This simple putting setup test can sharpen your aim
PGA Tour putting consultant Stephen Sweeney explains how checking your eye position over the ball can improve your aim and consistency.
- GOLF.com writer Zephyr Melton writes that he had struggled on the greens for much of the season.
- When he visited GOLF Top 100 Teacher Stephen Sweeney in early summer for a putting tune-up, Sweeney’s first observation was that Melton’s setup fundamentals needed work.
- “Then we go into forward bend at the hip until we get the eyes over the golf ball.” Once Melton’s eyes were positioned more correctly over the ball, it became much easier for him to consistently start putts where he was aiming.
Success on the greens depends heavily on a sound setup. If the setup is unstable, players begin compensating with the putter stroke, making consistency more difficult.
GOLF.com writer Zephyr Melton writes that he had struggled on the greens for much of the season. When he visited GOLF Top 100 Teacher Stephen Sweeney in early summer for a putting tune-up, Sweeney’s first observation was that Melton’s setup fundamentals needed work.
“If you see the work I do with Tour players, a good chunk of my work is on the setup at the start of every lesson,” Sweeney said. “And then once we feel like we are good on the setup, we move on to green-reading and speed control.”
To check eye position, set up to the putt and drop a ball from eye level. It should land directly on the ball on the ground. If the dropped ball lands closer to your toes than the ball on the ground, your eyes are too far inside the ball line.
That was the issue Sweeney found in Melton’s setup: his eyes were inside the ball line, closer to his feet. As a result, he was subconsciously aiming to the right of the hole and then trying to pull the ball back on line with his putter stroke.
“If players’ eyes are inside the ball line, they tend to look out to the right,” Sweeney said. “As you make your stroke, that putter is moving on the inside. The aim is affecting the stroke.”
To move the eyes over the ball, Sweeney had Melton hinge more from the hips. After the adjustment, the test showed that the dropped ball landed directly on top of the ball on the ground.
“As a general rule of thumb, I like to see a two putter head-(width) from the ball to the toe line,” Sweeney said. “Then we go into forward bend at the hip until we get the eyes over the golf ball.”
Once Melton’s eyes were positioned more correctly over the ball, it became much easier for him to consistently start putts where he was aiming. Players who struggle with consistency can try this simple test to check where their eyes are relative to the ball at address.
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