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Head Position and Eye Position in Putting: Why They're So Important

5/29/2018

2 Comments

 
If you are not a good putter or not as consistent a putter as you would like to be, there are reasons why. One of the reasons is your head and eyes are out of position. To state that in today's golf lingo, they're out of plane. Not only with the ball and target but with each other.

There are numerous eye positions when putting and only one head position that has to be correct in order for you to be a great putter (not a good putter but a great putter). If the eyes and head are out of position, the images that the brain creates by the information it is receiving, through what the eyes are telling it and what the sensory functioning of the body tells it, your chances of making more putts and doing so consistently are greatly reduced.  

Eye Position #1 - Eyes over the ball - Vertically
This was made popular by the Pelz Method decades ago and for good reason...it works. Have there been great putters with their eyes inside the target line, yes. Can you putt well if your eyes are outside the target line, yes. However, if the goal is to make more putts on a consistent basis, the best chance you have of doing so is to have your eyes directly over the golf ball.  It's also important to remember that for every incremental distance you are away from the hole, the angle you're looking at the hole changes if your eyes are inside/outside the ball and target line. If the direction you're looking to the hole is on an angle, don't you think the image your eyes are giving your brain is on an angle too? If that's the image the brain is getting, what are the odds the stroke will follow that image too?

If you have ever thrown a dart, shot a bow and arrow, fired a pistol or shotgun did you look straight down the dart, arrow, barrel to the target or did you look at the target from the side? If you wanted to hit the target, and bulls eye, you probably looked straight down the barrel. The same thing applies to your putting.

SOLUTION: Eyes over the ball so you can look straight down the target line.

IS THE HOLE WHERE YOU THINK IT IS?
Eye Position #2 - Vertical Eye Position and Chin Down
What determines how we move; i.e. a stroke, swing, etc. is determined by the information our eyes and body give our brain. In the case of putting our eyes tell our brain where the hole is as does our head. The latter happens because we have an innate ability to determine where objects are in space (this is called spatial awareness). This ability has been developed since we were infants and could stand erect on two feet. From that point on, we have developed this awareness to a very good PEI (percent error index). This has always been done by our eyes looking straight out of our heads. In putting this is referred to as the eye plane and head plane being in unison. The larger the angular difference between the plane of the eyes vs. the plane of the head the more inconsistent of a putter you will be. 

This is also called the Horizontal Eye Position because the eyes are looking horizontally out of the head when standing erect. It is when we don't keep our eyes looking straight out of our heads that the angle between our head plane and eye plane increases and our putting suffers.  If your head is not parallel to the ground when putting chances are your eyes are looking down your cheeks and any line drawn straight away from your head will be pointed somewhere beyond the ball (anywhere from 6" to 24"). The goal would be to bring the head plane and eye plane together by tucking the chin, so that the back of the head becomes parallel to the ground and/or the eyes were looking straight out of the eye sockets. An easy way to measure this would be if you were wearing sunglasses. The stem of the glasses, as it runs from the top of your ear through the center of your eye, is equivalent to being perpendicular to your spine and thus equal to your horizontal eye plane. If the stem is pointed at the golf ball then you would be considered to have a good head position. If that line was pointed outside the ball then the chin would have to come down until the stem pointed at the ball.

SOLUTION: Make sure the plane of your eyes and plane of your head are the same by putting an alignment rod from the top of your ear and pass it through the corner of your eye. It should point to the golf ball while at address. If it doesn't, tuck your chin or bring your head down more until the back of the head is parallel to the ground. 

To see these things illustrated watch the video below:
For more videos on putting try any of the following:
WEAK SIDE PUTTS - https://youtu.be/zzM8Rx5LoJk
WHAT IS HORIZONTAL EYE PLANE - https://youtu.be/Y6VEBHIQAjY

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2 Comments
David Wurzer
6/1/2018 06:59:10 pm

How come most of the touring professionals do not have their eyes over the ball/target line? What research article(s) are you referring to support your position? Thanks.

Reply
The Golf Paradigm link
7/18/2018 06:24:22 pm

David, We thank you for taking the time to bring forth a question and apologize for the delay in reply. We are having some technical difficulties and only recently received your question.

There are many reasons the touring professionals do not have their eyes over the ball/target line; misguided instruction-with more reliance on physics and optics than the neuro-physiological ability of the brain/body and its relationship to something in space; i.e. a target, as well as a number of other reasons. However, in looking at the best putters throughout history, you will find that the overwhelming majority have had their eyes over the ball/target line. We discussed this with one of the leading putting instructors to many tour professionals and while they may have been well versed in what the putter head was doing in the stroke and even the optics of the eyes they seemed to have limited to no idea of the brains role and how it formulated a pattern for movement. Just because the tour pro's do something does not mean its correct nor does it mean they are the best putters as golf requires many different qualities to be on tour. In fact, there are but a handful of the Top 10 in the World Rankings that are near the top of the SG putting category. But just so we are clear it is possible to be an effective, consistent and great putter without your eyes directly over the ball. They can be inside the ball/target line and they can also be outside the ball/target line (which almost all teaching professionals and golfers advise against.) What's most important is the brain and body's ability to develop a clear, concise picture of where the hole is as the brain formulates the blueprint for movement, and this formulation is based off many variables, the optics being one such variable. Other variables would be the individuals proprioception, target orientation and spatial awareness. In the video our Director of Instruction discussed and illustrated why having the eyes over the ball would, in our opinion, be superior to either inside or outside the ball/target line and the reasons why; the golfers perspective of the whole remains closer to the same regardless of the length of putt. The angle to the hole from a point vertically down from the eyes, while small, does change for every incremental distance you get from the hole if the eyes are inside or outside the target line. If you can eliminate even the smallest of variables the greater the potential for consistency. In our opinion, the vertical positioning of the eyes is secondary to the brain and body's ability to determine where the hole is in space as it develops its pattern for movement and that is determined more by having the eye plane and head plane together than it is by the vertical orientation of the eyes in relation to the ball/target line..

The research for this comes from studying the brain from a neurological standpoint, how it formulates patterns for movement and the variables that contribute to that. The research was conducted more by reading books on the topic, and listening to lectures as opposed to reading golf articles or theories based on not much more than the authors own experiences. Not only is it a study of a science; i.e. neurophysiology, but we have put it to the the real world test with golfers of all skill levels (beginners to touring professionals) for more than a decade with superior results. We have fit hundreds if not thousands of golfers while utilizing these ideas. When doing so, not only did putts made improve but the consistency of the putts made improved as well. We would be happy to show you if you ever get to the Hilton Head area. Just send us a note (info@thegolfparadigm.com) or sign up through our 'Experiences' page.

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