Dear David,
The head turn from beside the ball serves the triple purposes of 1) checking the aim of the putter face; 2) invoking the non-conscious instincts for distance control and the size of the stroke; and 3) orienting the base of the neck parallel to the target and teaching the shoulder frame the orientation of the stroke and the pacing and size of the stroke motion of the shoulders. These three purposes are all served by the same simple action of gazing straight out of the face at the ball and turning the head on the axis of the neck to and from the "target" with the end-point of the line of sight running in a line on the ground in the same pace that an imaginary straight putt on flat and level green would roll at and to the target along this line, slow down, and stop at the target at the end of the line.
For the first two purposes, the "line" is the line from the ball straight along the surface to a target spot. The target establishes both the line and the distance for the putt -- you aim the putter face thru the ball at this target for line and you putt the ball with a stroke for the green speed and uphill-downhill effects that rolls the ball at and to but not thru the target, AS IF the putt were across untilted green. But this "line" on a breaking putt is not the same as the "path" of the ball, which is the curving trajectory across the tilted green contour that the ball will actually roll over on its way into the cup.
The "line" and the "path" are complementary and not really in conflict or separate. For a typical breaking putt, like a left-to-right putt that "breaks" 10 inches, the term "breaks" would mean that the start line of the putt aims at a spot 10 inches off to the side of the hole. (Most people think the "break" means the furthest extent of the curving path off a direct line from ball to hole, which is actually the "apex" of the break, and not the true amount of break implied by the startline -- see pictures below.)
The above start "line" shows a direction but not an end-point where the target would indicate the distance reference. Such a target spot in the above picture would be located "as far as" the hole traveled to along a curving "path" so that the distance of the "line" and the "path" are the same.
This spot beside the hole (as "far" as the hole) is what I call a "target" for both "line" and distance. So the "line" of the putt is the direction the putter face needs to aim to start the putt off, and the putter face aims at the target spot off to the side of the hole. The golfer strokes the ball off on this line to start with, and gives the ball a stroke size and appropriate putter head "send" or "weight" that would roll the ball at and to but not thru the target spot, as if the green for this straight putt were flat and level. (The green speed of an uphill putt is thought of in an intuitive manner as slower than normal by an intuitive amount, whereas a downhill putt is thought of as faster than normal, but otherwise the putt is considered straight and level.) Of course, the ball actually is not being started off on a flat and level green, and will not really roll in a straight line, but will curve off this startline and follow the curving "path" of the putt into the cup. So long as the touch is right.
The startline relates to the curving path of the putt in a specific way. Right at the ball, the startline and the path are identical, but shortly thereafter the path curves off the line towards the low side of the green. This is the same as saying that the startline is "tangent" to the path at the path's beginning.
The key seems to be how the "line" and the "path" are related in terms of distance and energy, or "touch," "pace," "send," or "weight." If the target spot at the end of the "line" is chosen appropriately, the energy for the supposed flat and level line putt (with green speed intuitively adjusted for uphill or downhill effects) is identical to the energy for a ball rolling along the curving path with the right speed to stay on the path and drop successfully in the hole. That means that putting AS IF the putt were really straight along a flat and level section of surface at and to but not thru the target spot will give the ball the right energy to roll correctly along the real path and fall into the cup.
This is where the "fall line" and the "spider" come in -- to locate the target spot at the end of the start line on the tilted green in a way that gives the real putt the right energy. The golfer first finds the "fall line" straight uphill-downhill thru the cup and views this as the 6-12 line on a large clockface around the hole. Using the "spider" approach of considering the ball to be putted as located on the rim of this giant clockface around the hole, with the fall line running on the 6-12 line thru the cup, the golfer walks around from his ball on the rim and stands at 3 or 9 and imagines putting straight at the cup with just-get-there touch, AS IF the green in the clock were flat and level (but the green speed has appropriate uphill-downhill intuitive adjustments). Then the golfer visualizes what the ball in such a putt really would do -- curve on a path to the low side of the cup and stop below the hole on the fall line a certain distance from the center of the cup. This distance down the fall line represents the integration of the green's tilt and speed as they affect how much gravity will curve the ball below the hole. Selecting a target spot ABOVE the hole this same distance up the fall line should result in a putt from the 3 o'clock position (straight at the target AS IF the putt were straight over a flat and level green) that actually will curve on a "path" into the cup.
Because EVERY possible putt to this hole location will have the ball arriving with the same end speed for a golfer with good touch (e.g., 2 revolutions per second at the lip or similar), the speed of all balls arriving at this hole will be the same and will travel over the same tilt and green speed, so that gravity's effect will be identical for all putts at this hole. That in turn means that ALL putts from anywhere on the rim of the large clock we have imagined should use the same target spot.
And this means that the "line" to a correctly chosen target spot (seen as a straight putt over flat and level green) gives exactly the right touch for a "path" that curves into the cup (over a tilted green with a given speed condition). If the golfer putts straight at the target on the line as if the ball would roll straight all the way, slow as it nears the spot, and then stop at the spot, the ball will really curve into the cup with the right speed.
There are two limitations to this system of chosing a target spot. First, this system only works when the green is flat but tilted, and not when the green has multiple tilts or complex contouring. As it happens, the great majority of putts fit within this system without too much modification, as the green surface near holes is usually flat (or flatish) even though tilted and the USGA guidelines for pin location promote pin placements in generally flat (even if tilted) zones of the green. Second, the system is fine for giving a "ball-park" read for any putt, but is not quite accurate enough for visualizing the real "path" with the needed precision. So even if the golfer selects a target spot (and hence starting "line") this way, he then needs to fine-tune the read by carefully visualizing the "path" the ball will actually follow given the real green contour, green speed, and the arriving speed of the rolling ball nearing and dropping into the cup. This precise visualization of the "path" into the cup will most often require a target spot and a start line that is a little lower down the fall line (closer, tighter in to the top rim of the cup) than suggested by the spider approach. Once this visualized "path" is more accurately perceived, the "line" is adjusted with a new target spot in a slightly different location along the fall line, so that the new "line" starts the putt off onto the curving "path" so the ball will stay on the high side of the "hump" shape of the "path", will roll thru the apex area with the direction of the roll getting parallel to the base line from ball-at-address to hole right thru the apex, and then following the critical final segment of the curving "path" as the ball enters the cup headed straight to the heart of the cup from this high-side approach. Giving the ball the right pace or speed thru the apex area and into the final segment of the "path" into the heart of the cup is all about putting the ball to a target on the fall line (as if the surface were untilted).
SO ... for putts without complex contour (that are therefore flat but tilted surface), the target spot is first approximated by the spider method and then fine-tuned by precise visualization of the "path." The resulting "line" runs from the ball to the target spot located on the fall line above the hole. "Looking" (standing beside the ball and turning the head with straight gaze) from ball to target along this "line" with the intention of putting the ball straight over untilted green at and to but not thru the target AS IF the ball will not curve to the low side, then, generates the right stroke for the "path" that curves into the hole. The energy of the roll will be right. The golfer wants to use the touch that STOPS the ball at the target if the surface was in fact untilted and without break, and needs to make an intuitive adjustment for uphill or downhill "green speed" so that the ball "gets there" going uphill or does not "run past" the target going downhill.
When the distance between the target and the cup means that the golfer can look over both the "line" and the "path" with the same head turn (the gaze takes in both the full line and the full path at the same time in the same view), there is not much difference in thinking about scanning the "line" versus scanning the curved "path." The gaze just naturally comes out of stillness and straight-ahead at the end of the head turn to "look over" the "path." Eye movements (only) at the end of the head turn accomplish this without the need to shift the orientation of the head and neck out of the on-axis rotation used to scan the "line" in order to examine the last and critical segment of the "path" nearest the hole.
But ideally, the golfer simply concerns himself solely with the "line" from ball to target. That way, the neck turn is primarily responsible for loading the brain with the correct distance information from this beside-the-ball technique at the same time that the aim of the putter face is being verified from ball to target and at the same time that the base of the neck is preparing the body-sense for the on-plane shoulder stroke. This ideal is not suitable to all golfers, as many golfers simply cannot do this effectively and "must" scan the curving "path" to get a good sense of the right touch. With proper training, these golfers are more able to use the "line" and "path" as complementary of one another, indicating the same touch, but before then, these golfers find scanning the "line" only difficult.
When the golfer allows the gaze to come off the "line" and to scan along the curving "path", there is a danger that the eye movements will confuse or debilitate the targeting / touch signalling that the neck turn generates. This danger is not that great. The greater danger comes not from simply allowing the gaze of the eyes to alter near the end of the line where the path subtsantially curves off the line, but from changing the head orientation by altering the neck off its axis of rotation. Lifting the head out of its rotational attitude changes the base of the neck, and this changes the orientation of the shoulders in the body-sense of the stroke action to come, and this also alters the body-sense of where the target is located.
Usually, the base of the neck in this sort of "looking" along the final curvature of the "path" is some form of opening or closing the base of the neck to its proper parallel alignment with the aim from ball to target. This change in the base of the neck is ALWAYS downhill on either left-to-right putts or right-to-left putts (since every "breaking putt path" approaches the hole from the uphill side). So the danger of "looking" over the "path" near the hole with head-neck movements off axis is of losing the breaking putt to the amateur or low side.
In terms of the three purposes of the neck turn identified a the outset, this third purpose of teaching the shoulders the stroke orientation from the orientation of the base of the neck can suffer greatly from doing anything other than scanning the "line," with a straight gaze and good head rotation on a stable, parallel base of the neck. Even so, sometimes you just have to "look" like this -- and when you do, you thereafter should reorient the head and neck back to the start "line" from ball to target before pulling the trigger.
The exact question you ask concerns putts over complex surfaces, as some sort of "bowl" contour or over double-breaking contours, etc. But if you imagine a flat but severely tilted surface with a very fast green speed, the target will be somewhere on the fall line above the cup, and putt at and to this target AS IF the putt were straight will give the right touch for even a grossly breaking "path." The closer the ball at address sits to the 3-9 line on such a big putt over a slick and severely sloped but otherwise flatish surface, the "bigger" the break. But even on these giant breaking putts, so long as the surface is basically flat but tilted, the spider system with a target spot ON the fall line thru the cup somewhere above the hole sets both the line to start the putt along and the right touch reference for where to stop the ball's roll AS IF the putt along that line were across untilted green (with uphill-downhill adjustments for your sense of the green speed).
One corrollary of the above is that, on flat but tilted surfaces, the golfer should NEVER putt past the fall line (at least not by much at all). The ball on a breaking putt should always reach and stop at the fall line only where it crosses the center of the cup. If you putt at a target above the hole on the fall line with too much speed, the ball will roll thru the break and miss long and high. If you don't give the ball enough send or weight to get the ball as far as the target spot (as if putting on an untilted green), then the ball will miss short and low on the amateur side.
Another corrollary is that EVERY BREAKING PUTT is, in the final analysis after selecting the start line and aiming the putter face, a "touch" issue. At the end of the routine, touch is the only important element of concern before pulling the trigger on every breaking putt. As Jack Nicklaus might say, "last thought -- touch."
On complex surfaces, where the spider system doesn't work so well (without modifications), the start line and the touch for the "path" get separated. There is not one target on the fall line that unifies the "line" and the touch for the "path." But the brain intuitively comes up with a solution anyway. Such complex putts need to be planned and visualized mostly working backwards from the critical final segment of the putt, where the surface is nonetheless likely to be uncomplicated (just tilted but otherwise flat), and the complications of surface beyond this at-the-hole zone are handled in a practical way strictly for the purpose of getting the ball rolling with good speed over this critical, final part of the "path."
Cheers!
Geoff Mangum
Putting Theorist and Instructor
Geoff Mangum's PuttingZone
Golf's most advanced and comprehensive putting instruction.
Over 965,000 visits and growing strong ...
518 Woodlawn Ave
Greensboro NC 27401
(336) 340-9079 cell
geoff@puttingzone.com
AIM: puttmagic
Yahoo!IM: puttmagic
MSN IM: geoff@puttingzone.com
ICQ#: 277025051
