"Do I always have to place my cue ball directly under the reference ball?"

Question from Jens Klammer from Hamburg:

"Do I always have to place my golf ball directly under the reference ball?"

Jens is a good golfer with a single-digit handicap, but he's not really satisfied with the consistency of his putts. He's used to having his eye line slightly inside the ball, rather than directly over it as we recommend, because he feels it helps him read the putt line better. He also always has the problem that he doesn't stay "rock-free" over the ball during a putt and looks up too quickly.

He would like to use the reference ball technique of the Birdie Pod and the Putt Aligner to improve his putting, but he doesn't want to have his eye line directly over the ball; instead, he wants to maintain his current address position with his eye line slightly inside.

His question is whether he can still train with the Birdie Pod or Putt Aligner to improve quickly and sustainably.

We recommend having the left eye directly over the ball, as most professionals address the ball. However, there are also numerous top golfers who prefer to place their eye line slightly inside the ball because they feel it helps them read the putt line better – just like Jens.

The good news is that golfers can, of course, use our reference ball technique of the Birdie Pod or Putt Aligner even if their left eye is not directly over the ball.

In this address position, the golf ball does not completely "disappear" under the reference ball, but rather peeks out a little.

Two things are now crucial:

The visible part of the golf ball must always be the same size for every putt and must not change during the putt. This, like our recommended address position with the left eye over the ball, guarantees "rock-free" putting with the best possible success.

The graphic illustration makes it clear what is right and wrong.

If you are still "manipulable" and willing to change your putting technique to become an exceptional putter, we definitely recommend the following technique:

The left eye is over the ball, and the eye line is over the putt line in its direction.