Question:
Had a little epiphany the past few days in terms of lining up shots. I have had a tendency to pull putts (or so it seems–they end up left of the hole at any rate), as well as pulling mid-to-short irons. But I finally recalled what Farnsworth said in his putting book "See it and sink it," where he talks about the role of the dominant eye in putting. My left eye is dominant (I’m right-handed), but I’ve learned that I don’t always use it to line things up. The past few days I’ve focused on the green on using the left eye to align my putter prior to the stroke, and then using both eyes during the stroke; my misses have been both sides now, and are a result of misreads, not misaims. The same has happened with the longer shots; more accurage when I’m using the left eye only to line up (I close the right eye while I line things up). Anyone else discover this about their game? Any tricks to use in learning how to have the dominant eye help you? Other comments about this? Mike — Mike Dalecki I do not patronize spammers! Help keep R.S.G clean. RSG Roll Call: http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/daleckim.htm
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Had a little epiphany the past few days in terms of lining up shots. I have had a tendency to pull putts (or so it seems–they end up left of the hole at any rate), as well as pulling mid-to-short irons. But I finally recalled what Farnsworth said in his putting book "See it and sink it," where he talks about the role of the dominant eye in putting. My left eye is dominant (I’m right-handed), but I’ve learned that I don’t always use it to line things up. The past few days I’ve focused on the green on using the left eye to align my putter prior to the stroke, and then using both eyes during the stroke; my misses have been both sides now, and are a result of misreads, not misaims. The same has happened with the longer shots; more accurage when I’m using the left eye only to line up (I close the right eye while I line things up). Anyone else discover this about their game? Any tricks to use in learning how to have the dominant eye help you? Other comments about this?
Very interesting. Like you, I am right-handed but left-eye dominant. I have had a bad tendency this year to pull putts, especially from about 3 feet to 7 or 8 feet. I’ll start paying attention to this. I love to find things that I can do during the alignment of any shot, because that allows me to keep my mind more clear during the swing. In fact, I’ve been paying attention lately to trying to work hard on alignment, then free my mind during my swing. — Jeff Rogers http://www.rogersnetwork.com/
Response:
The same has happened with the longer shots; more accurage when I’m using the left eye only to line up (I close the right eye while I line things up). Anyone else discover this about their game? Any tricks to use in learning how to have the dominant eye help you? Other comments about this?
Mike, I have a dominant left eye (play right-handed) … in fact my right eye is short-sighted and weak (lazy eye since childhood). In putting it often causes me problems. The worst ones are about a metre (2-3 feet) right-to-left breakers putts, which I often pull below the hole. My fix is to try a few things: 1. Check I’m getting my eyes directly above and a few inches behind the ball. Often when I pull they’re inside the line. 2. Check the putter lie, which often tends to be toe-up in a faulty alignment and swing, hands too close to the body. 3. I tend to jab at these putts rather than swing easily and follow through. My tempo also increases. I think it comes from a fear of going too far past the hole, so my tendency is to try to guide the ball, which is fatal and often results in the pull. So I’m concentrating now on a short slow takeaway and longer follow-through to a target on the line (*not* the hole). 4. I have had some success with putting more off the front foot, even shifting the right foot well back in a wider, more stable stance. In general play, I also find lining up a problem sometimes. Last year I discovered my alignment was actually quite bad. What seemed square to me was "closed right". A properly square position using an alignment station seemed quite open. I also found that if I used only my weak eye (as best I could), the alignment would appear different, even the ball position seemed to move. The only thing I’ve been able to do is to get the "feel" for the correct position using an alignment station regularly, and imprinting that position on my brain, rather than relying too heavily on solely visual cues. You may also want to check your putting alignment regularly with a string and a mirror in the same way, and try to imprint that. A closed alignment promotes an out-to-in swing path relative to the body, and concentrating on this correct alignment "feel" has done more for me in promoting a draw flight than any concentration on aspects like take-away and swing path. Cheers Colin Wilson Australian handicap: 10.4 RSG Roll Call: http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/wilsonc.htm
Response:
I have a stronger right eye which I think has been getting progressively stronger (or the left is getting weaker, depending on how you look at it) over time. What I have been doing the past few months which seems to really help is this: On Putts: Choose my line dependant on the speed I want, pick a spot a few yards ahead of the ball and line the logo of the ball along that line. Then I step back and plumb bob the putter using the shaft as a more or less straight line and, using my dominant right eye, check to make sure the line of the logo runs along the shaft down the line I have chosen. Then I forget about the line after I’ve set up and think purely about speed. The reason why I need to check my logo alignment is beacuse I used to try to line up the logo and then when I got over the putt, it would always appear to me that the logo was aimed well left of my line. So I stopped doing it because I thought I wasn’t able to line the logo up properly. Even on a short 3 footer it looked to me like the logo was pointing well left and I was going to miss left. Since I’ve been doing this, I know the logo is lined up despite what it looks like over the putt and my brain is slowly starting to adjust and the line is staring to look more correct. On Everything Other Than Putts: I choose my line by standing behind the ball and using my dominant eye and the shaft of the club as a "ruler" to show me a spot a few yards in front of my ball. I think Brian Watts does this also. Then I just set up aligning my clubface to the spot and I can forget about everything else except trying to make a good swing. Nothing can ruin a good swing faster than halfway through your backswing you begin to wonder if you are aligned correctly. Since I started doing these two things religiously, my consistency has improved considerably. Probably more so with the putting since, as I found out, I couldn’t even align myself correctly for a 3 foot putt. Plus it helps to only be thinking "speed" during your stroke – at least that’s what Loren Roberts says and he’s a pretty fair putter.
Response:
There was a study a few years back by an opthamologist on eye dominance and golf equipment. According to the study, right-handed, left-eye dominant golfers benefit from putters without any offset. Right-handed, right-eye dominant golfers will find it easier to get the putter proerly aligned if it is an offset design. I tested this theory and found it holds true for me. I am right-eye dominant and putt right-handed. My putts with an Eddie Nunn Axeline putter (predecessor to the Bullseye) tended to pull left. The problem goes away with an offset model. Stuart Winsor
Response:
… Very interesting. Like you, I am right-handed but left-eye dominant. I have had a bad tendency this year to pull putts, …
Right-eye dominant here w/ a tendency to push putts, natch! When I set up, I always seem to see the target (putting, irons or woods) 20 or 30 degs. to the right of where it actually is. In some earlier articles (was it Golf Digest had one a couple years back base on some work by Faldo and his eye specialist? Pretty sure there was a book came out of this.) Anyway, we can retrain our alignment, but it takes time. Interesting, but if I close my left eye and let my right do all the work my putts go where there supposed to… Well, some anyway 
–Coops