Striking the ball out on the toe with the putter.

[cipher]

I am not the greatest putter, but I am not terrible either(31 putts per round last season). The question is, why would I have a tendency to hit the ball out on the toe a little bit?

[dfreuter415]

Perhaps you are standing too far from the ball.

[tiger1242]

Maybe you have terrible hand eye coordination...

Seriously though do you often miss there with Irons?

[PGA09]

Where is your eye position in relation to the ball at your setup? Do you have a straight back-straight through stroke or do you have some arc in it? Generally speaking, if you are a straight back-straight through person, you should have your eyes directly over the ball, if you have a slight arc, you want your eyes a little inside of the ball at address.

[Jhwarren]

If not a set-up issue (as stated above how far you are standing from the ball or where your eyes are in relation to the ball), toe hits usually mean a problem with the path of your stroke. More specifically, your putting stroke is too out-to-in. Make sure that you are setting up properly, if so, then work on your path. Do some "Gate Drills."

[dsc123]

Put rubber bands on your putter leaving a space between them in the sweet spot. If you miss and hit the rubber band you will know it. Or get a ser of pelz putter clips. Another thing is to make sure you're staring at a very specific spot on the ball while putting, like a specific dimple.

[Golfingdad]

  dsc123 said:

Originally Posted by dsc123

Put rubber bands on your putter leaving a space between them in the sweet spot. If you miss and hit the rubber band you will know it. Or get a ser of pelz putter clips.

Another thing is to make sure you're staring at a very specific spot on the ball while putting, like a specific dimple.

Band-aids work well for this drill too. :)

[cipher]

I will try the rubber band drill and see what happens.  I stand fairly vertical with my feet closer together than some when I put, and my eye is usually just inside the ball(This I got from Utley's AOP) but I try to have a fairly low arch straight path but also stay connected through the stroke.  Obviously I am using a face balanced putter as well.

I believe that it is definitely a swing path issue, but just cannot figure out what it is exactly is causing it.  I know it is costing me strokes.

In regards to my "coordination", I would miss more off the heel with my irons, but after lessons my full swing am pretty much dialed in with that.

[dsc123]

  cipher said:

Originally Posted by cipher

I will try the rubber band drill and see what happens.  I stand fairly vertical with my feet closer together than some when I put, and my eye is usually just inside the ball(This I got from Utley's AOP) but I try to have a fairly low arch straight path but also stay connected through the stroke.  Obviously I am using a face balanced putter as well.

I believe that it is definitely a swing path issue, but just cannot figure out what it is exactly is causing it.  I know it is costing me strokes.

In regards to my "coordination", I would miss more off the heel with my irons, but after lessons my full swing am pretty much dialed in with that.

What do you look at during your backstroke?  The ball or the club?

[cipher]

  dsc123 said:

Originally Posted by dsc123

What do you look at during your backstroke?  The ball or the club?

I think that this is one of my problems, I do this very different than my full swing, and I probably need to change it.  I look both at the ball but try to see the line a couple feet out in my peripheral vision.  Meaning I can completely focus on a spot on the ball.

[cipher]

Did a bunch of putting strokes with my eye more over the ball, and actually picked a spot on the ball to look at.  Put tape on the face of the putter and used a dry erase marker on the ball to get some transfer.  Here are the results which are much better.