Eye Position When Putting

Practice
#1

Where do you all like your eyes when putting and why?

I had been trying to copy Tiger, who is the best putter I ever saw 1997-2002. He likes his eyes right above the target line and behind the ball, so his left eye would be directly above the center of the blade.

Having gone down the SeeMore Putting Couch podcast path and having listened to all the Pat O’Brien set up episodes, he likes eyes slightly inside the target line (so like over the heel of the blade, not the ball) and the left eye even with the ball, nose over blade, and right eye behind blade. So the right eye would be just behind the heel of the putter.

O’Brien likes this because he feels eyes slightly inside target line makes the target line look more like where it’s actually going, while eyes over the target line can make the target line appear to be going left of where it’s actually going. He also thinks you can get too jammed up by getting eyes over target line. It sounds like he likes left eye over ball (instead of both eyes behind ball) because that aids in a consistent set up and it matches how the arms naturally swing when hanging down naturally from the shoulders.

I experimented with the O’Brien set up today with an eyeline mirror and dropping a ball from my right eye method. I think I like it better than the Tiger set up. Everything O’Brien says just sounds like pure gold to me. With eyes inside the target line (above heel of putter, not center of blade) makes me feel more confident the target line is actually aimed at target as well as gives me more space for the stroke and a more natural stroke. With left eye in line with ball, I feel like I get better contact than with both eyes behind ball, as that seems to get my ball too far up in my stance and I hit up weakly one it rather than making solid contact.

Anyway, what eye position do you guys like and why?

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#2

For me, it’s more important to have a comfortable posture and feeling balanced. This means I don’t bend or lean over too far and that keeps my eyes inside the target line. I’ve tried having my eyes right over the target line, but it never felt right in my body so I had a hard time producing a consistent stroke.

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#3

Great point. This is why O’Brien likes eyes inside target line as well. It’s just a more natural place for the eyes when you take a balanced, athletic stance. He says best way to do that is just take a full water bottle, hold it in both hands, get in a comfortable balanced stance and rock the water bottle back and forth naturally. There’s your putter stance. With a 70 degree lie angle putter, this gets your eyes over the heel of the putter, not the center of it. It also just happens to be the place from which the target line looks the most like it’s aimed at the actual target!

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#4

Makes sense, my putter has a 70* lie angle (had to look that up as I didn’t really know).

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#5

Anyone else with thoughts on eye position while putting??

#6

My eyes are a bit inside. Maybe two inches.

I play the ball just inside the logo of my shirt.

I got there by setting up to a ball on a string with a ball at 5 ft and 10 ft. I fiddled with eye position until my brain feels 100% confident that the putter is on line

#7

My model for putting is early Rory. He was spot putting and had a fast routine. Feet slightly open and I really like the pace and posture he had. He was working with Dave Stockton at the time and “unconscious putting” is the blueprint I try and follow

I don’t know where he ranked on the tour at that time but the images of him draining putts at congressional really help me to be more natural / less robotic

#8
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#9

That video is awesome! I’m definitely going to try that. It’s a fascinating part of the game I hadn’t really considered until recently- practicing making sure your perception matches reality, and doing that by experimenting with where your eyes are during the stroke.

#10

Glad to help. It’s about getting comfortable and consistent. The tiger setup has always put the hole way left for me and ties my brain in a knot

#11

I think I read somewhere once that Tiger is left eye dominant? That might make eyes over the ball make the line look straighter for him. Eyes inside the line seems to make it easier for me, and I’m right eye dominant.

#12

yes try to find your dominant eye first. Then pick your ball position.

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#13

Yes, good tip! I’m RHed but left eye dominant, so the ball is basically in front of the big toe of my lead (left) foot.

Additionally, my personal preference is to get close to the ball so that my left eye is over … or could be just inside … the ball – but not over (not sure the exact “why” but it seems like every instructor and putting coach is very against that).

#14

I use a method which has the same concept to that in the video above but is much simpler to set up on a practice green and needs fewer bits and pieces.

Spend some time with an alignment stick on your practice green and make sure it is pointing directly at a hole about 6 feet away (ignore any break because you are not actually going to make a putt - you’re just lining up).

Take time to get this exactly right and then set up to the end of the alignment stick as if you were going to make the put. You can place a ball right at the end of the stick if this makes it more realistic for you.

Look down the length of the stick from your normal set up position and see if it is still pointing at the hole.

If not, move a bit forward or back until it looks dead in line and that is your perfect set up position to perceive a straight line to the hole.

I’ve used this technique for a while now and it incorporates all the elements of being left or right eye dominant etc in a simple, easily repeatable, practice exercise.

Hope that helps

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#15

^^ That’s interesting … I’m going to try it out on a practice green.

But fyi… My personal preference is to get the line of the putt from behind the ball and then set the ball’s alignment stamp in-line with that - but I still have to line up the putter, and my body, square to that.

So maybe this Practice drill is another way to help work on that :+1:

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#16

Sounds like the consensus is that eyes inside is ideal for most. Question: how far inside do you all think is too far inside? Obviously everyone is different, but do you think there’s a point, like 2 or 3 inches inside, that is just fundamentally bad, just like eyes being outside?

#17

Interesting drill, I’ll definitely try it out. Welcome to the community!

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#18

I really like the idea of this, my one question, do you put the alignment stick on the inside or outside of your ball position? Or are you just using it to line up but not actually putting?

#19

Hi. I use the stick as the centre line of my intended putting path. Mine has a little black cap on one end so I pretend this is my ball position to line my putter face up to but, as I mentioned in my original post, I do sometimes put a ball down right at the end of the stick so it looks more realistic. Hope this helps :grinning:

#20

Gotcha, thank you for clearing that up for me.