Line or no line on the ball?

By Neville Idour

Is it an advantage to have a line on your golf ball to help you line up your putt or not?

Sounds vaguely similar to the flagstick in or flagstick out conundrum.

Well, the statistics are in and they showed that leaving the flag in was statistically the better option, but in the case of a line on the ball they have show that not using a line for putting is the better option.

How often have we watched a player such as Padraig Harrington or Carlotta Ciganda, two of the slowest players take an age over lining up their putts and almost turn into a pillar of salt standing over the ball before contact.

Putting guru Dave Stockton in his book “Unconscious Putting” never once mentions using a line on the ball to assist lining up the putt's direction nor do his balls have a line on them. He advocates no line.

Stockton was an accomplished multiple major winner during his career who knows well his subject. Having shared his knowledge with, assisted and taught the likes of Phil Mickelson, Annika Sorenstam, Yani Tseng, Adam Scott, Justin Rose, Matt Kuchar, J B Holmes, Martin Laird, Hunter Mahan, Michelle Wie and Rory McIlroy with putting, amongst others, his book makes fascinating reading.

Stockton emphasises a relaxed approach with feel and speed the key factors in harmony with reading the line of the shot using a spot a few feet forward of the ball. In 1972 on the PGA Tour, Stockton played in excess of 950 holes without a three putt. Extraordinary. Then at the US Open which followed: ``I had 10 three putts and a four putt. You aren’t going to make them all.”

As if to endorse Stockton’s view My Golf Spy recently ran some extensive tests comparing results of putting with or without using a line on the ball. Interestingly 70 percent of the testers used a line on the ball when putting.

The results were not overwhelming, just decisive. From five feet the testers with a line required two fewer putts. However from 10 and 20 feet the unmarked balls took significantly fewer putts to complete. Testers mentioned that from 10 and 20 feet their focus on the line impacted the pace of the putt. It was noticeable from greater distances that distance control was worse when balls were marked with a line which proved a distraction.

So what can we take for this information? Using the line from longer distances will do little more than use time and possibly annoy your faster playing partners.

And the bottom line? The tests revealed that marking the golf ball with a line provides absolutely no statistical advantage over an unmarked ball.

As they say, to each his own. No matter what the stats show, players will still ignore them and do what they have always done. If that works well and no undue extra time is taken no one should complain.

This writer, I must admit used to use a line on the ball, but after reading Stockton’s book I no longer do so and it has been like a breath of fresh air. The alignment marks on the putter head are far more effective and conducive to concentration without distraction. It also speeds up the process and has increased the strike rate. Try it, you might like it?