If you've been working with the Putting Plane, you've likely seen a significant improvement in your putting consistency as you begin to understand your alignment and what the putter is actually doing during the stroke.
The Putting Plane is an outstanding tool — hands down one of the simplest, most effective putting training aids available.
However, as we've discussed throughout this Putting lesson series, truly improving your putting requires understanding what the putter face is doing through impact.
The Putting Plane gives you excellent feedback on the stroke path and club movement, but it can't tell you precisely what's happening with the putter face — and that's the variable that ultimately determines whether your putt goes in.
See For Yourself
Fortunately, Eyeline Golf has developed another brilliantly simple putting aid called the Laser Line. It attaches directly to the shaft of your putter and projects a red laser line onto the ground.
The line extends about three feet and sits perpendicular to your putter face. If you rotate the face open, the line points right. If you take it back hooded, the line drifts left.
The remarkable feature of the Laser Line is that the projected line stays perfectly straight even though the putter naturally travels on a slight arc during a proper stroke. If you were to take the face back perfectly square to the target line — which would technically be a hooded or closed position — the laser would point left.
The Laser Line is designed to show you when the putter face is square to the arc of your stroke.
It delivers instant feedback so you always know whether your putter face is maintaining its proper relationship to the stroke arc.
It's All About the Face
As we covered in the Hand Dominance lesson, the alignment of the putter face at impact is what really determines whether or not you're going to make a putt.
Everything comes down to where the ball leaves the face. You need to understand what that face is doing on the way back and — most critically — through impact.
When you look down at your club, you'll see the laser line projecting at 90 degrees to the putter face. Simply align the laser with the black center line on the Putting Plane device and keep it there throughout the entire stroke.
Many golfers are startled the first time they use this training aid. You may be surprised at how open or shut the club face can be while still appearing relatively square to the naked eye.
Tiny Rotation - Big Impact
Try rotating the putter back and forth slightly with your hands to develop a feel for how small rotations change the face angle.
If you swing into impact and see the laser line pointing right of the target line, you'll know the face is still open — and you'll miss the shot right. The difference is incredibly subtle, but the Laser Line gives you an exact, visual picture of what the face is doing at every point in the stroke.
Swing the putter back and forth without a ball several times, focusing on keeping the red laser line locked on the black center line throughout the entire motion. Practice until you can maintain that alignment even while the putter is moving.
The face will naturally rotate through a very small arc — that's inherent to the stroke — but the Laser Line aid is calibrated for that natural arc and displays a straight line throughout a proper stroke.
Here's an eye-opening test: take the putter back while keeping the face perfectly square to the target line — not on a normal arc, but dead square. The laser line will immediately drift left because having the putter face dead square during the backswing actually means the face would be shut at impact, causing the ball to pull left.
Return to a normal arc and practice keeping the laser line straight as the putter moves back, through impact, and into the follow-through.
Now you have all the components of a great putting system. The Laser Line perfects your face alignment. The Putting Plane improves your path. And a mirror provides instant feedback on your setup.
Start hitting balls. If you can keep the laser line true throughout the stroke, your putts will roll remarkably straight. If something's off, the laser will show you exactly whether you've rotated open, closed, or what's happening at impact.
This device is as effective as any tool available for showing you precisely what the putter face is doing throughout the stroke — and as we've established in previous lessons, face control is the single most important variable in putting.
If you can get the laser line to track straight through the entire stroke, you'll know the putter is staying on its natural arc and will be square at impact. Achieve that consistently, and you'll start holing putts you used to miss. For the same kind of instant visual feedback on your full golf swing, try a free AI swing analysis that shows you exactly what your body is doing. To practice your swing with real-time coaching, check out a free AI golf lesson.
Watch part 2 now to see how you're moving your body in the opposite direction of the pros!
The Laser Line and the Putting Plane
Designed to work on an arc, it points left if the face goes back square
You may see drastic rotation when you first use the device
Even if it barely feels rotated, the face may actually be very open
Keep the line constant as the putter is in motion
Striking the ball
