How to draw a line on a golf ball

Use a guide, not a steady hand. Clamp the ball in a line tool, or stretch a wide rubber band around its middle, and trace along the edge with a fine-point permanent marker. Carry the line all the way around the ball. Then roll the ball along a straight edge to check the line before you play it. Or skip the marker: every Thick ball has a full alignment stripe built in.

What you need

• A fine-point permanent marker, in a color you can pick out against the ball from where you stand.
• A guide: a ball-line tool (a plastic clamp that holds the ball, with a slot to draw through) or a wide, flat rubber band.
• A table with a straight edge, for the check at the end.

With a line tool

1. Set the ball in the tool and close it, so the ball can't turn.
2. Draw along the slot in one slow pass. If the line looks broken where it crosses the dimples, go over it again.
3. Open the tool, turn the ball so the end of your line sits back in the slot, close it, and draw the next section.
4. Keep going until the line meets itself.
5. Let the ink dry before you handle the ball.

With a rubber band

1. Stretch the band around the widest part of the ball.
2. Work it with your thumbs until it sits flat, with no twist, the same all the way around.
3. Trace along one edge of the band, turning the ball as you go.
4. Peel the band off and let the ink dry.

Why all the way around? Look down at the ball from address. A full line crosses the whole width of the ball, so you get the longest edge the ball has to aim with. A short line gives you a short edge.

Check it before you play it

1. Set the ball on the table with the line pointed along the edge.
2. Roll it slowly along the edge under your palm, a quarter turn at a time.
3. After each quarter turn, look down at the line. A straight line still points along the edge. A crooked one swings off to one side.

If it swings, draw it again on another ball. You'll aim where the line points, so a crooked line aims you crooked.

Then aim with it

• On the green: mark your ball, then set it back down with the line pointed down your start line and your putter face square to it. To see whether a line helps your putting, there's a two-minute test in Does a line on a golf ball help putting?
• Off the tee: tee the ball with the line pointed at a spot on your start line, then set the club face square to it. Step by step: How to aim off the tee without an alignment stick.
• Want a dot or a cross line too? Do pros use the line on the ball? covers four ways to set one up.

Or skip the marker

A dozen balls is twelve lines to draw. Every ball you lose takes its line with it, and the next one starts blank.

Every Thick ball has a full alignment stripe built in: a full-circumference stripe, so there's nothing to draw. You can see your line before you swing and before you putt.

• Moon Shot: the one for most people. Three layers: a rubber core and a resin mantle. Urethane cover.
• Moon Shot Pro: the one that spins. Four-layer construction holds ball speed across swing speeds. Urethane cover.

Can't decide? Try Both: 12 balls, 6 of each.

Not sure which one fits your game? Find Your Ball

By Erin Wiratunga