When putting wjy do the pros hold the club out vertically in front of their eyes? What exactly are they lining up.

Just about every putting book written by “experts” debunks this practice but try telling this to Karrie Webb and others who seem to putt very well (actually Karrie is a bad example as she is putting poorly at the moment).

I am so 4 eyed that its never helped me in the slightest. Not saying it does not work for some but it leaves me scratching my head:)

The theory is that you stand perpendicular to the ground, and hold the club vertical to act as a plumb bob – i.e. to gauge the slope between you and the hole.

Never understood how to get it to work.

Close your eyes and slowly walk the green. Your ears are better than your eyes at seeing subtle slopes.

i think part of this act is to create the space n time to calm the nerves yet giving the impression they are doing something
a strong placebo effect but it works !

I have found it to be very helpful. To cut a long story short, the first time I played at Kwinana I was caught out by greens that broke the opposite way to how they looked. With no straight lines or vertical or horizontal planes in view to truly gauge the terrain I just couldn’t see some of the breaks. I figured out that by plumb-bobbing the shaft of the club served as a vertical plane that I could hold in front of me and by getting lower to the ground and looking at the hole I could see much easier which way the ground was sloping AT the hole. Since then I have used this technique a lot and whenever I have trouble trying to figure out the break I fall back on it.
This is NOT the traditional way of plumb-bobbing as mentioned above and followed by most people but it is my way and it works for me.

As well as taking a breather and not breaking a routine the plum-bob gives a good putter who can read greens anyway a point to aim for that was a few seconds earlier was only a feel.

I changes an instinct to an aiming point and is only as good as the players ability to read the green in the first place. There is no surveyors principle involved.

A bit like throwing grass up in the air in a 10 knot wind

Very true Dart.

As well as taking a breather and not breaking a routine the plum-bob gives a good putter who can read greens anyway a point to aim for that was a few seconds earlier was only a feel.

I changes an instinct to an aiming point and is only as good as the players ability to read the green in the first place. There is no surveyors principle involved.

A bit like throwing grass up in the air in a 10 knot wind

but certainly makes you feel like you r doing something ‘useful or thoughtful’ and appears ‘professional’ too !
eg if Tiger is doing these actions, it must be good type of phenomenon thingi

I like to use my putter shaft as a line marker to pick a spot on the line I wish to putt just in front of the ball – I just hold it from a squat position inline with the ball and my putting line – much the same as you would driving off the tee… plumb-bob?? Go figure!!

as one can aptly say where’s the science behind it
but at least the art of it looks pretty

You line the ball and the hole up behind the upright putter in your field of vision with your non-dominant eye closed, and then when you open your other eye, the hole will move to one side of the putter or the other, telling you the break, and giving you an idea of the severity.

It does work (a bit).

It also makes sure that you do the same thing on every putt, makes you focus and forces you to take the time to actually do some putt reading – not a bad deal!

Close your eyes and slowly walk the green. Your ears are better than your eyes at seeing subtle slopes.

My ears were ringing with my partners laughter when I did this – I walked into a bunker!

:-P

So you are saying, locate yourself before you locate the line. HaHa.

pretty much works like that, I use it occasionally, I can see kind of which way the ground moves around the hole. that kind of thing.

give it a shot… if you know what you’re looking for, you’ll see it.

I saw a demostration once that proved that putters make poor plumb bobs. They actually don’t hang perfectly vertical like a true plumb bob so you may be giving yourself misleading information.

Styles new nickname : Sandy:)

If Tiger does it, just do it. (as Nike says)
Maybe you can educate yourself if you see something.

When putting wjy do the pros hold the club out vertically in front of their eyes? What exactly are they lining up.

I dont think they are lining up….. more like seeing what they should charge

Like Jambalaya say they don’t always hang straight.

If you wanna do it, hang the thing in line with a vertical edge ie: a doorway, to see which way you have to hold it to get it plumb…if you wanna do it that is?

I couldn’t say one way or the other if it works, but if it makes you more confident on the greens then do it.

My advice: just don’t start doing it when everyone else is finished, get yourself ready to putt while the others are reading their putts. B4 anyone gets bent outta shape this is just a generalisation not specific finger pointing…

Tiger also uses tiger vision, he already has painted in his mind the line and pace of his putt. before using the old plumb method
One of his training drills is to sit on a green with a ball infont and paint an imaginary line from the hole back to his ball, takes a long time to master, but after doing this for 30 years he has it down pat by now

Tiger’s philo on putting (as Earl woods – as his dad has taught him): Putt to the Picture !

What a Golden advice…..

It is a great skill to apply to all shots not just putts. If the mind can’t see what it wants to achieve, how can it direct the body to achieve it?

Thanks for the reminder KYC…

Play to a picture surprising when you do it, how well it begins to work!

The mind’s eye is the GPS for the body…

good point AB

how many times we forget….and makes life n game so much more complicated
sometimes a kiddie like thinking method may just to the trick….

i try to keep things as simple as possible esp on the course
as a cluttered mind
hampers the swing and tempo