andyson:
Anyone notice what's wrong here?
...
How can the ball be 1" below itself?
The slope indicator when located precisely at the ball itself should read 0". It does most times...
Hi andyson,
I'm not a very good putter, but IIRC, the difference in elevation is measured from your (the avatar's) feet - not from the ball at address. I wish I could remember where I read that...
If you noticed that the "grid balls" were moving away from your avatar's feet (hard to tell from a static pic), then it should be easy to understand how the indicator could read v1".
As you said, most times the indicator at the ball does read 0", but alotta times (especially on the wildly sloping greens @ Oakmont) all that's needed is the short distance from the avatar's stance to the ball to indicate a difference in elevation at the ball.
I've always compensated for this difference (whether by adding or subtracting power) when setting-up my putts, by taking note of the direction and speed of the "grid balls" between "my" stance and the ball at address. If they are moving quickly, the difference can be enough to cause an uphill putt to be short... or conversely cause a miss left or right of the cup - as the ball sails past it.
Hope this clears things up for you... and if I find the reference to which I've alluded, I'll edit this post with it.
Good Luck... we'll all need some of that on these greens... :/