Plumb Bobbing (Putting) Master Thread

[Missouri Swede]

12 hours ago, MrGolfguy67 said:

It supposedly will show you which side of the hole is higher thus telling you which way the putt will break.

But we don't need that, because the tournament commentators periodically remind us that the ball breaks away from the mountain, toward the creek, toward downtown Phoenix, etc.   /sarcasm

[RayG]

I use it... and no, I can't explain to people why.. BUT- I know which eye is dominant and use that one. If you don't use the correct eye, then it doesn't work.

Or use the wrong kind of putter, or if you don't hold it the exact same way every time, etc... And it's a bit trickier in windy conditions. And for loooong putts it's useless.

I get a feel and that's how I putt. And I'm a fairly decent putter overall. But 40+ years experience also factors in to that as well.

[Patch]

Just for the sake of discussion. Not all putter heads are weighted the same. If this system worked would it require a certain type of weighted putter head to work?

[Hacker James]

Silly gesture, but I suppose it could help mentally like a placebo. If you think it helps, then perhaps it will. A more effective way would be to have a precise, consistent, set up ritual you go through. (Zen).

[ghalfaire]

I tried it for awhile a few years back.  It never helped me read the break(S) and it took time to do.  I find I putt better by just eyeballing from behind the hole, the low side of the putt line, and from behind the ball.  Then step up, line up and make the putt you see.

Edited June 16, 2017 by ghalfaire
mis spell

[Hacker James]

I experimented with aim point +, but as was quickly pointed out, I probably did not know what I was doing, so I don't bother. I also just sort of eyeball what I think is the break, note the grain, and any obvious drainage.

[Mr. Desmond]

PB, at its best, may give you one data point at the hole. Zach Johnson's former putting guru showed me how ZJ uses it, as a last resort, to get a slope at the hole reading. Most of the time I get nothing, and I don't do it to gather data - I do it when I have time to see if I am getting anything - as a lark.

Most get their reads from their eyes, which unfortunately can play tricks on them.

I use AimPoint Express. If you commit to it, it works beautifully.

[dchoye]

Lee Trevino says all he can read when he tries plumb bob on the green is "true temper" 

But seriously there's a guy who I play with who does it all the time and very good putter but when asked why he doesn't have an answer.  

I suspect it's like how some people like to tap the putterhead on the ground.  It part of a comfortable routine for them.  Not so much reading the green 

[iacas]

Apologies in advance if you take the bluntness here a bit more harshly than it's intended. Please try not to have an emotional attachment to information, as that's all I'm going to be sharing here…

6 hours ago, Patch said:

Some folks swear by it, others don't. It's the old chicken or the egg scenario. I've tried it because some the pros do it. Never seen any advantage to using it. Just figured I was doing it wrong by not seeing what ever the association is between the hanging shaft and the surface of the green.

Plumb Bobbing does nothing. The only thing it can do is provide you a reference for vertical, and that's only true if you've figured out how to align your putter shaft so that it hangs vertically.

6 hours ago, Patch said:

Me, I am one of those who sometimes looks at the plastic insert in the hole. I look for any difference  between the top of the insert, and the top of the hole. Even that can be considered iffy by some.

It is, because cup liners aren't all put in perfectly vertically themselves. On a 1-2% slope it's quite common to have the liner inserted at about the same 1-2% angle.

Also, who cares what the putt is doing the last few inches… the other 30' matter a LOT more than what the green is doing the last 30 inches.

6 hours ago, Patch said:

I say what ever gives you confidence in your putting, do it. 

How about getting the best reads?  Have confidence in having the best green reading method.

4 hours ago, RayG said:

I use it... and no, I can't explain to people why.. BUT- I know which eye is dominant and use that one. If you don't use the correct eye, then it doesn't work.

Sorry, Ray, but it doesn't work regardless of which eye you use. Again, the only thing it can do is provide a reference line for vertical. That's it. It can't show you which way the ball breaks, nor how much it breaks. Physically impossible.

4 hours ago, RayG said:

Or use the wrong kind of putter, or if you don't hold it the exact same way every time, etc... And it's a bit trickier in windy conditions. And for loooong putts it's useless.

For all putts it's pretty useless.  Again, just the facts…

3 hours ago, Patch said:

Just for the sake of discussion. Not all putter heads are weighted the same. If this system worked would it require a certain type of weighted putter head to work?

No, every putter will hang vertically (from your perspective) if it's turned a certain direction. Actually, either that direction or 180° to that direction… of course.

[Alx]

@iacasActually it would work, in theory atleast.

Lets assume a few things 1. The putter is hanging vertically 2. The put were hitting is on a steady slope. So a steady break.

You would set up facing the hole behind the ball. Hang the putter infront forming a line between the hole and the ball. 

Now tilt your head till your eyes are level with the ground, the slope essentially. The more you tilt your head the further away from the hole the shaft would "move"(perspective, only visual. youre basically peeking from behind the shaft). 

 

 

 

[Aflighter]

Ive tried it every now and then and im looking to figure out if its gonna show me something but havent seen anything to help.The best way I can see the break is doing a camillo.

[iacas]

1 hour ago, Alx said:

@iacasActually it would work, in theory atleast.

Lets assume a few things 1. The putter is hanging vertically 2. The put were hitting is on a steady slope. So a steady break.

You would set up facing the hole behind the ball. Hang the putter infront forming a line between the hole and the ball. 

Now tilt your head till your eyes are level with the ground, the slope essentially. The more you tilt your head the further away from the hole the shaft would "move"(perspective, only visual. youre basically peeking from behind the shaft). 

Untrue. Plus, that's not how plumb bobbing is "supposed" to work.

But here is the bigger problem… If you know how much to tilt your head, then you already know how much it slopes.

[Alx]

2 minutes ago, iacas said:

Untrue.

And if you know how much to tilt your head, then you know how much the slope is already.

No.

Now youre just being thick.

Ill make it simple. Say theres a painting on the wall. You can instantly tell if its not level. You can also tilt your head till it looks level. Boom. You definitely dont need to "know how much the slope is". You go by what you see. 

[iacas]

26 minutes ago, Alx said:

No.

Now youre just being thick.

Buddy, I don't think you're right, and chill with that type of language. There's no need for it.

Again… if you know how much to tilt your head, why are you plumb bobbing to begin with? The putter hangs vertically. Tilt your head and… the putter will appear to be at an angle, and, what, the green is horizontal? Where? What part of the green?

26 minutes ago, Alx said:

Ill make it simple. Say theres a painting on the wall. You can instantly tell if its not level. You can also tilt your head till it looks level. Boom. You definitely dont need to "know how much the slope is". You go by what you see. 

Really? Different people see paintings as straight or crooked all the time. I've had my wife place a painting on the wall and measured it at 2°+ offline. That's why smart people use a level… Plus, paintings are usually hung in a room where there are a bunch of right angles. That's not true on a putting green - the architect often tries to throw you off, mask the slopes, etc. And nothing on the golf course is 90° to anything, really…

Two points make a straight line. If you line up the ball and the hole… and then move to the left a little, the hole appears to the left. If you move to the right a little, the hole appears to the right.

Again, the only thing plumb bobbing can do is provide a reference point for vertical. That's it. It cannot magically show you how much or even what direction a putt breaks.

[Hardspoon]

32 minutes ago, Alx said:

Say theres a painting on the wall. You can instantly tell if its not level.

No...you can't.  Your perception is distorted by surrounding objects, like ceilings, walls, etc.  People are demonstrably awful at this.

 

32 minutes ago, Alx said:

You can also tilt your head till it looks level. Boom. 

No...you can't.

Besides, if it were this easy, plumb-bobbing would be even more pointless.

[billchao]

39 minutes ago, Alx said:

Ill make it simple. Say theres a painting on the wall. You can instantly tell if its not level.

I'm not sure this is a good analogy, though in full disclosure, I've never plumb bobbed with a putter so I have no idea what that's all about. That said, not everyone sees things level the same way. Plus, what you're seeing with a tilted painting is probably just how square it is to other straight lines in the room. The painting can be perfectly level and look crooked if the ceiling it is under is not.

I have to hang stuff off level all the time because some tile or trim or moulding isn't perfectly level and it makes the frame look tilted because the larger line always appears more flat.

45 minutes ago, Alx said:

You can also tilt your head till it looks level. Boom. You definitely dont need to "know how much the slope is". You go by what you see. 

Just tried this, too. I don't start seeing things tilted until my head is somewhere close to 60°. Must be the brain rectifying the image in my head. No way I can tell if something is sloped 1° from right to left like that.

I disagree that you don't need to know how much the slope is. So you know a putt breaks right to left. But by how much? That part doesn't matter? Even traditional green reading will try to determine how far right of the hole you need to aim to factor in the slope. How are you going to determine what line to start your putt on if you don't know how much it slopes?

[Valleygolfer]

Closest thing to plumb bobbing I've done is to hold the putter so the shaft lines up with ball and hole to find an aiming point for putts I think are relatively straight. Other than that I can't see anything that helps read a putt.

[Shindig]

1 hour ago, Valleygolfer said:

Closest thing to plumb bobbing I've done is to hold the putter so the shaft lines up with ball and hole to find an aiming point for putts I think are relatively straight. Other than that I can't see anything that helps read a putt.

Shoot, I do that in the other order:  if I think it's straight, I stand behind the ball and line the putter shaft in the air to include the ball and hole.  Then I pick another point on that line to use to set myself on that straight line.

I do similar with where I intend to start the ball.