My lame-o attempt at a putter with a laser pointer

[nevets88]

Yeah, this is pretty weak. I just wanted to do proof of concept. One, my cat toy, presentation laser pointer is too weak. In full daylight, hard to pick out the dot. I used a black book as a backboard. Go out past 15 feet it is really hard to find the dot. Two, the tape is terrible for keeping the pointer in place, looked at rod clamps, too much work. The device only stays on 3 minutes at a time before it turns off. Hoping this saves someone else some time. This is some epic weak sauce.

 

[jkelley9]

Pretty weak bro, LOL.

Besides, how is that going to help you? You're weighting your putter down, and you've covered up your point of address between the face and the ball!

[colin007]

That laser is about as straight as a politician's promise.

[nevets88]

30 minutes ago, jkelley9 said:

Pretty weak bro, LOL.

Besides, how is that going to help you? You're weighting your putter down, and you've covered up your point of address between the face and the ball!

I just wanted to see how good my aim was, was thinking of picking random targets, aim, and then see how far off I was.

[DaveP043]

I think perhaps mounting a laser at the target end, and placing a small mirror on the club face would be the way to go,  The laser "dot" should end up directly above the laser itself if the putter is aligned correctly.  Of course, you can't do this with a ball in the way.

[billchao]

@nevets88 when you want the laser to indicate where your putter is aimed, it helps if it's pointing in the same direction as the face 

[dennyjones]

I like the concept of a putting laser but you can accomplish the same thing with a cheap metal yard stick.  If you aren't aligned properly or mishit the putt, you'll know immediately.

Another option would be to get an old putter, take it to a machine shop and have them drill a small hole thru the putter where you could align the laser from behind.

Edited August 11, 2017 by dennyjones

[Club Rat]

Why not place the laser on the floor or ground behind the hole or target, roll the ball through the center of the laser line?

[billchao]

2 minutes ago, dennyjones said:

I like the concept of a putting laser but you can accomplish the same thing with a cheap metal yard stick.  If you aren't aligned properly or mishit the putt, you'll know imediately.

I think the point of the laser is more about learning how you aim the face than hitting your line.

 

[boogielicious]

16 hours ago, nevets88 said:

Yeah, this is pretty weak. I just wanted to do proof of concept. One, my cat toy, presentation laser pointer is too weak. In full daylight, hard to pick out the dot. I used a black book as a backboard. Go out past 15 feet it is really hard to find the dot. Two, the tape is terrible for keeping the pointer in place, looked at rod clamps, too much work. The device only stays on 3 minutes at a time before it turns off. Hoping this saves someone else some time. This is some epic weak sauce.

 

You should not have used blue tape. If you used grey tape, it would have worked. 

[chilepepper]

I'm giving you points for trying! 

[billchao]

4 hours ago, chilepepper said:

I'm giving you points for trying! 

Yes! Participation trophy FTW! 

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@nevets88 if you really want to make this thing work, gorilla tape is better than painters tape, and use some kind of square to make sure the laser is perpendicular to the face.

It won't solve visibility issues in full daylight, nor does it address the fact that you probably aim just your putter a little differently than you would aim your putter with a laser pointer on top of it, so I'm not sure if you'd actually learn anything valuable to begin with.

[nevets88]

@billchao @boogielicious Good idea. I have Gorilla tape. Will try that next time. The laser is just too underpowered though. I think generally I'm off by a few degrees not crazy off. Probably better served by a couple of sessions with a Sam Putt lab. Or maybe I'll get the green laser @iacasuses. 

[DaveP043]

I'll suggest again.  Put a small mirror on the face of the putter, with double-stick tape, it should be simple to align the mirror flat against the face.  Then put the laser on the ground, next to a wall, pointed at your putterhead.  If you're aligned properly, the reflected laser should be on the wall directly above the laser itself (due to the loft of the putter).  The angular error is doubled because of the reflection, so you should be able to learn to align yourself pretty precisely.  

[nevets88]

1 hour ago, DaveP043 said:

I'll suggest again.  Put a small mirror on the face of the putter, with double-stick tape, it should be simple to align the mirror flat against the face.  Then put the laser on the ground, next to a wall, pointed at your putterhead.  If you're aligned properly, the reflected laser should be on the wall directly above the laser itself (due to the loft of the putter).  The angular error is doubled because of the reflection, so you should be able to learn to align yourself pretty precisely.  

Thanks @DaveP043, I'll give that a go too. 

[colin007]

1 hour ago, DaveP043 said:

I'll suggest again.  Put a small mirror on the face of the putter, with double-stick tape, it should be simple to align the mirror flat against the face.  Then put the laser on the ground, next to a wall, pointed at your putterhead.  If you're aligned properly, the reflected laser should be on the wall directly above the laser itself (due to the loft of the putter).  The angular error is doubled because of the reflection, so you should be able to learn to align yourself pretty precisely.  

Yeah this is what I did and then realized I needed an Edel.

[boogielicious]

16 hours ago, DaveP043 said:

I'll suggest again.  Put a small mirror on the face of the putter, with double-stick tape, it should be simple to align the mirror flat against the face.  Then put the laser on the ground, next to a wall, pointed at your putterhead.  If you're aligned properly, the reflected laser should be on the wall directly above the laser itself (due to the loft of the putter).  The angular error is doubled because of the reflection, so you should be able to learn to align yourself pretty precisely.  

Tape the laser to a frickin' putter's head!

 

[billchao]

@nevets88