Dear John Boy,
That sounds like Geoff Ogilvy, who aims with the "feel" of his body (see the current Golf Digest issue).
In general, the line on the ball functions to change a "sphere" into a direction "visually". What is really needed is a perception or sense of "where" thru the ball the intended start line aims and "where" the stroke movement will move the putter head thru the impact zone. This sense can be "visual" and / or the "physical" relationship of the body as setup for the stroke to the putter handle and putter face and putter face aim thru the ball, and the "aimedness" of the body in the setup. The total body-plus-aimed-putter is "aimed" as an integrated whole for purposes of the intended and forthcoming action of the stroke, as usual. Once I'm happy with the aim of the putter face by sighting the line from behind the ball (based on the "read"), and then positioning and aiming the putter face thru the center of the ball down that start line, and then "checking" whatever aim I've done from beside the ball in the setup to satisfy myself that "all systems are go", at this point my body in the setup and the putter in my hands as aimed are one unit. The aiming is now "over" completely -- no more wondering whether or wondering where or wondering how to make the proper stroke motion. I stroke the ball where aimed, no questions and no exceptions. If I wonder "where" the target is at this point, I cancel the wondering by reminding myself that the best indicator of "where" the target is is NOW accessed by simply looking at the putter face -- it's aimed straight at the target! Or, even deeper, I just remind myself that my usual stroke that rolls the ball where the putter face aims IS the ONLY PLAN for sending the ball off on the correct start line. That brings me back to the brink of simply "making a beautiful stroke" with great rhythm.
All this means that the "sphere" of the ball is a bit short of the proper way to regard a golf ball. A ball is part of the aimed putter face and setup that goes with that putter face. So a sphere really needs to be regarded as something indicating a specific direction for the aim and the stroke.
All spheres become directional as soon as one specific point on the sphere is selected. Pick any dimple on a golf ball and this point has an exact opposite thru the longest path thru the center of the ball from one side to "the" other. In geography, it's called the "antipode". These two points on the surface of the ball, plus the center point of the sphere inside, all together lie on a single line thru the ball and this line parallels the surface; the level of all points this same height (halfway up) from the surface is the "plane" of the equator of the ball. So if you select the dimple on the back of the ball halfway up from the bottom of the ball on the green to the top of the ball opposite the bottom, then these three points (back dimple, center of sphere inside, and opposite antipodal front dimple) establish what golfers normally call the equator of the ball that is level with the surface (not necessarily with gravity unless the surface is level and flat).
This in turn means that standing behind the ball sighting the line, there is the exact dimple on the back equator of the ball halfway between the bottom of the ball where it touches the ground and the top of the ball. Seeing the exact back of the ball will change if the golfer shifts the line or direction that he looks thru the ball. But when the golfer "sights" the true line ("connects the dots") from center of ball to center of target (perhaps using the edge of the shaft as a visual ruler), then the golfer is necessarily "seeing" the correct exact back dimple on the equator that marks the "line" thru the ball that corresponds with the intended start line / direction.
This back dimple is easy to see. Simply sight the line between ball and target from behind the ball (8-10 feet is usually a good distance so the ball and target are viewed simultaneously without needing to shift the face or eyes from one to the other) and this dimple is the exact center of the ball. Seen from behind the ball looking down the line, the "sphere" has the appearance of a "circle" (human vision is not really three dimensional perception but is two dimensions plus a faked "emergent" or "consequentially derived" sense of depth). Regarding the ball seen from this perspective as a "circle" is the same as looking at a dart board hanging on a wall with the golfer "facing" flush at the wall. Moreover, everything about a circle's perimeter indicates the exact center, since there is only one spot or location that is the SAME distance in from all points on the perimeter, halfway between all lines crossing the long path from one side to the other.
So, standing behind the ball sighting the line thru the ball, the golfer simply "notes" the "bullseye" dimple on the back of the ball. This "bullseye" dimple then defines the exact antipodal opposite dimple on the front equator of the ball. Voila, a "line" thru the ball that matches the intended start line of the putt. The golfer walks into the ball and positions the putter face sweetspot exactly behind the bullseye and then "squares up" the putter face to aim out the front of the ball thru the exact opposite point on the front. This integrates the putter face aim with the intended line, and the residual sense of direction thru the ball remains just as good as using a "line" mark on the ball to memorialize visually the perceptual process of deciding which way you should go.
The advantage is that this "bullseye" line thru the ball does not require a specific inking line on the ball or the touching and positioning of the ink line, which is not exactly a trouble-free perceptual process in itself. Instead, the "bullseye" sense of line comes with noting the exact back of the ball when viewing the line from behind the ball, and converts an imaginary direction into a real spot on the ball and a real, exact line thru the ball out the front.
Lots of people have difficulty perceiving and "hanging onto" this bullseye when standing behind the ball and then walking in to place the putter head aimed thru the ball. There are some tricks. First, don't change the perspective as you walk into the back of the ball, the same way you would face a dart board on a wall and then walk "straight in" to the dart board. If you change the perspective looking at the rounded back of a sphere, you will define another bullseye and another direction thru the ball, so keeping the look straight down the line as you approach the ball helps keep the vision seeing the same correct bullseye until you're close enough to put the putter face down behind it. Second, you can get a little assist from the edge of the putter shaft as you walk into the back of the ball by connecting the dots of the ball and target on the edge and keeping them connected visually as you approach the ball, lowering the shaft as required the closer you get. Then the bullseye and the line thru the ball out the opposite are rather clearly "lined" by the edge of the shaft right before you place the putter head behind the bullseye. Third, sometimes the writing on the ball or some smudge is nearby the exact bullseye, and you can simply note this rather than depend on keeping the eyes on just another white dimple while the perspective is changing as you walk up. If you note that the bullseye happens to have the "dot of the letter i" on it from the ball name "Titleist" (the first i), then you can go have lunch before aiming the putter face down the line since this "i" and dot aren't going anywhere and will still be there when you come back. Fourth, there is usually a shadow beneath the ball as sometimes a shadow line ("terminus") across the ball depending upon the direction of the sunshine, and this "shadow shape" in relation to the bullseye helps define the exact bullseye. Fifth, the bullseye is always directly above only one exact spot on the ground vertically beneath it, and noting this spot is easy sometimes if it happens to have a different color or is next to a spot with different color. And sixth, a spot on the ground 3-5 inches in front of the ball that is straight thru the center of the ball on line with the bullseye, the center of the ball, and the antipodal opposite dimple on the front equator of the ball can also be used to anchor the perception of the line, with the golfer than simply walking up to the ball and aiming the putter face straight thru the ball at this front spot on the ground 5-6 inches or so down the line from the front equator of the ball. All of the above are "anchors" of the imaginary geometrical relationships in the perceptual process that convert the imaginary to something real and stable that will not change when the golfer's perspective changes walking into the back of the ball.
Even more generally, once the putter face has been aimed, the sense of the "sphere" of the ball can be changed to a sense of intended movement of the putter face and sweetspot square and straight and perhaps slightly rising thru the bullseye and transiting out the exact opposite front dimple. This is viewing the ball as a direction in the stroke action, not as an inert, directionless sphere. The golfer wants to perceive the intended line, the intended direction thru the ball, the aim of the putter face, the aim of the body, and the forthcoming stroke action that moves the putter head square and online thru the ball all as a unified and integrated "package deal".
Other "shapes" for imagining the ball other than a directionless sphere are;
A triangle, with the base line the same as the putter face edge at the back of the ball and the apex of the triangle at the front dimple or further along the line.
A square, with the ball exactly fitting inside the square and the back edge the same as the putter face and the aim and motion paralleling the sides of the square and the transit point of the sweetspot halfway between the two front corners of the square.
A rectangle, as if the ball were inside a sleeve box at the bottom of the box and the long axis of the box is aimed down the line and the golfer will strike the bottom of the box flush and square to pop the ball out of the other open end of the sleeve box to start it off down the line.
All of this works well with last minute adjustments in the aiming process, as then the golfer simply redefines the bullseye on the back and the antipodal front dimple.
My experience has been that standing beside the ball looking down a bit on an angle makes connecting the bullseye on the back with the exact antipodal opposite dimple on the front equator a wee bit problematic. The tendency is to see a front dimple a bit to the inside of the exact opposite, perhaps one or merely a half dimple along the equator too close to the golfer. So this process takes a bit of practice and getting used to.
Finally, when the intended line of the putt (based upon the read), and the perception of the ball as a direction, and the aim of the putter face, and the body setup to the putter face as aimed, and the sense of the forthcoming usual stroke sending the putter face thru the ball and sending the ball off straight and square all match up, and "all signals are go" for the making of a beautiful stroke, there is also the T shape of the aimed putter face indicating the opposite T on the ground and the stem of this T down which the ball needs to roll. The exit point off this T stem on the line always, always, always lies perpendicularly off the lead foot's big toe exactly the same distance back from the line of the putt, as the setup and the putter face as aimed are integrated for every putt in the same way. Sending the ball off on a line that always rolls over top of this "toe point" is the same as making a great stroke straight down the line. In my case, the 'toe spot" is about 8-9 inches left of the exact middle of the body and 8-9 inches out from the (left) big toe, with the ball positioned perhaps 1-2 inches left of the exact middle. This makes the "toe point" location about 5-6 inches in front of the exact front dimple on the ball. It's always the same visual and physical sense when I look down at the ball and putter face and my feet prior to making the stroke.
At this point, I look at the putter face as aimed and project a line thru the bullseye and front dimple 3-5 inches ahead of the ball to a spot on the ground and see if this coincides with the "toe spot". If so, all systems go.
Now, making this full circle (so to speak), at the very beginning of the aiming process, with all this integration in mind, I stand behind the ball on the line, sight the bullseye and the front dimple with the shaft "connecting the dots", and then see the stem of the T in front of the ball and the "toe spot" or aim spot 5-6 inches in front of the ball. Now I have all points and simply go have a sandwich.
Cheers!
Geoff Mangum
Putting Coach and Theorist
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