PING brings Charles Barkley to its Eye Q putting story

PING shared a Charles Barkley video on October 19 to promote the Eye Q alignment system in its Scottsdale TEC putters. The basketball tie-in gives golfers another look at a design built around a small focal point near the face and a longer line behind it.

The company’s post introduces Barkley with his familiar “Round Mound of Rebound” nickname. It is a new promotional clip for an existing putter family, which PING announced in March.

Where the eyes settle before the stroke

PING says Eye Q grew from research into Quiet Eye, the final period of steady gaze before a player starts the stroke. Its engineers used Tobii eye-tracking glasses while testing different alignment designs. The resulting arrangement combines a focal point on the top rail with a long alignment line.

The intended job is to give the eyes somewhere specific to settle. PING describes that as a way to help a player maintain a stable gaze before moving the putter. That is the manufacturer’s explanation of the design; the Barkley post supplies no published measurement of how much it improves his putting.

A separate fitting-lab visit gives the idea more context. GOLF equipment writer Jake Morrow reported on June 9 that he tried the eye-tracking glasses at PING’s Phoenix headquarters. He described his eyes searching around with other alignment arrangements, then concentrating on the small sight dot with Eye Q.

Morrow’s account is one golfer’s experience in the manufacturer’s lab. It helps explain what the designers were measuring without establishing the same benefit for every player.

The rest of the putter still has to fit

Scottsdale TEC is a family of white mallet putters with several head and hosel arrangements. PING’s product information pairs the alignment system with an aluminum body, stainless-steel sole plate and PEBAX insert.

An alignment aid is one part of that choice. Head shape, shaft position and stroke fit still differ across the range. The useful question in a fitting is whether the dot and line make it easier to aim and settle over the ball with a head that suits the player’s stroke.