As we discussed in How to Determine Your Dominant Eye, about 80% of the population are right-eye dominant, and this can cause our perception of the world to be misleading.
One of the main areas where this can be a problem for a golfer is in addressing the ball when making a putt.
When setting up for a putt, we strongly recommend, in the Golf Loopy Putt like a Champion system, that you hold the putter so that the shaft is vertical when viewed from face on. This helps to ensure that the shaft is vertical again through impact, which is crucial if you are to strike the ball consistently with the sweet spot and a square putter face, and thus starting the ball on line and with a smooth roll.
If the club shaft is leaning forwards, towards the target, at impact, this will de-loft the putter face, potentially making the ball skid and/or jump as it starts its roll, and often causing you to push the putt right (for a right-handed golfer).
Even more damaging, and extremely common amongst poor putters, is if the putter shaft is leaning backwards, away from the target, at impact. This will usually cause you to pull the putt left (for a right handed golfer), probably without even realising it, resulting in you subconsciously trying to correct the line and mishitting the putt, destroying your consistency of aim and distance control. A backwards-leaning shaft will also increase the loft of the putter, causing the ball to jump in the air and roll inconsistently as it bounces.
A common cause of the backwards-leaning shaft through impact is “flipping” the putter with your hands, a very nasty fault that will keep you from ever putting consistently well. The Golf Loopy Putt like a Champion system will fix this common fault very quickly.
Another common cause, that most golfers are unaware of, is the setup illusion caused by your eye dominance, especially if you are right-eye dominant (or left-handed and left-eye dominant).
When you address the ball, and the putter shaft looks like it is vertical to the ground, it isn’t! The same is true with your impact position.
In Figure 1, you can see how the shaft looks vertical, but this is an illusion because you are looking down the shaft with your right eye. Figure 2 shows what this same position looks like from face on – the dreaded backwards-leaning putter shaft!
Figure 1. View from dominant eye, putter shaft looks vertical.
Figure 2. View from face on, putter shaft actually leaning backwards.
Figure 3. View from dominant eye, putter shaft actually vertical.
Figure 4. View from face on, putter shaft vertical.
In Figure 3, we can see what the putter shaft should look like, for a right-eye dominant golfer, when viewed at address, if it is actually vertical (see Figure 4), as we strongly recommend it should be in the Golf Loopy Putt like a Champion system. It looks like it is leaning forwards!
Whenever you are checking your aim or alignment, or the positions and angles in your setup, you should always remember that you are using your dominant eye to do so, and you are not seeing the world from the midline of your body.
As you work your way through the Golf Loopy Putt like a Champion system, it is crucial that you regularly work in front of a mirror to check your alignments, and use this to accept and ingrain what proper alignment should actually look and feel like.
Happy fairways!
