Should You Be Playing With A Line On Your Ball?

If you head out to your local muni and take a look at golf balls in your group, you will notice a variety of things. Callaway, TaylorMade, Titleist, and even range ball players have their superstitions about which balls work for them. Beyond brands, what about the things players write? Initials, markings, custom stamps, and performance enhancements? That's right, talk to any local skins player that has a line on the ball or is using a Callaway Triple Track, and you will hear words like alignment or "roll end over end."

As most of us know, Titleist has ruled the golf ball landscape since the Pro V1 came out. The majority of players aren't good enough to really tell the difference between a Pro V1, V1x, or left dash. I recently got fitted by a Titleist Rep who was out on the range doing it for free. It was an extremely interesting conversation, and they ended up putting me in the left dash.

So Titleist has had the stronghold in terms of performance, but when you just go out to your golf course, what do you see a lot of? Callaway Super Soft Triple Tracks. Why? Because the average 18 handicap isn't going to care about the slight performance difference, the balls themselves are cheaper, and those magical lines...

I once got paired with a gentleman around 45 years old. He told me he can't putt without those little lines. The people who play this ball are beyond loyal, almost cult-like. Back in grad school, my only experience was having that draw a line tool someone told me I needed to buy on TikTok, and I had never touched it since. So I decided to dive deeper.

Let's go back to the why. Why are people drawing lines on their balls? The short answer is for putting alignment. If you are someone who has a good putting process (which you need, btw), then you should be seeing where the break/fall line/aimpoint is. Then you would line up the line on your ball with that spot. This also allows for when you turn sideways to putt, your feel and vision don't get thrown off. I talk about this more in the Ladds Putting Rabbit Hole article if you want to learn more.

So should you be investing the money in the New Titleist ball that has the line pre drawn? My short answer is no and let me explain:

There isn't a clear number to what percentage of tour players use a line on their ball. According to Golf WRX it's around the 90% mark. Watching a lot of tour golf, this seems correct.

Having a line on your ball comes down to the way your brain operates. I have done a lot of work on this in my private practice and actually assess for it in collegiate players. If you are someone that is both an analytical thinker and sees every putt is straight, you should absolutely have a line on your ball. These type of players have doubt creep in when you give them too much freedom.

I am a huge advocate of the line, there is a reason so many high level players do it. Does it align you? Yes, but it also removes doubt.

What about a player like Scottie? Players that are extremely creative can feel hindered and trapped by the line. Usually these are the same players that can see the entire line of the ball from start to finish when they are standing behind the ball and visualizing. I want to be clear, if you can see the putt start to finish that doesn't mean you shouldn't use a line. Only go naked ball if you are absolutely convinced you understand how to line up your body and putter correctly. The other reason is if the line physically hinders your brain.

The bottom line, figure out what kind of player you are, and adjust accordingly. My advice is always to start with it drawn on and work backwards if needed. My other opinion? Go buy the little tool from Walmart. If you are a 20 handicap don't go buy the Pro V1 Align and go lose all 12 of them in a round. This is a wonderful product that you can cheap out on from Temu! I personally am someone that sees every putt as straight, drawing a line is essential for my putting success and anyone out there who never had should definitely try it.

Thanks everyone and see you tomorrow!