Dear Larry,
GAZING DOWN STARTS THE WHOLE PROBLEM
Almost all golfers mis-aim to the outside (to the right, for a right-handed golfer) or to the side farthest from their feet. That's because the gaze (the direction the eyes aim out of the face) is not straight out and perpendicular when looking down at the ball, but instead the gaze is aimed slightly down the nose as when reading a book while sitting in a chair. This gaze angle misdirects the line of sight to the inside during the head rotation towards the target, instead of down the line of aim, whereas the perpendicular / straight-out gaze aim would send the line of sight straight down along the line of the putter's aim.
When a gaze-down-the-nose golfer rotates his head, first his line of sight gets directed to the inside off the line while the head turn is in progress, and second, he non-consciously corrects for this by cocking his head and neck back to the rear (right, for a right-hander), which brings or forces the line of sight back towards the target. The neck cocking shifts the shoulders out of square to aim to the outside. At the end of the process, the golfer's body aims to the outside of the target, yet his eyes are "looking" at the target and think they are looking "straight" at it. Well, they are, sort of, but the manner in which they end up looking at the target is the problem.
A STRAIGHT GAZE IS NEEDED TO CHECK PUTTER FACE AIM
In order to NOT look down your nose when looking down to the ball at address and also while turning the head targetwards to run the line of sight along the ground, there are a couple of tricks. These tricks help you get in the habit of aiming the eyeballs straight and perpendicularly out of the plane of the face when beside the ball, thus avoiding the whole misaiming problem and being able to turn your head to run your line of sight down a straight line, and also down the very same straight line that is the aim of your putter face.
First, "salute" with your hand positioned just below the pupils of both eyes, and then lower your head to the ball at address until the ball "surfaces" above the hand. This prevents you from looking down your nose at address and also gets your eyes aimed straight out of the head and face. Then, when you turn your head and the saluting hand at the same time towards the target, you will see that the line of the salute runs straight and true, as does your line of vision.
Second, stick the last knuckle of your left index finger on the bridge of your nose and extend the tip of the finger sideways just as far as the pupil of your right eye (the raer eye, for a right-hander). Close the left eye and look straight out of the face right past the very center of the tip of the finger. Then lower the head to the ball and aimed putter face so that the finger line in the right eye (with left eye still closed) matches the aim of the putter face. It looks like the finger tip is pointing into the putter face's sweetspot square and perpendicular to the aim of the putter face. Then roll the head towards the target. The tip of the finger will appear to trace a straight line along the ground running perpendicularly away from the putter face, along its true line of aim. Once you're turned as far as the target, WHATEVER occupies the exact center of the finger tip is where your putter face actually aims.
Both of these tricks require that the golfer square up to the putter face as aimed and that the head turn proceed like "an apple on a stick" -- the center of the neck out the top of the head (button on cap) is the stick, and this stick simply rotates in place to move the head towards the target. The chin stays the same distance out from the shoulder line the whole time the head turns. squaring up to the putter face as aimed is implicitly done for you by the matching of the salute or the line of the index finger to the aim of the putter face.
If you practice either of these techniques above a line on the floor or over a chalk line or string line on a green, the head turn and straight gaze will work together to run your line of sight effortlessly along the very same line the putter face aims. Thus, this technique does not aim the putter, but CHECKS to see where in fact you have aimed the putter by other processes. This checking is the missing skill in golf. I believe I am the only teacher in golf history who actually teaches how to do this checking, as I have never met anyone else who has heard or read about it.
The other skill, how to aim the putter face where you want to begin with, is nowhere near as critical as the skill of checking where the putter face has in fact been aimed. In fact, if you can get good enough at the checking, you can nearly dispense with the usual process of going behind the ball, sighting the line, and walking into the ball and the putt to position the putter face -- just walk up beside the ball, make an effort at aiming, square up to the aimed face so you can check its aim, and then see what you have done. If good, then putt; if not, correct the putter face a bit, resquare to the new aim, and check again.
A third way to get this putter face checking done, without a salute or finger across your nose, is to notice the shape of your face around your rear (right) eye when the left eye is closed. The meeting of the shape of the nose and the shape of the eyebrow forms a "mountain peak" or "arrow" that aims to the left. You can see this peak by holding your index finger over the bridge of the nose to your pupil (with left eye closed) and then sliding it leftward until the tip of the finger just disappears on the tip of the mountain peak or the point of the arrow. If you square up your head and shoulders to a line on the floor, this peak or arrow point will fit onto the line. (The line from peak to pupil matches the aim of the putter and line on the ground, like an arrow shaft and arrow point laid on a line.) When you turn your head like an apple on a stick, the peak or arrow point will STAY running on the line all the way. In other words, if you close your left eye with the head and shoulders squared to the aim of the putter face, this peak will run in a straight line and along the same straight line that the putter face aims. So at the end of the head turn, whatever spot on the ground as far as the target that "rises over Mount Fuji's peak" or which is struck by the point of the arrow is where the putter face is actually aiming.
To experience this, set up on a straight putt from 8-10 feet out (so there is no vision of the hole with the hole-side eye closed and the rear-side eye open). Notice the peak or arrow point in the shape of your face where the nose and brow meet. Turn your head like an apple on a stick and see exactly what spot on the rim of the hole shows up on the peak once the head turn gets that far. This spot is where the putter face is actually aimed.
If you can accurately CHECK the aim of the putter face, then accurately aiming the putter face to begin with is much less of a concern. Even so, the skill for that process needs to be learned and mastered.
AIMING PUTTER FACE REQUIRES ANCHORS ON THE BALL OR NEAR THE BALL
Aiming the putter face to a predetermined target means standing behind the ball and connecting the dots in space of ball and target to "see" the line along the ground that connects them, seeing how that line along the ground matches one and only one line thru the ball itself, and then anchoring these perceptions of the matching lines on the ground and thru the ball, and then walking up to the ball and aiming the putter face thru the ball on that same matching line. This results in the putter face line of aim matching the line thru the ball that matches the line on the ground between ball and target, and you are all set to square up to the aimed putter face and make a straight stroke (the same as always).
The key to this process is not really seeing the line so much as it is seeing how the line on the ground corresponds to only one line thru the ball, and then anchoring these perceptions on the ball itself or on the ground just near the ball so that when you start walking into the ball and change your position and perspective, the perceptions of the match do not get lost or confused. Seeing this line thru the ball and finding useful anchors of perception is a bit tricky, but remember, you can always accurately CHECK what you've done later on from beside the ball.
To see the only line thru the ball from behind the ball, I use the edge of an uplifted putter shaft as a visual "ruler" to connects the dots of ball and target. Just hold the shaft so the ball appears split with half emerging off the left edge of the shaft while half the target spot also emerges off the left edge of the shaft farther along the shaft. The edge of this visual ruler shaft BETWEEN the ball and target uniquely identifies and runs along a string of grass blades that lie in a perfectly straight line connecting the ball and target. That's nice, but the ball line is the quarry and matching a line thru the ball to this visual ruler line is the purpose. So now keep the dots connected but shift attention to the ball itself and to the ground just in front or behind the ball on the line connecting ball and target. Look for something on the ball itself that indicates or that is near the very center of the back of the ball. Also look on the line on the ground near the ball in front (preferably) but perhaps also behind for a spot of discolored grass that is on the ground line perhaps 3-8 inches past the front of the ball. With these "anchors" you can now safely walk up to the ball and reconstruct the match between line on the ground and line thru the ball.
To use the anchors and aim the putter face straight thru the ball on the line, you can simply position the sweetspot behind the center of the ball (on the equator) and twist the putter face until it "aims" flush thru two points: the exact back of the ball plus the grass spot identified in front of the ball that lies on the ground line. Or you can notice that the exact back of the ball always implies two other points on or in the ball: the center of the sphere and the exact opposite spot on the front of the ball. These 2-3 points establish a line thru the ball the same way the north and south poles on the globe of the earth make a straight line thru the ball of the earth. So even without a spot on the ground in front of the ball, if you simply start with the exact center of the back of the ball that is directly above the line on the ground, this is really all you need to walk up and aim the putter face straight thru the ball on the line along the ground that connects the ball and target. Position the sweetspot behind the exact back of the ball and twist or turn the putter face until it aims flush along the 2-3 points -- straight thru the center of the ball out the opposite exact center of the ball that matches the exact center of the back of the ball.
Then square up to the aimed putter face and check what you've done to see where in fact the putter face now aims. If the target shows up as hoped, you're ready to putt straight. If not, just adjust the aim and setup and check again, or recycle and return behind the ball for another full effort.
If you are used to poor aiming, usually to the outside, good aim will at first look like your putter is aiming to the inside. This is normal. Look more at the line of aim of the putter face once you're happy with the aim, and notice how the putter face points straight along the ground for 5-8 inches to a spot of grass. This spot of grass is always directly off the big toe of your target-side foot, and is always out from this foot the same distance. A line from the putter meets a line out from your big toe in an "L" or carpenter's square. The elbow of this L is always in the same place in relation to your front foot, visually and physically. The long and short segments of the "L" are also always the same length, as your setup is consistent. Learning how to look at the aimed putter face and find this "L" with its elbow or corner off the lead foot teaches you what a straight aim and square setup looks and feels like. The only visual world that should concern you is the view in your feet beneath your face at address. It is always the same. The ball has to be stroked so that it crosses this "L" elbow point and the body has to send the putter face from the back of the ball down this aim line as far as the elbow point without twisting out of square and without the path of the stroke coming back inside off the line.
At the end of the day, you aim accurately along the line that connects ball and target; you see by checking from beside the ball using a square setup and reliable positioning of head and eyes and rotation of head that the aim is good; and then you're in a perfect square setup knowing where the stroke must roll the ball straight sideways out of your setup (over the corner of the "L"). There is no more concern for the line or really even for the target distance. If you then wonder where the target is, just look down at your putter face: it's aiming at it and you have a very reliable sense of how far off it is. So just putt straight with good tempo and solid, unhurried impact -- the instincts handle the rest.
Cheers!
Geoff Mangum
Putting Coach and Theorist
PuttingZone
http://puttingzone.com
Golf's most advanced putting instruction -- you're either in the PuttingZone, or not.
