putt with eyes directly over the ball -- or not?

[minnmdz]

I have always putted with my eyes directly over the ball. In fact, my putter has lines to help you do so, but I recently watched a you tube video where they made a compelling argument that your eyes should NOT be directly over the ball.

What do you think? Eyes directly over the ball for putting or not?

[RickyBobby_PR]

Every lesson I’ve taking for putting has been about keeping eyes just inside the ball. 
 

[ChitownM2]

I try to have my eyes directly over the ball, but I've also seen numerous articles, videos, etc that come out on both sides.  

The conclusion I've come to boils down to whether or not you can re-train your eyes to accurately determine what a "straight" putt is.  Apparently some people look at a 20 ft putt and see the hole either left or right of where it really is when they are standing over the ball.  If you are one of those people, you need to either re-train your brain about what is really straight (which sounds really difficult to do) or you need to adjust your position over the ball to compensate (ie. move your eyes inside or outside the ball)

[TR1PTIK]

IMO it really just depends, but as long as you can get the ball in the hole reasonably well who cares? 

I will say that I have experienced a difference based on length of putter. I semi-recently switched from a 33" putter to a 34". With the 33", I found that eyes over the ball produced the best results, and now with the 34" I'm retraining myself to keep the eyes just inside as this position produces the best contact.

As @ChitownM2 mentioned above, not everyone sees a "straight" putt the same. While I don't agree with everything in his book, Dr. Craig Farnsworth lays this out pretty clearly and provides some simple ways to determine what might work best for you (https://www.amazon.com/Putting-Prescription-Doctors-Proven-Method/dp/0470371013/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2U5GASJX6FBY&dchild=1&keywords=putting+prescription&qid=1628109705&sprefix=putting+pre%2Caps%2C186&sr=8-2).

[ChitownM2]

This article does a good job of explaining how to check whether you see "straight" correctly.

https://p2grips.com/improve-your-putting-accuracy/

[M. Parsons]

I used to always putt with my eyes over the ball, but after watching many videos, I've learned to keep my eyes slightly inside and behind the ball.  Mike Malaska has a great video on this...I think it's with Be Better Golf

[CarlH]

I try to setup with my eyes just inside the ball's center

[Tyler86]

I set up so my line looks right. Eyes end up inside at least a little. Putting is better than when I was setting up over the ball. 

[Kenny B]

I set up with my eyes over the ball, but that's just for proper positioning of my stance.  I don't look at the ball when I putt.

[Kansas King]

I like eyes over the ball for alignment purposes but it will be different for everyone. Being able to look down the line and be confident in where you are aiming while standing over the ball is important. Logic says eyes over would be the best but it will be different for everyone just like everything else in golf. Just do what works and is comfortable for you. Something that can really help determine what is best is to stand somewhere you can set up with a putter and have a long straight line to line up to. You can set up a laser or string on a green or just use any straight line anywhere even if it's a straight painted line in a parking lot. Setting up on that line and figuring out where you are looking and what a true right angle is to your square alignment can significantly help with putting. Try to find a way to do this before every round because the way the brain sees things tends to change a little day to day and setting up square to a long straight line before you play tends to help square up your perception before playing. 

[golfinnut]

These are my thoughts on it 

If you have a more straight back, straight thru stroke .... you use a mallet putter so you're standing more over the ball at address = eyes directly over the ball.

If you have a slight arc in your stroke, open the door & close the door type of stroke ... you use a blade putter = eyes are more inside & behind the ball. (this is me) 

It just depends on what works for you.  Try it both ways, see which is more consistent.  Your eyes may be fooling you, how you see the hole & the break. 

[jaywelby34]

Putting is so so personal.  What grip, what stance, where are our eyes????  So many thoughts.  The only tip that has ever helped me was the one Gary Player gave his grandson, keep your head still through the stroke. 

[Haro]

Im eyes inside the ball dude especially for long putts. I used a long putter the past and you really can’t have eyes over the ball with belly putter. There’s an arc to my putting with short putter.  When I get closer say inside 6 feet I’m more SBST and like have my eyes closer to the ball. I have no idea if my eyes are over the ball though 

[Headhammer]

I've use the putting mirror to get my eyes over the ball and to 'TRY" to keep my head still. Eyes over the ball or just inside is personal preference, but one thing is certain, a quick peek at the ball after the stroke rarely leads to the result you want.