Edel Aim Check laser vs LAB Golf DF3 Alignment Markings

[Rearviewmirror]

Do I aim where i think I do?

So as many of you who've followed the LAB DF3 testing thread know, I've been a bit of a LAB Rat since first trying the Link.1 just over a year ago. I loved the look and feel of the Link, but couldn't hole anything inside of 8ft (lag putts were excellent). I bought the Mezz.1 in red, which was automatic inside 8ft but consistently anywhere from 5-10ft short on long lag putts (hello 3 putt percentage increase!). I also went down the rabbit hole investigating putter color for performance (evidence seems to show that blue helps fine motor control, and some of the effects of red are in gross motor tasks that involve strength, and red teams may win more because their jerseys negatively impact their opponents rather than positively impacting their own). So blue it was for my DF3.

The DF3 has been awesome, but for how well I feel like I putt with it, my intermediate makes (10-15ft) have been surprisingly poor, with a lot of edge burning and a lack of perceived consistency in miss.

Like any certified golf lunatic, I decided it must be my club, and not me...

I've been really intrigued by the research and videos Edel have released around the impact of alignment lines on aiming consistency... In short, the more that alignment markings lead your eye to the putter face, the further right you aim, the more it takes your eye to the trail edge, the more left you aim.

From using ExPutt, I know that my face angle is consistently left, and so going towards something more right biased seemed wise.

 

Enter the Aim Check

Setting up the Aim Check is very easy to do - it has two small mirrors with double sided tape on them, that you stick on to your clubface. Then you set up the laser in the hole-sized white puck, turn the laser on, put a ball down so that it is aligned with the "cup" and then take your aim. Once you have your aim, you then move the ball away, and the laser reflects off the mirror to show you where you're aiming.

The test protocol

For just the price of some 1" thick electrical tape, and some 1/16" pinstripe tape, I was able to bring Eugene, OR to my living room.

Knowing how I aim, and wanting to try to correct what I was guessing would be a left miss, I went for markings that had the highest likelihood of aiming me left. I tested them with the laser, and then if they seemed more centered, took the finalists over to ExPutt.

 

The results

So this is where it gets interesting. With the standard T alignment mark (alignment C on the LAB website) my aim consistently looked like this:

However, as I started to play around, I found that by choosing one of these two alignment marks:

This happened (ignore the smaller left dot, this is the laser reflecting off my phone case):

It was time to jump on the ExPutt and see what happened:

 

 

 

As you can see, Alignment I had significantly better results on face angle (both average and also standard deviation. It's worth noting this was only one run through with each alignment mark, but to be honest I'm pretty sold. With Alignment I, I was consistently seeing 0 or 0.1 face angle, and while I would see a few O or 0.2-0.5 angles with Alignment A, I just felt like I could frame the ball and hole better with Alignment I. I also say WAY more putts holing out and scaring the hole up to 35 feet compared to both the control alignment marking and also Alignment A (which felt good inside 15ft but seemed to tail off right at 15-30ft).

 

The verdict

Am I insane? Possibly! The Edel Aim Check isn't cheap, and to be honest I will likely sell it once I'm done with this experiment. BUT if you want to figure where you are truly aimed then it is a very quick and efficient way of doing it.

The convenience factor of having the puck be the size of the hole, the ready to go stick on mirror and the simplicity of using it is all A+. You definitely don't need the $50 pop-up background if you have a wall and don't plan to use this outside.

At $100 it isn't cheap, but if I was an independent fitter I would snap one up in a heartbeat. Even outside of the Edel ecosystem this is a really valuable tool, and not something I think many golfers think about at all.

I really think LAB need to look into this seriously, and consider arming their fitters with this tool, or a similar tool that gets the same thing done. LAB's technology is amazing, but if you aren't aiming where you think you are, you will never get the most out of their technology. 

 

What's next for me?

I'm already very very close to completely sold that I need to change to Alignment I. I'm playing golf on Sunday, and it's not a tournament, so I am going to hit the greens with my MacGyver electric tape alignment mark and see how the round goes. Then I'll decide what to do with my existing DF3!

I do want to stress - these results are likely specific to me (right handed golfer, left eye dominant) and so don't just run out and buy Alignment I thinking it'll help you. What I hope to demonstrate here is that alignment marker is a significant factor in aiming the putter where you want to. I'm confident the DF3 starts the ball on the line I want, but if the face angle is closed to that line, then it's going to only work at fairly short range (a face angle of over 0.7º typically means a miss outside 10ft unless your path is insane).

 

Happy to answer any questions - I might play around a bit more on the weekend, but the evidence feels very clear to me, so I honestly don't know if it's worth doing a bunch more ExPutt testing at this point! .

Edited September 20 by Rearviewmirror

[Josh Parker]

Great job and very compelling and interesting data. I do also wonder how visually appealing the alignment mark has to be to someone or can people get over that based on some science?

I went with this one on my CB I just ordered.

On my stock DF2.1 it just has the standard solid bar across face with single line. I don't mind it and putt well with it, but also feel it doesn't narrow down the center of the face enough for me. 

[Cfhandyman]

Fascinating study.  I enjoyed reading and thank you for sharing.  I wasn't aware of the Edel laser Aim check.  I just used a simple laser level from my toolbox to help me dial in the alignment.  This is the alignment aid, I ultimately settled on (a combination of the T and arrow).  From 6-7 feet and in, I have found the L.A.B. DF3 to be very accurate (0-6' - 94%). okay from mid range (10-20', 14%), but have made several putts from 30+ feet (6%).  Mind you this is with the TPT shaft

[mpatrickriley]

As one who has now tested both Edel and L.A.B. putters for the Forum, and who once had an MLA mallet in my collection, this thread is right up my alley.

I do think it is very interesting (and I'm glad you tested it) that your testing with alignment seemed to have very positive correlation with actual ExPutt performance.

My own position, at least right now, is a bit of two minds.

On the one hand, I absolutely agree with Edel that the head shape and markings on your putter can have a significant influence on how you aim it.

On the other hand, I'm likely a little less convinced than I was three years ago that the aim of your putter at address matters enormously. I'll start with this, which gives really good data about something I'd heard for years: Tiger doesn't aim his putter "correctly":

I kinda love this data, but I too aim well right of the hole on most of my putts. As I've noted in a number of threads here over the years: I've laid down a four-foot ruler on an eight foot putt, laser aligning the ruler to the center of the hole. When I address the 8' putt, that ruler (that goes halfway to the hole!) looks outside the left edge to me. That's incredible distortion.

Two quick things: 1) I've tried adjusting my head position/setup/ball position without success. 2) I perceive the line correctly if I putt left-handed. But I'm bad at putting left-handed.

When I went for my Edel fitting, the fitter did his very best to pull my aim from being so far right, and he eventually found a setup that got me aiming to the right edge of the cup, instead of outside the cup.

All that to say: I think this is interesting. I definitely think there are golfers for whom getting their alignment correct at address will help them putt better, and that's why I'm glad you didn't just test your aim but also the putting results.

[Rearviewmirror]

7 minutes ago, mpatrickriley said:

As one who has now tested both Edel and L.A.B. putters for the Forum, and who once had an MLA mallet in my collection, this thread is right up my alley.

I do think it is very interesting (and I'm glad you tested it) that your testing with alignment seemed to have very positive correlation with actual ExPutt performance.

My own position, at least right now, is a bit of two minds.

On the one hand, I absolutely agree with Edel that the head shape and markings on your putter can have a significant influence on how you aim it.

On the other hand, I'm likely a little less convinced than I was three years ago that the aim of your putter at address matters enormously. I'll start with this, which gives really good data about something I'd heard for years: Tiger doesn't aim his putter "correctly":

I kinda love this data, but I too aim well right of the hole on most of my putts. As I've noted in a number of threads here over the years: I've laid down a four-foot ruler on an eight foot putt, laser aligning the ruler to the center of the hole. When I address the 8' putt, that ruler (that goes halfway to the hole!) looks outside the left edge to me. That's incredible distortion.

Two quick things: 1) I've tried adjusting my head position/setup/ball position without success. 2) I perceive the line correctly if I putt left-handed. But I'm bad at putting left-handed.

When I went for my Edel fitting, the fitter did his very best to pull my aim from being so far right, and he eventually found a setup that got me aiming to the right edge of the cup, instead of outside the cup.

All that to say: I think this is interesting. I definitely think there are golfers for whom getting their alignment correct at address will help them putt better, and that's why I'm glad you didn't just test your aim but also the putting results.

I’m going to try to pop over to the practice green on my lunch break and see if I notice any of changes (then real round of golf on Sunday). 
 

I agree with almost everything you’ve said, but I think my assumption is that the better your face is aimed at address, the less manipulation will be required to get it to square at impact. We have all had those putts where your body literally tries to redirect you during the stroke if you suddenly second guess your aim. I guess I’m trying to head that idea off at the pass!

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

Love this thread. Thanks for sharing your results.

I too have wondered if my alignment marks are costing me. Have done raindrop checks on the putting green and everything starts online. To me that is all that matters and shows what I have is what I need. For me, the 10'-15' range you struggle with, I use a different technique. I will triangulate between the hole and ball for putts between 10' and 45'. The hole is always on my left side, being a right handed golfer. I look at hole, ball, hole, ball and stare at the ball and walk to it. I then put my putter down behind it, then take a quick peak and putt. It is amazing the distance control and line I hit my putts at now. Again, this works for me. My miss putting is actually to the right side and mainly has to do with ball position with the LAB. I need to bring mine closer to my lead foot and then it gets back on track. I also struggle more from 6’-9' due to proper speed and struggling with breaks.

I am very curious of your results on an actually putting green. I bet you will find success.

Edited September 20 by Vegan_Golfer_PNW

[jbern]

This is awesome and well done! I’m glad that it’s translating to performance improvement also! 
What you did is exactly what I wish I could’ve done before selecting the alignment mark for my DF3. I ultimately decided to go more off norm with the only real specification that I wanted markings from front all the way to the back (I’ve seen this improve my proximity when adding lines to my Sub70 armlock mallet putter). However, it would’ve been awesome to have some scientific method of selecting the alignment marking. 

[Rearviewmirror]

I shared this thread with the LAB fitting team, so we'll see if it goes anywhere

I managed a very swift putting green session and I'm sold. Went ahead and ordered my exact same spec (other than I went for the new black pistol grip) and the new alignment marker. It sounds like they're racing through orders in 2-3 weeks at the moment.

It was really interesting on the putting green. On intermediate putts I actually had a few miss right (guessing I might have been compensating for my miss-aim) but then also holed some 30 foot putts that I have no right making under normal circumstances. I'm going to play a full 18 holes on Sunday (on a course with tricky greens) so I will report back on how it goes!

[cnosil]

6 hours ago, mpatrickriley said:

 

 

All that to say: I think this is interesting. I definitely think there are golfers for whom getting their alignment correct at address will help them putt better, and that's why I'm glad you didn't just test your aim but also the putting results.

 

While Tiger aims 2.5 degrees open that doesn't mean it is good or correct.  PGA players practice their skills significantly more than amateurs do and he is able to consistently pull the putt back to his intended line.   the question is really does aim matter?   If we look at the concept of the LAB putters they are designed to stay square to the path and I would guess launch the ball where aimed.  So if we aren't aimed correctly then maybe we don't start the ball on intended line.   If aim does matter, then we should consider it a skill and practice it as a skill just like we practice swinging a golf club.  

We knw that one of the big selling points of Edel is that the shape and alignment  influence aim.  While these things may be helpful,  shouldn't we be able to learn aim?

The natural follow-up would be if we can learn to aim,  we can also learn to make a stroke that starts the ball where we aimed which gets to your point about results.   

[Rearviewmirror]

1 minute ago, cnosil said:

If aim does matter, then we should consider it a skill and practice it as a skill just like we practice swinging a golf club.  

We knw that one of the big selling points of Edel is that the shape and alignment  influence aim.  While these things may be helpful,  shouldn't we be able to learn aim?

The natural follow-up would be if we can learn to aim,  we can also learn to make a stroke that starts the ball where we aimed which gets to your point about results.   

I guess, sort of? Parallax effect in putting is a real thing (and in golf more generally). If your eye dominance and chosen alignment mark is messing you up, it feels like fixing that as opposed to training yourself to see something different is the easiest path to fixing it.

I thought this article was a nice way of talking about aim - https://brucerearick.substack.com/p/learning-to-aim

[cnosil]

19 minutes ago, Rearviewmirror said:

I guess, sort of? Parallax effect in putting is a real thing (and in golf more generally). If your eye dominance and chosen alignment mark is messing you up, it feels like fixing that as opposed to training yourself to see something different is the easiest path to fixing it.

I thought this article was a nice way of talking about aim - https://brucerearick.substack.com/p/learning-to-aim

I am familiar with Bruce's work;  he helped me with my putting and taught me all about his assessments.   He also is a believer in stroke patterns and finding the right "torque" putter to deal with path bias.   Based on some responses from LAB, they would say that the biases are the result of experience with the putters and a LAB putter will work to fix those biases. Most putting instructors will indicate that Parallax can be eliminated by setting up the body correctly and not necessarily changing the alignment aid.  Since the thread is about finding alignment aids for the DF3,  I kind of stayed with the LAB thought process.

[cksurfdude]

@Rearviewmirror really interesting analysis and test!! Also interesting bit about colors and performance. 

While my thinking is where the putter face is aimed at address is important .. I also think it's at least as, if not more, important to return the putter face to (as close as possible to) square at impact. 

Consider the Tiger example above - yes he was a phenomenal exception, but - during his prime run how many putts of any type from 20 ft and in did he miss? So he really developed / finely tuned his putting stroke (and speed control and green reading) skills.

So the question maybe morphs into, "does the alignment marking on the putter head help you return the putter head/face to square at impact?"

Over this Summer I've gone to using my MLA putter more and more, to where it's now my consistent gamer. For those not familiar it looks like...

(fyi it's a solid milled putter; boring old straight horizontal score lines)

Their tech is in that very different top line marking that they call "Multiple Line-detector Activation" that they claim helps you square the putter face at impact - ie while the putter head is in motion. More info at.. https://www.mla.golf/pages/mla-concept

Does it work? I think so, for me, it does .. in combination with continuing to work on my stroke and putting skills.

[Rearviewmirror]

20 minutes ago, cksurfdude said:

@Rearviewmirror really interesting analysis and test!! Also interesting bit about colors and performance. 

While my thinking is where the putter face is aimed at address is important .. I also think it's at least as, if not more, important to return the putter face to (as close as possible to) square at impact. 

Consider the Tiger example above - yes he was a phenomenal exception, but - during his prime run how many putts of any type from 20 ft and in did he miss? So he really developed / finely tuned his putting stroke (and speed control and green reading) skills.

So the question maybe morphs into, "does the alignment marking on the putter head help you return the putter head/face to square at impact?"

Over this Summer I've gone to using my MLA putter more and more, to where it's now my consistent gamer. For those not familiar it looks like...

(fyi it's a solid milled putter; boring old straight horizontal score lines)

Their tech is in that very different top line marking that they call "Multiple Line-detector Activation" that they claim helps you square the putter face at impact - ie while the putter head is in motion. More info at.. https://www.mla.golf/pages/mla-concept

Does it work? I think so, for me, it does .. in combination with continuing to work on my stroke and putting skills.

100% - and I think for me the answer is yes (in terms of returning it to square). I am seeing more 0 to 0.2º face angle reads on the ExPutt than ever. I'm really excited to try it on course tomorrow.

My sketchy attempt at the MLA marking was the second from the left version in the "test protocol" photo above. It didn't work from me, but I buy the idea at least conceptually!

[Rearviewmirror]

Little bit of an off round today (it rained very heavily last night) and it was either feast or famine. Sunk a 10ft putt and burned the edge on a 25ft putt. All my start lines felt dialled but I wrecked my strokes gained putting by duffing a first putt on a 60ft leave and proceeded to 4 putt. 
 

It definitely felt like hitting my start lines was easier and touch overall felt really good. Two more nine hole rounds coming up this week at my home course before a two week hiatus. Definitely still a huge fan of the alignment mark!

[Golf2Much]

I love the analysis @Rearviewmirror! 

About 24 years ago, I sought out a putting lesson from the head pro at our club.  We met in the pro shop and to my surprise he said come over here.  He pulled out a toolbox, opened it up and plugged it in.   He turned it on its side and out came a red laser beam.  Turns out, it was a homemade version of the Edel Aim Check.  He attached a mirror on my putter face, used a ball to block and laser and said for me to aim my putter to the hole at the toolbox where the laser beam was emanating.  I aligned it up as he said and told him I was ready.  The pro removed the ball.  As looked forward being careful not to move the putter face, I couldn't see the corresponding red dot.  The pro was behind me and saw it perfect.  It was about 6 feet in the air and about 4 feet to the left!  No wonder I was such a poor putter!

At that point we worked on setting the club up properly and trying to get the dot to shine back on itself.  After about 10 minutes, he said let's go out on the practice green.  Even setting up to what I thought was right yielded significantly missed putts!  The pro reassured me that everyone had a similar response to the laser and trying to make their putts the first time.  

I'm not sure the alignment aids would correct a misalignment as bad as mine at that time.  My putting has improved, and this alignment aid optimization may be something to help push me over the putting edge.

[Josh Parker]

1 hour ago, Golf2Much said:

Turns out, it was a homemade version of the Edel Aim Check.  He attached a mirror on my putter face, used a ball to block and laser and said for me to aim my putter to the hole at the toolbox where the laser beam was emanating.  I aligned it up as he said and told him I was ready.  The pro removed the ball.  As looked forward being careful not to move the putter face, I couldn't see the corresponding red dot.  The pro was behind me and saw it perfect.  It was about 6 feet in the air and about 4 feet to the left!  No wonder I was such a poor putter!

 

This is awesome!  One, I bet he wishes he had come out with the device and two, it's amazing what our eyes see vs reality a lot of times. 

[Rearviewmirror]

OK... so I think I'm sold?! Note that is compared to a scratch golfer, not my target of 9.

 

I would say I think I've adjusted to the new alignment mark?! Honestly I don't think I could have putted better today (other than lipping out a 3 foot putt for birdie). Best putting round of my life and also lowest scoring round of my life.

The greens were wet today (a couple were even rooster tailing water) and my short game was on fire - but even so, this was pretty special. Now I'll be a little sad to sell this putter when the new alignment replacement shows up!

Edited September 24 by Rearviewmirror

[Josh Parker]

Wow!  Well done @Rearviewmirror!

[johnsomp]

This is a great post thread. I will be following and i also wonder about the shape of the LAB putters affecting aim, i.e. Mezz v DF3.

[cnosil]

6 hours ago, Rearviewmirror said:

Best putting round of my life and also lowest scoring round of my life.

 

Congrats on the personal best, always great when you find something that helps your game.