No I have not but sounds like I might need to. Thanks for sharing.

Spieth does it, and numerous others do it as a drill. The purpose is to loosen the tension in between your eyes and your physical stroke to be more natural.

I've tried it, but mostly for shorter putts. In theory, the hands follow the eyes, so naturally it should work. Just takes a lot of confidence in my opinion.

I believe if you watch Jordan Spieth on the majortity of his putts under 6-7 feet, all eyes are on the cup after he sets himself, but will not look up on longer putts, outside of the 10 foot range.
I tried this and had decent success on the putts closer to 2-3 feet, but little luck outside of that on any type of a consistent basis.
Sounds like its working out for you and your 3 golf buddies, let us know how it goes, applying this to all putts and most of all is it working out for you guys?

Best of luck on limiting those putts

its been said many times that in most other sports you are always looking at your target. it helps to judge distance , speed, and aim. its actually surprising that more golfers don't do it. I started looking at the hole for 3-6 foot putts and my make percentage increased instantly.

I have been doing this on some longer lag putts and found my accuracy to be as good or usually better than traditional style lags where you get too much analysis going on in your head and too many thoughts standing over the ball. Your subconscious mind does the work for you, just like when it does when you toss a ball to a target or a bb to a basket. It's all feel. It is amazing what your subconscious can work out on its own. Fast, undulated, slopey greens which typically confuse your conscious mind are no match for your subconscious one.

The hard part is having the confidence to hand it off to your subconscious. I still look at the ball most of the time because I can't give up control of my mind. However, on long lags that confuse me, I will just look at the hole and hope for the best. Surprisingly, I am usually not disappointed in the result. Try it on the practice green. It really works.

One hint. Make sure your ball strike is clean. It's easy to hit the ground before the ball when you are looking at the hole on long lags. I usually take a few practice strokes looking at the putter to make sure my set up will have me hit the ball cleanly.

I can not just look at the hole while putting. I will sometimes use my peripheral vision, in which I look strait down at the ball while looking at the hole with the side vision of my eye. This has worked for me at times!!!!

I can't look at the hole without a fear of mis-striking the ball, toe it or heel it. I believe would increase the probability of pushing the ball or pulling, obviously my own interpretation.

Maybe not at the hole, but at my aim point, which could be elsewhere on a breaking putt.

I've done this once and it scared me, but I do stare at the hole until I start the putter back then I look down just to be safe. I found I was hitting putts too firm by just looking at the hole. But from what I've read by others who posted I think I might give it a try again on certain length putts and progress from there.

Well here it is Feb. 2017. I cannot report actual results because I am practising a lot after 20 years on the injury list. but. I started practising cross hand and look at the hole. And I love it. It takes 3-4 hours or more to get used to it but it is way mo better than anything else. And watch out for hitting the ground first. You need to examine your setup and address and you need to have a well grooved stroke. But I love it.

I exclusively look at the hole only on Any and all putts and have for many years now. My handicap between 7 and 8. I can’t imagine going back. I’m a much better putter this way. It’s hard to imagine staring at the ball. Feels like putting blindfolded to me.

Learned by keeping my head down and trusting my line.

Can’t do it. I tried. It doesn’t work for me. Neither does the cross handed grip.

I like it because it takes my mind off 'is the backswing on plane' or other thoughts! Ill know if its a bad strike because the line on ball will wobble and mishits felt!

I have been doing this for short putts for years and find it to be extremley successful.

Can't do it I'm afraid... I'm still Old School - Pick the line, envisage the ball travelling down that line & dropping into the hole then concentrate on the strike.
There's a current fad in professional soccer for the "No Look" finish, where the player purposely looks away from both the ball and the goal that he's shooting at....
Seems to me to have something in common with looking at the hole while putting
JT

I tried putting while looking at the hole a few years ago. At the time I didn't notice much difference. I bet the science behind it is that it will help keep you head still and you will end up hitting more pure putts.

My game is built around looking at the hole while putting. Here is a piece I posted in May, when one of our colleagues was having a bit of a challenge in getting the ball into that 4 inch hole....

Allow me to be completely nonconventional. Just as you might toss wads of paper into a waste basket (in fact do that in preparation....) your brain and your biomechanics are wired to do that with a high degree of success as long as you look at the waste basket. Try it without looking, and all of a sudden, range (and direction) become more of an issue. Same principle, throw a ball to someone. Again, you are innately skilled to do that with a fair degree of success of being able to hit the target. Ok, here we go. I want you to try putting looking at the hole...from 1 foot, 3 foot, and five foot lengths. This "exercise" requires a fairly repeatable stroke (....a forgiving mallet putter face helps too), and a bit of trust the you can move the ball to that target. I submit to you that after practicing this for a bit, you will find a degree of success of being able to "get the ball into the neighborhood". Learning how to read the break of greens, will further increase the probability of getting closer to the hole if not in a lot more than what you may currently be experiencing. This is not a new technique, tour players do it on occasion, and I find it to make rounds a lot more fun. Yes, nonconventional, but with a commitment to try it.... you might find a new road to Rome.

Sounds interesting. Keep us posted with your progress/stats/accuracy

I would like to know if this 'feel' stays for long. I use it as a practice drill.