Ping Golf's recently released Scottsdale TYNE putter features a striking white head. On that pure white head, a small dot is marked, with a long line extending behind it. This simple design is said to suppress eye movement and enhance concentration, thereby improving putt success rates.
According to the golf equipment industry on Wednesday, products that seek to enhance performance through visual design are gradually increasing. Ping, mentioned above, is an example of using design to extend "Quiet Eye" time. Quiet Eye refers to the stable gaze fixed on a target just before executing a key athletic movement. In golf putting, basketball free throws, and soccer goalkeeping, a longer Quiet Eye duration is known to correlate with higher success rates.
Ping claims that its design, which combines a small dot on the white head with a long alignment line, stably maintains the player's gaze just before the stroke, extending Quiet Eye time and consequently improving putting success rates.
Titleist has recently expanded its "AIM design," previously applied only to models such as Pro V1 and Pro V1x, to its entire lineup. The AIM design is a mark positioned opposite the side stamp that assists with putting alignment. While traditional side stamps are thin single-color lines, the AIM design features thicker lines, various colors, and arrows. The AIM design is said to enable more accurate and intuitive alignment.
"The AIM design becomes more effective as the distance between the hole and the ball increases," Titleist said. "For example, on a 1.2-meter putt, alignment may not be difficult with just the side stamp. But as distance extends to 3.5 meters or 6 meters, the margin for alignment error grows larger. Test results showed that using the AIM design enables more accurate alignment."
Bridgestone Golf has been applying "Mindset" technology to its Contact B series golf balls since last year, designed to relax golfers and enhance concentration. The technology visualizes a three-stage pre-shot routine co-developed by Jason Day of Australia, a PGA Tour player who once reached world No. 1, and his sports psychologist.
The ball features an eye-shaped line and dot pattern. The outermost red circle and arrow signify target setting, while the yellow circle inside represents visualizing the trajectory in advance. The innermost green dot means clearing the mind of distractions and focusing. Bridgestone Golf claims that more than 80% of golfers who used "Mindset" reduced their scores compared to before.
The pioneer of performance enhancement through visual design could be said to be Callaway Odyssey's Two Ball putter. Its design, featuring two balls placed behind the head, aided intuitive alignment.
"In the past, design merely served to make products look beautiful and premium, but recently, it has been expanding into a function that maximizes golfers' performance by incorporating psychological elements," said Kang Sang-beom, head of Ping Golf's marketing team. "With manufacturing technology leveling upward, the importance of design in product development is expected to grow even further."
