How to Use a Plumb Bob
By Steve Silverman
Learning how to putt accurately is a battle that most golfers will endure throughout their entire careers. There will be times when you putt well and other times when you struggle. Most professional and high-level amateurs follow the same pre-putt routine every time they are on the course. The "plumb bob" method is designed to help the golfer get an accurate read on his putt.
Instructions
Difficulty: Moderate
Get behind your ball on the green and get in the equivalent of a baseball catcher's stance. Look at the path your ball will take as it travels toward the hole. You are looking for any obvious breaks or slopes in the green that will impact the way it travels.
Walk the path your ball will travel. You have looked at the path from a distance and now you are walking the same line. You are looking for flaws in the green that will possibly have an impact on the way the ball rolls.
Get back behind your ball. From a distance of about six feet behind your ball, stand up straight and hold the grip area of your putter in your dominant hand at about eye level.
Use your dominant eye to determine the true break of the green. As you hold the putter, use your dominant eye (usually the right eye for most right-handed individuals) and close the other one. Look at the bottom of the club face and the hole at the same time. If the hole appears to be on the right side of the shaft, your putt will break to the right. If the hole appears to be on the left, your putt will break to the left.
After reading the green and determining the break, walk up to your ball and take one practice swing before hitting your putt. Do not linger over the ball. Taking more than 15 seconds to putt will almost certainly send your ball off course.
Tips & Warnings
Use the plumb bob technique on the practice green before the start of a round of golf.
About The Author
Steve Silverman is an award-winning writer, covering sports since 1980. Silverman authored The Minnesota Vikings: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and Who's Better, Who's Best in Football -- The Top 60 Players of All-Time, among others, and placed in the Pro Football Writers of America awards three times. Silverman holds a Master of Science in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism.
