The other day at my winter practice spot I was showing off one of the things I have been working on ... putting along the beam of a laser level.

It is so crazy it ... does actually work ... go figure.

The main idea is that if the laser beam is hitting my ball then I know it is a straight line to the level itself. So on a "perfectly" straight putt the ball should always have the laser beam on it as it rolls. Even on a putt with some break the beam should be on the ball for the first few feet.

This tells me right away if I have pushed or pulled my putt and adjust accordingly ... what needs to change will depend on how well you can self diagnose your putting stroke.

The additional benefit is that I can determine the exact amount of break on a putt. For example, if the break is 2 golf balls to the left of the cup then that is where I put my laser level. I can then confidently putt along the beam, the ball will follow the beam most of the way but then come off towards the end as it veers towards the cup.

On a real practice green you would also be able to test your green reading ability. For example, for a particular putt determine what you think is the break - mark it - then set up the laser and putt to it - depending on which side of the cup the ball goes will tell you if you over or under read the putt AND tell you if you pushed or pulled the stroke because sometime, for me anyway a garbage putting stroke and a poor read result in holing it out.

This has helped all aspects of my putting:
-square face
-straight stroke
-sweet spot
-distance control (somewhat)

I just thought I would share.
Charles