
It is also used in surveying, to establish the nadir with respect to gravity of a point in space. The instrument has been used since at least the time of ancient Egypt to ensure that constructions are “plumb”, or vertical. If it is used for decoration, it may be made of bone or ivory. It is typically made of stone, wood, or lead but can also be made of other metals. It is a precursor to the spirit level and used to establish a vertical datum. Plumb Bob Golf 101 History of Plumb Bobbingīefore diving into this method, which is sometimes controversial in the golf world, let’s go back in time to see where it all started.Īccording to Wikipedia, “A plumb bob, or plummet, is a weight, usually with a pointed tip on the bottom, suspended from a string and used as a vertical reference line, or plumb-line. It just might make reading greens at your local course that much easier. Keep reading to learn more about this unique way to read greens and how you can start trying it out today. Recently, plumb bobbing has lost some of its popularity thanks to advanced heat map green reading books and other systems like AimPoint. Some golfers swear by it, while other golfers don’t believe in the plumb bob technique. The next time you’re playing golf and see someone do this, it’s called plumb bobbing.Īs you will soon learn, plumb bobbing has been around for a long time and helped many golfers. When someone hotels their putter up, they’re actually using a system to help them read greens.


It’s a good question because in a game where everyone wants a leg up on competition, it might help the average golfer.

If you’re like most players, you have probably wondered “What are golfers doing when they hold the putter up?”
