Dear Parker,
I believe that crafting a putting "gun that shoots straight the right distance" is the first order of business, and only then should the golfer focus upon reading for target selection and aiming. But once the golfer has a straight-shooting stroke, the next issue to tackle has to be "aiming." By this, I mean the skills
a) to see from behind the ball the exact line along the ground that the putter face aims along connecting the ball and the selected target spot on the fall-line near the hole, using one eye only (closing the other) to connect the dots along the edge of the upheld putter shaft as a "visual ruler",
b) anchoring this imaginary line with a spot of grass along the line perhaps 5-6 inches in front of the ball by looking along the edge of the "visual ruler" just in front of the ball,
c) walking into the ball and placing the putter head behind the ball so that the face and sweetspot aim perpendicularly thru the center of the ball at and over the spot on the line (while refraining from trying to recreate a sense of relationship between the ball and the target, and concentrating solely on using the spot to aim the putter face),
d) then stepping around to beside the ball and adopting the setup postures and grip and matching the throat line to the leading edge of the putter face with the eyeballs gazing straight perpendicularly out of the face and with the golfer's face and eyes aiming the sight at the sweetspot with line across both eyes matching the aim of the putter face, and
e) checking to see where exactly the putter face has been aimed in the above process by then rotating the head and face on the axis of the neck like an "apple on a stick" sending the line of sight straight sideways along the green in the same direction the putter face points until the line of sight arrives at some distant point on the ground either exactly on the target spot or nearby to one side or the other. To help this latter process, the golfer can close the eye closest to the target and watch the "peak" where his nose meets the eyebrow of his open eye's socket as this "peak" runs straight on the ground sideways as the head and face turn and the exact point on the ground where the putter face aims "rises" into view on this peak.
This process reduces excess information and generates accurate, relevant perceptions that correspond with objective reality, showing the golfer accurately where in fact the putter face aims. Once the golfer can reliably aim at a selected target spot, and can also putt straight where the putter face aims with correct distance, then the golfer can receive clear and accurate feedback about whether he is any good in reading putts and selecting targets to aim at.
This aiming routine consists of sighting from behind the ball, walking in to use the anchors on the ground just in front of the ball to aim the putter face, and setting up to the putter as aimed so that the gaze is straight out of the face (not down the nose), the throat line matches the leading edge of the putter, and the head can turn targetward like an apple on a stick. Of these three distinct phases of "aiming", the tricky one that needs practicing is "checking the aim of the putter face from beside the ball."
The key elements of this latter skill are four: straight-out gaze, throat line matching leading edge of putter face, apple-on-a-stick head turn running eye sight in a straight line sideways down the same line the putter face aims, and using the structure of the eye socket in the skull to help focus the exact spot on the ground where the putter face has been aimed as it appears in the visual field of the rear-side eye. These skills can be practiced indoors over a line on the floor or by using the line where a baseboard of a wall meets the floor. On the practice green, you can use a string line or chalk line to practice these skills as well.
Set up beside the line, aim the gaze straight out, bend the back and neck until the line comes into view, and then turn the head and face liike an apple on a stick. This action will run the line of sight straight along the chosen line with no further shifts of the gaze, in a perfectly mechanical geometry. In order to learn better what to notice in the rear eye at the end of the head turn, make a tiny telescope with your rear hand's fist and sight out of this eye with a straight, perpendicular orientation of this small telescope, bend until the line appears in this tiny telescope, and turn the head so that the line remains inside the telescope all the way to the end. Alternatively, you can extend your target-side index finger sideways across the bridge of your nose as far as the pupil of the rear-side eye, turn the head targetward with the finger traveling along, and watch that the tip of this finger runs straight on the ground and at the end of the turn the very middle of this tip points at the only spot on the ground where the putter face actually aims.
Cheers!
Geoff Mangum
Putting Coach and Theorist
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