February Golf Tip of the Month
Markings on Our Golf Ball
It might seem like an insignificant dot or line, but marking your ball
could be the mental or technical key to your golf game, writes Ian Triggs.
When playing in competition, we are all required to have our own
specific marks on our ball for ownership and identification purposes.
Some players take this as an opportunity to express their creative
side, marking their ball in funky, colourful and unusual ways.
However, some players have taken ball marking to a higher level,
using the mark as a tool to improve their own game. The purpose
for some of the markings I've seen may be of interest to you.
In 1988, I was with Dr Noel Blundell, one of Australia's leading sports
psychologists, when he was working with Roger Davis before the
Bicentenial Classic at Royal Melbourne. Roger was struggling with
his game and Dr Blundell came up with the plan to put a dot on the
ball to improve Roger's quality of mental involvement. Roger wasn't
hitting his full shots at his usual high level, and he was in big trouble
with his putting- he had the dreaded yips.
So, on the range at Royal Melbourne, Roger would stop, pick up the
ball, mark a dot on it with his felt pen, then place it back down with
the dot facing up. He would then proceed to focus on his shot shape
and target required, walk in with his mind quiet, settle and just swing
with freedom. He made sure that he was seeing the small dot
disappear. He did the same quality on the putting green with the mind
set and the dot. His practise sessions on the range were a lengthy
affair as he went through this process - but it would soon pay dividends.
The improvement was incredible and he went on to hole a three metre
putt on the last hole to beat sweet-swinging Fred Couples by one
stroke. The putt was so fast and to see that stroke from a player who
just a few days before couldn't take it back, was amazing.
While Roger used ball marking to hone his mental game, some
players have found it useful for enhancing their alignment, both
in training and on the green.
In this instance, a simple line on your ball is a tool that can aid in
getting your putter square. If you have a putter with a line on it, you
can run that line into the line on your ball. The clubface will then be
at 90 degrees to the line on the ball, which gives you the opportunity
to get the ball rolling along your intended start line. In training, this is
an effective and simple way to practise good putter alignment.
However, it should be remembered that this doesn't necessarily
help you in judging the ideal line of the putt. After trialling this
technique with a number of my players, most came to the
conclusion that the line should only be a generalization of the
start line. It can only be precise if everything else is as well - the
breeze, the moisture, the grain, the putting surface, and of course,
the stroke. In fact, the best computer on the planet - your
brain - needs to be allowed to operate in a reactive way to what's there.
If you have the opportunity to read some Bobby Jones books, you will
note that he never believed in aligning the putter face up, let alone
using a line marking on the ball. He would place his putter head down
behind the ball with no real attention to correct alignment - for him, it
came down to quality mental involvement. When he stroked the putt,
what he did do was focus on a small point on the ball, similar to Roger
Davis' procedure I mentioned earlier. In that moment of focus, Bobby
could feel his mind tidy up the putter face as it reacted to what he
wanted and planned.
So, maybe that marking on your ball should be just like your
fingerprint - a way to differentiate you from everyone else.
But if a simple dot can quieten our minds and get our thoughts
away from technique, then I'm all for it.
Enjoy your game!
