How Do You Line-up Your PUTT..??

BG and Umhula,

I bought one last night and I will hopefully get in some practice this weekend!

I think BG is right...the line is always to be pointed at your target or target line.  The dot is supposed to be perpendicular.  You put the ball in the spinner...it spins...Check Go suggests while it is spinning that you can put a single dot on the top and a line around the equator (which is where the balance line is).

The line around the equator is to line up to your target and the dot as they suggest would be to imagine a line pointing between your feet at address.  Of course the only version of the Check Go that was available was the Pro version...so I don't know if that is the same as the other version.

It would make sense that extra yardage and consistency would come from a ball spinning end over end (like a gyroscope) at the heaviest point rather than spinning sideways at the heaviest point.  However I am going to consider putting a perpendicular line to the line on the equator so when I look down I see cross hairs rather than just a line.  Not sure if it will help...but I will try it on a few of them.

I bought a 12 pack of ProV1's and NXT Tours.  I have been playing for a good 3 years with the NXT Tour and I have never played with the ProV1.  I want to see what it can do for me on the greens.  They are already marked and ready for testing.

Umhula,

I got you now.  You and I were talking about two different things.  I was talking about a horizontal line instead of vertical.  You are talking about two vertical lines pointed in different directions.

That's interesting because there is supposedly one single point on the ball that would indicate it's heaviest point.  You just don't know exactly where it is except that it is on the equator line.  If you point the line at the target you know the heavy point will be on that line.  If you were looking at a clock it would be on the 6:00 or 12:00 line.  If you point the ball away from the target perpendicular the heavy spot could literally be at every time on the clock but you wouldn't know which.

Now the float test would take care of that.  In that test the heavy part of the ball always points down in the saltwater solution.  You mark the ball with a dot on the opposite side when it comes to rest.  When you put that ball on the tee...you can either put the dot directly on top, bottom, facing the target or facing away from target and you will get the same result.  If you put the ball on the tee so that the dot is on the left side or right side of the ball (standing behind the ball looking at the target)...the ball will lean toward the heavy side as it rolls or spins..

So in this scenario if you wanted a draw...you would point the dot at yourself during address.  If you wanted a fade you would point the dot away from you.  I don't know if you would get more lift by putting the heavy part down or up or if that even matters as much as how you make contact.  Maybe if you want less spin you could point the dot at the target or away from it.  Who knows.

So now the question becomes...do you put the balls marked with the check go in water solution for the float test to determine where the heavy point is?  I guess if you want to work the ball it would make sense.  If you are just worried about hitting straight and long...not so much. 

BG,

The heavy spot is the reason for the balance line.  The closer the heavy spot is to the center of the core of the ball...the less likely it would be to affect your shot much.  I was failing to consider this.  I was assuming it would be on the outside of the ball.  Even if you find out by using the float test which side the heavy spot is on because of gravity you still don't know exactly where it is.  You have now just narrowed the heavy spot down to somewhere on the radius line between the center of the core and the outside of the ball in a specific direction...in this case down.

Every ball has a different heavy point so there would be no consistency between balls...perhaps a tendency...but the tendency would vary depending on how close the heavy spot was to the center or the outside of each ball.

I am going to stick with finding the balance line and attempting straight shots...rather than trying to guess where the heavy spot is so I can work the ball in that direction.  it would be slightly beneficial in that if you were trying a fade but the heavy spot was on the wrong side...it would fight your fade a little.  I don't try to work the ball that much.