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What Your Eyes See, Holds The Key To More Consistent Putting

By Jonathan Yarwood

All golfers have a dominant eye and in putting, it affects how you see the putting line. Some people are left eye dominant and others right eye dominant. This difference affects ball position and putting set up. A golfer must know whether they are left or right eye dominant to be a consistent putter.

To determine your dominant eye, do the following. Stand in front of a mirror. Make a circle with your thumb and index finger. Do this on both hands. Put those circles on top of each other and look through the circles at yourself in the mirror like a telescope. The eye that you used to look at yourself is your dominant eye!

For those who are right eye dominant, you will see the ball and putter better if you move the golf ball back in your stance. Also, open up your stance a little, which will help you see the line of the putt better. For a left eye dominant putter, you will feel more comfortable with the ball more forward in your stance as well as more under your forward eye. Your stance must be more square to your target line. Try to make these changes in your putting game.

If you continue to struggle after making the above changes, try a different putter design. For instance, putting with a long or belly putter can change your eye position and the way you will see the line. For some players, this produces immediate results. For others, just changing the shape of the putter head can also have a positive effect on what a golfer sees, and they become better putters. What your eyes see holds the key to more consistent putting!

Jonathan Yarwood was originally from the United Kingdom, but relocated to the United States in 1996. After a few years as one of David Leadbetter’s senior teachers, Jonathan branched out on his own and has enjoyed an extensive career with a track record that speaks for itself: He has coached, 2 US Amateur Champions including this years champion Ben An, 2 US Girls Champions and 1 US Open Champion in Michael Campbell in 2005. That is 5 USGA champs in 10 years, which is a record in itself. Add to that the four number one juniors, 3 AJGA players of the year, a collegiate number one, a male and female nationally ranked number one as well as a winner on every major professional tour, you have a record to rival the best. Jonathan was voted a Top 20 teacher under 40 years old by Golf Digest in 2006, after 5 straight years of being in the best teacher in state rankings for Florida.

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