ZipTip: Targeting: Putt
Out Your Eyes
The shape and geometrical
features of your field of vision offers assistance to your putting targeting
and stroke that you may not be aware of -- and learning these matters.
***
Your eye fields
are two egg-shaped regions that overlap. If you close your non-dominant
eye, you can see the shape defined by the inside of your nose, your
eyebrow, the corner of your eye, and your cheek. With a straight-ahead
gaze, there is one and only one point where your line of sight penetrates
this egg-shape -- about 1" in from the bridge of your nose where
your pupil is located and is pointed. If you wore glasses, you could
paint a red dot with a marker on the lens where this spot is, and everytime
your gaze is straight out you would look thru this spot. Any other gaze
direction does not. A horizontal line across both pupils plus this aim
spot define the plane of your vision with this gaze. When you place
this gaze directly above the ball, the vertical plane of the putt and
this plane of vision coincide. This "line" across both pupils
then corresponds exactly with the startline of your square putt on the
ground, as well as the line your stroke needs to follow to move the
sweetspot back and thru the ball.
So what? This means
that your ball must start on this line, and you can reference the startline
by paying attention to your egg-shaped fields of vision. The line in
your rearward eye's field sends the ball out into the bridge of your
nose. The line in the forward eye's field sends the ball out into the
corner of your eye. This is a lot like cheating!
Try putting with
glasses (or sunglasses). Note the aim spot for a straight-ahead gaze
in your dominant eye. Position your dominant-eye's glasses lens over
the ball so the straight-ahead plane of vision matches the vertical
plane of the putt. You can then notice that the top of the glasses frame
parallels your startline and that a line from one corner of the frame
to the other crosses your pupils and runs right on top of the startline
on the ground. You will also be able to notice the nosepiece for the
glasses and see the startline of the putt in your rearward eye, and
notice the corner of the forward lens and see how the startline sends
the ball out to the corner of the glasses.
There is much more
that can be done with glasses, both as a training aid and as a way to
putt -- especially in turning the head and gaze toward the target. If
you envision both fields of vision as the gondolas on a Ferris Wheel,
with your neck as the axis, then you turn your head targetward to deliver
the two gondolas of your gaze to the target, with one eye vertically
above the other. From the target looking back, your glasses top frame
line will appear vertical. (See Jim Flick's glasses, below.) Give it
a try and work out the details for yourself. I think it ought to really
help!
