PuttOUT Devil Balls Review

PuttOUT Devil Balls Review 

PuttOUT, the company behind some of our favorite putting mats and training aids has released its latest putting training aid to help golfers gain a clearer understanding of how their putter face interacts with the ball at impact. The PuttOUT Devil Balls come in at $29.99 (£24.99) with two balls, an alignment marker, and a bag included in the package. After seeing them launched at the end of 2022, I was excited to get my hands on them to see how they could help improve my putting.

Face angle is one of the most vital aspects of the putting stroke to get right, especially on short putts. Research in relation to face angle tolerances conducted by Odyssey last year showed that if a golfer has a face angle of just two degrees open or closed from a three-foot putt, they will bring the lip of the hole into play. Such small margins mean having close and consistent control of your clubface is vital and this is where the Devil Balls come into their own. The ball is designed with a flat-edged impact zone to exaggerate the face angle delivered at impact and help teach golfers the right feel to get the putter face as square as possible at impact. It has half of the tolerance of a normal golf ball, so those three-foot putts are doubly difficult.

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Out of the box, you get two Devil Balls (both exactly the same) as well as a nifty ball alignment marker. On my first use of the ball on a putting mat at home, I found it scuttled off well to the right of the hole from a three-foot putt. As a left-hander, this gave me instant feedback that my putter face was significantly closed on impact. Prior to this, I couldn't have confidently told you what my putter face was doing at impact - the Devil Balls gave me that instant feedback on what to work on. A few putts later after trying to open the face slightly more, I was getting the ball to roll straight much more regularly. Quite simply, you have to have good control of the putter face and its angle to get the Devil Balls rolling, and it's a real test of your short game. On the course, I was able to then translate that feeling I had in practice to my putts and I found my misses to the right much less regular.

It's worth noting that the alignment marker that comes in the pack also works as a brilliant training aid to encourage you to hit up on the ball. You may have heard or seen putting coaches suggesting putting a coin behind the golf ball to encourage you to hit up on the ball at impact and the alignment aid is a much more premium version of this drill. It's a great added touch to the set. 

The ball also has three difficulty levels that slowly reduce the tolerance of face angle you can present for the ball to roll properly - trust me when I say it is more difficult than it sounds to get the ball rolling! Seeing images of the Devil Balls before I got to test them, I was concerned about how the ball might feel off the face with it not being a real golf ball. After the first use of it, however, my concerns disappeared and I was seriously impressed with how the ball felt off the face. Despite the funky angles, the Devil Balls are the same size and weight as a standard golf ball. So not only does it feel like a real golf ball off the face, but it will roll like one too providing you strike it correctly. 

Being the funky shape it is, the Devil Ball is only really useful on drilling face angle from 6ft or closer. To be honest, that's all you really need anyway and I found myself most often using it from about 4ft to really drill that feel of a square putter face. Overall, the PuttOUT Devil Balls is a unique training aid that is one of the most enjoyable and useful I have ever used. The instant feedback is unlike anything I have used to practice my putting and having a clearer understanding of my face angle when putts really matter has helped me significantly on the greens. I think can benefit golfers across the handicap spectrum from the comfort of their home or office and the $29.99 (£24.99) investment feels like great value for money on a premium feeling and performing product.