Quick Poll: Do you use an alignment aid on your golf ball?

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By Emily B., Titleist Staff

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  • 184 Replies
  1. Team Titleist Staff

    “There’s a lot of kids that step on the putting green and just kind of feel the putt, just stand over and whack it. A lot of people do that well… and I just can’t.”

    Some prefer to use it and some don’t – It’s a player’s choice when it comes to using an alignment aid on your golf ball (think drawn on line, custom alignment aids, or lining your ball up with the Titleist script or sidestamp).

    And for Pro V1 loyalist Viktor Hovland, the black line that he marks his golf ball with before every round was an essential part to defending his title last week at the World Wide Technolgy Championship at Mayakoba to take home his 3rd career PGA Tour victory – where he carded 28 birdies over the course of the week and broke the tournament scoring record.

    Hear from Viktor below as he walks us through how he’s marked his golf ball since he was young, and don’t forget to let us know above if you use an alignment aid or not! Bonus points if you include a picture in the comments.

  2. Doug E

    Doug E
    Urbana, MD

    Alignment lines are too restrictive for me. I don't need more stuff in my head standing over the ball. But, that's just me.

  3. mike p

    mike p
    Toledo, OH

    Military
    I miss marked this thread
  4. 2 Bogey

    2 Bogey
    Cincinnati, OH

    Like you it makes me tense up. I visualize the line I am putting on. To each their own. Use what makes the best you.
  5. 2 Bogey

    2 Bogey
    Cincinnati, OH

    I find trying to line things up makes me to tense. Have the same problem with crosshairs target shooting. I visualize my target line and flow over it. It gives me a bigger picture to work with which relaxes the putting stroke
  6. Doug E said:

    Alignment lines are too restrictive for me. I don't need more stuff in my head standing over the ball. But, that's just me.

    You are not alone.
  7. I've used the Titleist logo on the ball back in the 60's long before the balls were lined, to number one : concentrate on rolling the ball on the line desired to the hole. And number two : to insure the logo was rolling properly end over end. It wasn't rocket science it was just a way to concentrate on the putt. I have been using all types of Titleist balls over the years and they keep getting better as the years go by. Several years ago I had a hole in one on my birthday and Titleist rewarded me with a Pewter bag tag and last year I shot my age 76 a week before my 77th birthday. So you see Titleist and I have a long standing relationship.
  8. Andrew A

    Andrew A
    Charlotte, NC

    I don't traditional alignment aid such as a side stamp. I have been using the Titielist script for this purpose for 25-30 years. It's just become a habit over time and will continue to do so.
  9. Same here. 30+ years. Just point the "Prov v1 X" and the arrows down the target line off the tee and on green.
  10. Jim M

    Jim M
    St Charles, IL

    I am the same as Andrew. I want to look down and see Titleist. Have done it forever. It also drives me nuts and slows us down when fellow players have to remark and adjust the alignment. Ugh.
  11. Bomber3

    Bomber3
    Lake St Louis, MO

    Military
    I don't use an alignment aid. I prefer to look down and see only a clean ball. The times the I've tried using an aid I get to distracted looking at it. I prefer looking at the ball and putting a good stroke on it on my intended target line.
  12. Just the 3 dots I use to mark my ball.
  13. No'l

    No'l
    Palmdale, CA

    Yes, I use it on the green for putting- I don't mark it anymore than what the side markings already have on Pro V1. Its line is soft enough to helps me follow the line I intend to.
  14. Fred L

    Fred L
    Centerport,NY

    I do not use an alignment aid, however I have the model of the ball upright pointed down the line, so I guess it is a form of alignment.
  15. Barry M

    Barry M
    Reno, NV

    3 Years ago my golf instructor at the time would have me line up for a putt, and then she would announce that the ball was off-line. What she saw as aligned differed from what I saw. My percentages of straight putts did not change using her alignment or my alignment, so I quit using any alignment marks on my ball, and prefer none on my putter. My percentage of straight putts improved quite a bit after that. I use the TM Spider putter because it's the only one I can find without alignment marks. Would really like to see Titleist offer the option on the X12 putter. The X12.5 comes close but still has the line on it.
  16. Bill V

    Bill V
    Bluffton, SC

    If you know your putting, no one else can tell you if you’re on line or not.

    Therein lies the fallacy of a one day Caddie helping you, maybe the relief from responsibility, but a one day caddie doesn’t know you and can’t really know the line if he doesn’t know how you hit putts, the best lifetime putters can’t explain it to you

    Pick a line, pick a speed, if you do that and miss you know you read the putt wrong
  17. Joseph E

    Joseph E
    JOHNSTOWN, PA

    I agree... I have witnessed guys line up a putt and would have bet on them missing right or left, only to watch it fall in the hole. But I do use the ProV1 alignment arrows for myself
  18. I don’t use an alignment aid on the ball. I find it makes me too line conscious when standing over the ball. I prefer to pick a spot on my line just ahead of the ball and align the putter face with that. Then I just concentrate on making a stroke at the right speed.
  19. Sean M

    Sean M
    Liberty, MO

    Military
    Yes. I add a line with a Sharpie on my ball. I use it off the tee and with putts.
  20. No alignment aid for putting. I see too many players spending waaaay too much time trying to align their ball just so on the green. I prefer to look down at the un-logoed part of the ball.
  21. mickeymickey r

    mickeymickey r
    savannah, GA

    I like a thinner line, seems to be more precise for me
  22. I always use it off the tee, and sometimes on putts. I use one line I draw generally.
  23. Jeffrey M

    Jeffrey M
    Auburn, NY

    I love using a line on my ball. Helps me line up my putt. And my percentage of making putts has gone up. I mark my ball on the opposite side of the ProV1x.
  24. I used to use the Titleist script on the ball for putting but when the enhanced lines came out I really like that so I buy enhanced line balls when I can get them, I’ve also used a black line but found I have to refresh periodically so prefer enhanced line.
  25. Steve M

    Steve M
    Elmhurst, IL

    I used one for putting a while back for several years, but it became distracting. Also, a single line was hard for me to line up. So for several years, I did not use any. Recently, I started using it again and it has helped tremendously. I guess it will be something that I will go back and forth on, but for now it is in. Multiple lines like the Tru Feel help a lot!
  26. I do not use any alignment tool on my ball. I believe that the three lines cally uses should be illegal in tournament play, as it was devised by an ophthalmologist with specific color lines with specific distances apart. I feel using this system is a form of cheating, especially with putters using the same system. If a "belly" putter or long putter touching the body is cheating, so is this line system.
  27. I use a single line over the ProV1 and through the arrows. Being right eye dominant, I tend to aim the putter left even though it seems straight. The line helps position the putter. Then I look at the front of the ball and stroke through.
    But....to each his own. More than anything, the same routine for every putt seems to be the key for consistency.
    Even when practicing, do the same thing before each putt.

    As an aside, a very good friend and known name on the senior tour told me "all good putts don't go in". If you putted the intended line with the correct speed, it is a good putt. We WILL misread and there WILL be imperfections on the green. Then he said, "always have a short memory".
  28. Rich R

    Rich R
    Portland Oregon

    I use the arrow on the Prov1x for putting, and I have 4 red dots 2 under each number I square up that I can see off the tee.
  29. I use the Titleist script to be a "loose" alignment aid for putting. I think good putters are either technical or they are feel putters. Think Bryson DeChambeau vs. Ben Crenshaw. I am more of a feel putter so I don't like to take my mind to a mathematical technical state (left brain) with exact lines and angles, I prefer to whistle as I approach a green to engage the creative (right brain) side which aids in relaxation and a free stroke for me.
  30. Shawn E

    Shawn E
    Carlsbad, CA

    Military
    Even on good courses, when trying to place the ball back on your mark, it NEVER stays still enough for the alignment mark to help. More proof that those tour greens are something even the BEST public courses I play on cannot duplicate. Sometimes the ball just won't stop wiggling after you let go from placing it. I find it takes up too much time and I don't want to annoy the others in the group over something this trivial.

    WHAT I do find is that I use a Scotty Cameron alignment tool to get it somewhat close, pick out a specs or two of off-color grass and go from there.

    ALSO, square the putter face up to the line first before gripping and taking your stance helps too. Saw Butch Harmon teach Natalie Gulbis that AND IT WORKS!

    AND Finally, for us weekend warriors, while addressing hte ball (rules allow it as long as no intent at a scoring stroke is made) waggling or stroking the putter on the intended line a little bit (like a pool cue before you hit the cue ball) helps. Too many times I see people stand fronzen over the putt and when they finally begin to take the putter away the head is moving open and closed slightly throughout the take-away. I want that putter head to be as steady as can be throughout the entire stroke and this will help with that.
  31. Mark R

    Mark R
    Duxbury, MA

    Absolutely - a blue sharpie line on my Pro V1x.

    I use both off the tee and putting.

    56 yrs old - 6.0 handicap index
  32. I’d ban them. Just another contributor to slow play.
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