary complications and ad hoc compensations.
With respect to your question about the best way to check the putter face aim from beside the ball:
Once the aim line from ball to target is perceived from behind the ball and the golfer walks in to the ball and places the putter behind the ball and aims it down the line thru the center of the ball square, the golfer needs to forget the target and concern himself with the putter face as aimed. That is, square up the setup to the putter face as aimed, and then use the correct physical procedure to determine exactly where the putter face really is aimed.
To square up, set the skull line across the eyes to match the putter face aim, then work down the body's joint pairs to sort out twists and skews and end up with "happy feet" in a square setup -- shoulders square, hips square, knees and ankles square, neck straight out of shoulders, face aimed down at sweetspot of putter with a straight gaze. Then set the "aim spot" of your dominant eye right on top of the putter sweetspot. (The aim spot is that part of the dominant eye's field of vision thru which the straight-out gaze passes, and is inside from the bridge of the nose about 1 inch.) Then rotate the head and face in the direction of the target, moving the line of sight of your fixed gaze straight away from the putter face along the line of aim in a straight line along the ground and wait to see what shows up in the aim spot once the head turn has progressed as far as the target.
If the target arrives by this procedure in the aim spot, then your putter face is really aimed squarely at the target. f not, then you have a conflict between behind-the-ball plus putter face aiming and beside-the-ball checking that needs resolving, either by starting the targeting process over behind the ball or by repeating your beside-the-ball targeting with or without a minor putter face aim adjustment.
Cheers!
Geoff Mangum
Putting Theorist and Instructor
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