Is This Ball Marker Going Too Far?

[fredf]

4 hours ago, Bonvivant said:

Isn't the face of the putter a straight line longer than 2 inches?

That has no relevance. #35 advises something you can do and this example fits that situation. #31 advises something you cannot do and this example does not fit that situation.

[DaveP043]

7 hours ago, Bonvivant said:

Isn't the face of the putter a straight line longer than 2 inches?

You should really look at:

Rule 14, which tells you of a couple of ways you can mark your ball, including placing a club next to the ball.

Definition of Ball Marker, which talks about a number of different things with which you can mark the ball (including "an object made to be a ball marker")

The section in the Equipment Rules that @Missouri Swede quoted, which talks about when an object manufactured to be a ball marker becomes an alignment device. 

The 2-inch limit applies only to objects intended to be a ball marker. The definition of "ball marker" allows you to use a "small piece of equipment".  A tee may not be longer than 4 inches, so that's about the maximum size that would classify as a "small piece of equipment" in my interpretation.

 

[pganapathy]

I voted yes.  For me, the ball marker isn't going to help a player who doesn't have the correct line in the first place.  And aligning it with this or just a line is the same.  Most importantly, as long as Pace Of Play isn't affected, I don't care either way.  If it winds up taking a player too much time, then by all means ban it.  I occasionally draw lines on my ball, but never bother about using that or the arrows on the ball to line it up.  I just look for my line, pick a spot a few inches from my ball and align myself with that

[Smash]

Just to throw out an alternative viewpoint.........

I'm a habitual putter-ball-line guy. I think the line on the ball helps me aim and align my putts better. It can't be that foreign of a concept since a lot of guys on the PGA Tour use it, too. 

I bought one of these Trident devices and I really love it. 

I'm able to get a more accurate alignment. Because of the moveable base and the side markings on the ball (these are key), I can make little micro-adjustments very precisely and get my ball aligned exactly how I want it to sit. And - here's the best part for you non-line guys - I can get my aligning done in half the time. The moveable base allows me to make small adjustments much quicker than without it. I think this device - at least for me - improves pace of play.

If you're a line-on-the-ball-guy, I would give this device a run. 

[DaveP043]

1 hour ago, Smash said:

I think this device - at least for me - improves pace of play.

Has it lowered your scores?  

[Smash]

1 hour ago, DaveP043 said:

Has it lowered your scores?  

I've been about a putt per round better. Now, let me throw in a caveat because I don't know that the improvement is entirely due to the moving-ball-marker-gizmo and might be more due to their plastic-line-template-gizmo.

In practice, the line markings with their line template helped me identify a way to roll the ball more on a 12-6 plane. I had a little bit of wobble in my roll that i wasn't seeing with just a simple, single line. I had some mechanical flaw in my stroke and my line wasn't rolling 100% 12-6. I didn't visually pick that up until I started using their line template which has these little side markers/wings which showed this slight wobble in the roll. I feel like this mechanical change has me rolling the ball straighter and that is probably the biggest part of the improvement. I feel like I'm simply rolling the ball straighter.