Whether you are a beginner or a pro at golf, you can always think of new ways to improve your putting skills on the greens.
A simple HACK is to take a Sharpie marker from your golf bag, DRAW A LINE, or some MARKING on your golf ball to help when they square their putts.
It is a common tip used by professional golfers worldwide as it greatly helps aim their putts and alignment when they address the ball toward the hole.
Here’s how marking golf balls can help you get more putts!
Common Ways To Stamp Your Golf Ball
There are many different and clever ways to mark or stamp a line on your golf balls. Anything creative will help you improve your putting, angle, and focus!
We suggest trying the following ways below to test them out on your tee.
Straight Line
One common way to stamp your ball is with a simple STRAIGHT LINE around it or just on one half of it.
A straight line pointing to the hole or target as you square your putter faces will improve your aim and help you score more putts!
- Set your golf ball down on the greens and point it to the hole
- Square the putter face of your club to guide your putt and align it with the line you drew
- Aim at the target!
This is a good starting point if you are still uncomfortable with the alignment when you square your putter.
As you level up, your putts may not even need the line anymore!
Some golf ball manufacturers design their golf balls by the dozen with premade lines for this reason.
Dots
You can also mark a DOT on your golf balls. This one is usually for when you address the ball.
The dot sort of serves as a “HIT HERE” signal to the golfer and the square putter, so you know where to properly swing at the ball when putting towards the hole.
Sometimes, the dot from your Sharpie will leave a mark on your putter face, which you can use as an alignment reference to see where your ball was swung and how you should adjust accordingly to get more putts.
Arrows
As the straight line, marking golf balls with an arrow can help put the ball to the hole.
Again, it will help you focus on where exactly you are aiming, and you can use an arrow to point to the hole, greens, or wherever you want the ball to go!
T-line
If you draw a straight line on your golf ball, you can draw another horizontal mark on one end, making it look like a cross or the letter T.
The vertical line guides you as you square your putter face, while the horizontal mark makes sure that your putter face is aligned to the ball, maximizing your stroke, alignment, and scoring more putts!
This will help get that ball into the hole and improve your golf putting.
Make It Personal
A personal marking or logo can also help calm yourself down when aiming at the target. It can serve as MOTIVATION as you address the ball.
For example, professional Jordan Speith marks his golf ball with a ‘Z,’ as it reminds him to “zero-in” and focus on his target.
Adam Scott uses the Southern Cross found on the Australian flag, while Louis Oosthuizen has his family members’ initials written on his golf ball.
You can get CREATIVE with what you want your mark to be, anything that will help you square your putter face calmly.
Why You Should Mark Your Golf Ball
While it is not necessarily required to put a line marking your ball, there are many reasons to do so, other than improving your putting.
Identification
It is quite self-explanatory. Adding a line marking on your golf ball will identify it as yours and not confuse it with someone else’s.
You can be PENALIZED for hitting other golfers’ balls, and it can be hard to bounce back from it. Also, most golf balls are plain white, and there is no clear way to tell them apart.
Additionally, professional golfers can also use it for marketing themselves!
When they stamp their symbol or brand, it becomes unique to them only, and more people will recognize them.
Guidance
Line markings on a golf ball work similarly to the arrows on a bowling alley.
Whether you are a beginner or a professional, it serves as a clever GUIDE to how to aim the ball, which direction it goes, and just alignment and putting in general to get the best results.
If you draw a line and can still see it as it continues to roll after you square your putter face, that could be an indicator that it was a good putt!
Lines on the ball could also serve as INFORMATION, so even if you miss or miscalculate the alignment, you will know how to fix it!
Personal Reasons
As mentioned earlier, some professionals mark their balls with a personal marking to put them in a good mental spot as they address the ball.
After all, these are athletes, and they need all the motivation they can get!
Whether they want to be reminded of who or what they are playing for, or if they want to make themselves known, a personal marking or drawing can go a long way.
Useful Marking Tools
If you can’t draw a straight line on the ball, you can use a golf ball liner to help with marking golf balls! These golf ball lines don’t cost much money, and you can use them for drawing any line marking!
The Softspikes BLM8006 is a great example that you can pick up on Amazon. This is a plastic tool that you can clip onto your golf balls and use the guide to draw the straight horizontal line from there!
The Line Up Line M Up Pro tool has additional short lines aside from the standard straight horizontal line down the center.
The Technasonic Check-Go Pro is a battery-powered golf ball line device that spins the ball on its own. All you have to do is stick the free pen that comes with it through a hole while it is spinning! And it will make a horizontal mark!
The Technasonic would not be ideal for bringing on the golf course as it is a bit bulky.
Conclusion
Golf is a difficult sport, and marking golf balls is not even half of it. It takes a TON of practice, and there are a lot of different tricks you can do to improve your putting.
There are several things to try, so hit the greens and try sticking to the one that works best for you to hole more putts!
You might even win your first game and join the big world leagues in no time.
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