What a strange looking golf ball. It is not perfectly round. But the truth of the matter is if you want to get better at putting, the PuttOut Devil Ball has what it takes to get you there.
The Average Golfer
The average golfer is taking some 35+ putts per round. I am amongst that average. What irks me is knowing there are days when I putt much better and other days when the yips feel like they’ve entered my life. Like 3 putting 5 straight greens. Seriously. I just watched the Hero Challenge this past weekend and the winner of the tournament, Viktor Hovland took 23 putts on Saturday and 24 putts on Sunday.
I don’t know about you but I’ve never had a putting coach. However, there are some products available to help us in our journey to become a better putter. Whether it is tempo, finding the right line, or figuring out the correct putting stroke for the length of the putt. That isn’t the Devil Ball. The PuttOut Devil Ball is somewhat unique when it comes to a putting device. It sets out to help in just a single aspect of putting. Getting the putter face angle at impact, straight to the ball.
Enter The PuttOut Devil Ball
What’s In The Package?
Upon opening the package you will find 2 Devil Balls. They are the same so you may want to give one (or not) to a buddy. You will also find an alignment marker and a travel pouch. I was surprised to find no instructions included with the purchase of the PuttOut Devil Ball but a quick search on YouTube and I did find some videos. Ahhhhh. I should have looked for the QR code on the outside packaging.
The Devil Ball is meant to be used for 3 to 5 foot putts and not intended for longer putts. You do not want to use this product with anything other than your putter as you would risk damage to the Devil Ball and possibly your equipment. What we want is to improve our putting stroke and that begins with having a square face angle time after time.
Pro Tip: Make sure the Devil Ball is not leaning to one side or another. It is not meant to be used that way.
The Devil Ball Has 3 Difficulty Levels
If you are like me, you’ll grab the Devil Ball, look at a YouTube video and immediately try the hardest difficulty.
Pro Difficulty – The cross of the ball faces up and you will be hitting the square/flat part of the ball with your putter. You may have to angle the ball back and forth to see the square part of the ball. At least I did. My understanding is to hit a straight ball using the pro difficulty level on a 3 foot putt, you have about a 1 degree margin of error. Meaning you better have a straight face angle when hitting the Devil Ball. So no closed or open putter face.
Intermediate Difficulty – Get the cross of the ball to face up and angle it about 4 to 5 degrees forward. So now you aren’t hitting the flat part of the ball any longer. Slightly easier to use the intermediate level but you still need to return your putter to a straight face angle when striking the ball.
Beginner Difficulty – If you are having trouble rolling the PuttOut Devil Ball straight, don’t be embarrassed to use the beginner difficulty level. With the beginner level of difficulty you put the single line up and make sure to point the straight/flat face opposite (away from and not close to) your putter face when putting. Sometimes my putting stroke looks like I’m on 12 cups of coffee so I don’t mine starting with this level.
A Putting Primer
It is said that when attempting a 3 foot straight putt, you have approximately 2 degrees worth of error on the putter face to put the ball in the hole. Once you get anywhere between 2.5 degrees up to 4.5 degrees and you may lip in or lip out. Anything past 5 degrees and you will miss the putt. So by all means, don’t be afraid to start with the beginner difficulty level and get used to rolling the Devil Ball with a straight face angle at impact.
Thoughts About The PuttOut Devil Ball
Now obviously you won’t be using the PuttOut Devil Ball during a normal round of golf but could make use of it on the putting green to practice some very short putts (3 to 5 feet) while making sure you have a square putter face at impact. Otherwise if you have a putting mat and combine that with some cold weather, you’ll have the right gear to work on your putting during the off-season.
I’m not exactly sure what the ball marker is intended for but I may just put it in my pants pocket when heading to the golf course.
So what do I think about the PuttOut Devil Ball? I wasn’t quite sure I would like something which would make putting more difficult. Frankly, I don’t need the game of golf to be more difficult if you know what I mean. Using the product is new to me so it is almost too early to tell but I do like the thought process behind the Devil Ball.
Actually, I have to applaud the engineers. They’ve created a product that makes it twice as difficult to make a straight putt. As golfers, if we can practice with something that is difficult and then hit the golf course, in theory it should make things easier on us. For that, I’ll be looking forward to spending more time with the Devil Ball this winter.