May 23, 2026 · 13 min · 6 segments
Is a simple Sharpie line the ultimate cheat code for dropping strokes, or is it secretly sabotaging your scorecard? In this special, extended 10-minute edition of FORE Minute Friday, we are breaking…
Daniel GuestHost
All kidding aside, look, this is where we give you, uh, a tip, a tool, uh, something that you can take with you, uh, immediately without really changing anything in your game, and we do that in four minutes or less, starting now.
But today is just, uh, gonna be a little bit longer, because in doing some research for today, [clears throat] um, I realized that it's gonna run over just a little bit.
Look, the, uh, you know, I, I, I titled it like the Great Sharpie Debate, [laughs] right? Does, does a line actually help your putting? And, um, look, in full disclosure, okay, uh, at Imagine Golf, we are big, big, big proponents of, uh, a line on the golf ball.
Okay? Um, and I know that there's some of you out there that are not proponents of it, but we're gonna go through [clears throat] the case for it and the case against it, if you would.
But, uh, I think when you're done listening to this podcast after about seven minutes, um, you're gonna be, uh, on the f- on the side of it, it helps, right? Um, look, I, I, I, uh, again, in full disclosure, I just got back from the PGA Championship, where I followed or I saw probably, I don't know, at least 25-plus golfers, and without exception, all 25 of them had some type of mark on their b- uh, golf ball, and about 80 to 90% of them had some type of line on the ball.
Okay? And they're, they're the uber-pros, right? The uber, um, um, professionals, if you would, right? The th- the, the elite at their sport, and they're using a line, right? Um, now, my ...
L- L- Let's just build the case for, first and foremost, right? I- if you were gonna start with like the positives, right? Because on paper, right, if you think about it, right, i- using a line to aim your putt makes perfect kind of logical sense.
Pu- I mean, when you think about putting, it is essentially geometry mixed with physics.
If you can, let's say, mathematically align, uh, your ball or a ball to an intended target, right, shouldn't you make more putts? I mean, the ans- the science would say yes, right? E- especially, right, under the right conditions, right? And there is some science, some proven science behind this, okay? So there's some ...
There was a study, okay, a fascinating study actually, if you have some time to read it.
[laughs] Who even knew there was such a thing? But the International Journal of Golf Science, and they looked into or looked at putting successes from varying distances.
And they found that simply using a line or a ball alignment mark, right, significantly improved success on straight, flat putts from about 8.5 feet and in, right? And at, at, at 8.5 feet in particular, right, getting the ball started on the exact right line was the primary factor on whether the putt dropped or not, right? If your speed is even reasonably close, a perfect starting line at eight and a half feet equals a made putt, right? So the line, right, th- on the ball helped you line the start line up, and then the speed obviously dropped the putt, right? So essentially what they were saying was without the line, without the line on the ball, right, a perfect speed, right, would get it close to the hole, right? But with the line, you were able to get the ball on the starting line that much easier, and it, it ...
they hold more putts, okay? So that, that was the actual science, if you would, right? Um, the ...
In my opinion, what it does for us is when you, when you put a line on the golf ball and you line it up to, let's say, the aiming point that you're, uh, uh, that you're shooting for, right? Not just your starting line, but let's say it's a 20-foot putt, and you're looking at an apex that is, you know, six inches to the left, uh, uh, left side of the cup, right? You're not ...
That's the apex, right? If you're looking at that apex, it makes it easier to know exactly where you're lining that ball up if you have a line on the golf ball.
And then if you take the line on the golf ball and you line it up with the line on your putter, every putter today has a line on the putter-Well, then you're standing over, um, your putt with that much more confidence.
All right? So if putting, um, is 50% mechanics and 50% psychology, right, which it is, I think using a line completely, right, separates those two crucial phases of putting, right? [laughs] And the reading phase and the execution phase.
So without that, without that line, golfers tend to constantly kind of second-guess their reading, or their read I should say, while standing over the ball, even if it's subconscious.
Is it one cup? Is it one and a half cups, right? And this leads to deceleration or manipulation of the stroke or, or, or manipulation of the face.
All right? So when you set that line on the ball, that reading phase is really officially over, right? And your brain is now free to focus entirely on that execution phase.
All kidding aside, look, this is where we give you, uh, a tip, a tool, uh, something that you can take with you, uh, immediately without really changing anything in your game, and we do that in four minutes or less, starting now.
But today is just, uh, gonna be a little bit longer, because in doing some research for today, [clears throat] um, I realized that it's gonna run over just a little bit.
Look, the, uh, you know, I, I, I titled it like the Great Sharpie Debate, [laughs] right? Does, does a line actually help your putting? And, um, look, in full disclosure, okay, uh, at Imagine Golf, we are big, big, big proponents of, uh, a line on the golf ball.
Okay? Um, and I know that there's some of you out there that are not proponents of it, but we're gonna go through [clears throat] the case for it and the case against it, if you would.
But, uh, I think when you're done listening to this podcast after about seven minutes, um, you're gonna be, uh, on the f- on the side of it, it helps, right? Um, look, I, I, I, uh, again, in full disclosure, I just got back from the PGA Championship, where I followed or I saw probably, I don't know, at least 25-plus golfers, and without exception, all 25 of them had some type of mark on their b- uh, golf ball, and about 80 to 90% of them had some type of line on the ball.
Okay? And they're, they're the uber-pros, right? The uber, um, um, professionals, if you would, right? The th- the, the elite at their sport, and they're using a line, right? Um, now, my ...
L- L- Let's just build the case for, first and foremost, right? I- if you were gonna start with like the positives, right? Because on paper, right, if you think about it, right, i- using a line to aim your putt makes perfect kind of logical sense.
Pu- I mean, when you think about putting, it is essentially geometry mixed with physics.
If you can, let's say, mathematically align, uh, your ball or a ball to an intended target, right, shouldn't you make more putts? I mean, the ans- the science would say yes, right? E- especially, right, under the right conditions, right? And there is some science, some proven science behind this, okay? So there's some ...
There was a study, okay, a fascinating study actually, if you have some time to read it.
[laughs] Who even knew there was such a thing? But the International Journal of Golf Science, and they looked into or looked at putting successes from varying distances.
And they found that simply using a line or a ball alignment mark, right, significantly improved success on straight, flat putts from about 8.5 feet and in, right? And at, at, at 8.5 feet in particular, right, getting the ball started on the exact right line was the primary factor on whether the putt dropped or not, right? If your speed is even reasonably close, a perfect starting line at eight and a half feet equals a made putt, right? So the line, right, th- on the ball helped you line the start line up, and then the speed obviously dropped the putt, right? So essentially what they were saying was without the line, without the line on the ball, right, a perfect speed, right, would get it close to the hole, right? But with the line, you were able to get the ball on the starting line that much easier, and it, it ...
they hold more putts, okay? So that, that was the actual science, if you would, right? Um, the ...
In my opinion, what it does for us is when you, when you put a line on the golf ball and you line it up to, let's say, the aiming point that you're, uh, uh, that you're shooting for, right? Not just your starting line, but let's say it's a 20-foot putt, and you're looking at an apex that is, you know, six inches to the left, uh, uh, left side of the cup, right? You're not ...
That's the apex, right? If you're looking at that apex, it makes it easier to know exactly where you're lining that ball up if you have a line on the golf ball.
And then if you take the line on the golf ball and you line it up with the line on your putter, every putter today has a line on the putter-Well, then you're standing over, um, your putt with that much more confidence.
All right? So if putting, um, is 50% mechanics and 50% psychology, right, which it is, I think using a line completely, right, separates those two crucial phases of putting, right? [laughs] And the reading phase and the execution phase.
So without that, without that line, golfers tend to constantly kind of second-guess their reading, or their read I should say, while standing over the ball, even if it's subconscious.
Is it one cup? Is it one and a half cups, right? And this leads to deceleration or manipulation of the stroke or, or, or manipulation of the face.
All right? So when you set that line on the ball, that reading phase is really officially over, right? And your brain is now free to focus entirely on that execution phase.
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