I’m currently living in Arizona, so thankfully, I don’t know what it’s like not to be able to go outside and practice because of the weather. But I know it’s not this nice for everyone. Up north and back east, it can get pretty chilly this time of year!
EyeLine Golf is a company I’ve trusted for a while now. I’ve purchased several of their training aids over the years to help me improve various aspects of my game: the small Putting Alignment Mirror, Sweet Spot 360, Putting Plane, and Speed Trap. I believe strongly in their products and plan to incorporate several of these training aids into my own teaching as I prepare for a career as a golf instructor.
One of the things we’ve learned at the Golf Academy (specifically in Mechanics of the Short Game and Advanced Elements of the Short Game with PGA Professional Jay Friedman) is the relationship between club face and club path. It works the same way in putting as it does for the full swing. We learned that 83% of the initial direction for the ball in putting is due to the face angle, whereas only 17% of the initial direction is due to the forward swing path.
EyeLine Golf claims the percentage is even higher than that, and that when you strike a putt, up to 95% of where it rolls is determined solely by the face angle at impact. That’s a lot! As EyeLine Golf CEO Sam Froggatte says, “Impact is about getting the putter face square when it contacts the ball, hitting the sweet spot of the putter, and having the putter move through the ball.”
Yet hardly anyone practices putting as much as they should. Approximately 43% of all the strokes made on the golf course, for better players, are putts. This should come as encouraging news. Even if you live in a colder climate, you can still gain a little ground on your golfing buddies in the offseason just by putting in some work on the impact drills Sam demonstrates in the following video: