It has come to my attention that many of my new students are still unaware of, or have yet to try using one of the most valuable tools around to help you sink more putts… those little plastic doodads (the LINE M UP for instance) that you can snap on to your golf ball and use to draw a perfect straight line along the equator of the ball and in turn use this line as a guide for squaring up the face of your putter to your intended target line.  It is still very common even for golfers with solid putting strokes to simply make the mistake of poor face alignment at the ball, and even miss those little three footers having the face pointed in the wrong direction.  Using the line helps take the direction component out of the equation and lets you focus on the most important aspect of never having another three putt… distance control.  Our very own Head Professional Joshua Davison has been using ‘the line’ for many years, as do most of the pros in your Golf Shop, not to mention the guys and gals on ‘Tour’.  I have been encouraging my students to use ‘the line’ for as long as I can remember, and ‘the line’ has made me a much better putter over the years.  Many of the current ball manufacturers incorporate alignment aids in the form of logos or ‘subtle’ lines on the balls right from the factory, but I still prefer to make the line distinct and easy to see from five feet above the ball.  Putting your own line on the ball using different colors of markers also satisfies the ‘identifying’ of your ball from a provisional or a competitor’s ball.  My final words on the matter will be quite simple…
Use the line… IT WORKS!

Dave Lengyel