Green Reading troubles?

Status
Not open for further replies.
vjsinger

vjsinger

New
Im terrible at seeing break and reading greens. I'll get on the green and have almost no clue where it is going to break. I look for the spot on the green that looks like the water will run off and I see it on some steeper sloped greens, but on others I don't see it at all. I have zero confidence in my ability to see a line or understand what the heck Im looking for. Please help, its driving me crazy.:(
 
curtisj76

curtisj76

New
Same here, x 2! The only way I think improvement is possible is more and more practice. They do sell those little gizmos that show break but not sure if they work very well. Also a round of golf with a good putter that is good at reading greens would help.
 
vjsinger

vjsinger

New
Yeah..Im tired of hitting greens and 2 putting on all of them, with an occasional 3 putt. Lately I have a short iron or a wedge on all the par fours and I can't take advantage of it cause I can't read a putt. Im getting a fair amount of putts within the 15 foot range and I have no clue. The bad news Curtis is that I don't know any really good putters. I only have 1 golfing buddy and he isn't that great..guess I need more friends. What Gizmos that show the break?
 
D

Damon Lucas

Super Moderator
One of many ....

Walk the line...or at least very close to it. You get a sense from walking around near your intended line whether you are walking uphill or downhill, or your right side might feel higher than your left side or vice versa.

Then, try to get to a low point somewhere close to your putt. Looking at your putt from this perspective sometimes gives you a better sense of the line.

Finally, reading putts is VERY closely alligned with the typical speed that you hit your putts, so continue working hard at that skill and the skill of reading greens will grow and accumulate.
 
birdie_man

birdie_man

New
In READING a putt...I more or less simply try to visualize the line. (like Bagger Vance style- if you have seen that movie) To me, all you can really do is make yourself aware of the contours, grain, and condition of the green and how they are gonna affect the putt. (that is mostly visual...but you do also have to know what to look for) The rest is a bit of a guesstimate mostly.

I know there is a (general) process I want to follow but mostly I just concern myself with being patient...and let my mind paint the picture.

Aside from process, my deal right now is I tend to read too much break into shorter putts. I have to mind that. (when to aim outside the hole)

In AIMING...I tend to want to be more specific. In the past I have had more success with (integrating "into the picture") straight lines and picking spots, ala Nicklaus. Though I am always trying stuff.

If anything worries me it is the fact that I am mixing. (straight and curved lines...plus spots) I wonder if it confuses my brain. We shall see.

I think there are people who are naturally more oriented to one way or the other. (no jokes please) It couldn't hurt to experiment a little. (no jokes) I don't think it would be queer at all. (ahhh)

...:)

I am working on something right now...it is still experimental but this is as good a time as any to write it down...

Steps:

-stand behind ball...a few feet behind it or w/e
-get into putting stance...with BOTH eyes directly over the line, if you catch my drift
-look up and down the line (and possibly make a practice stroke)...find a specific spot to aim at, if that is your bag (I am not sure yet)
-shimmy SIDEWAYS towards the ball

So far it is showing promise...it eliminates the 90 degree turn you have to make when you approach the ball.

I still need to work on it some.
 
Last edited:
G

grs

New
Im not very good at it either but one of the things I do is not only look at the line between my ball and the hole, I also look at the surrounding landscape, like if the land to the left of the my line is higher than the land to the right the putt will tend to follow that same pattern.
 
S

suns11111

New
Know what type of grass is on the green, bent and bremuda effect break different. Also pay attention what happens to your playing partners ball when it gets near or past the hole. Know the course grounds crew, do they double cut, do the roll on certain days, are there mountains or water near by, ask the pro if there is a general direction of the grain, greens will be easier to putt in the morning (smoother/less play)or Camillo it......all else fails lol
 
J

joeparr

New
Mike jacobs showed me a way to read greens,that works great. go to the lowest point of green, walk up to hole so that you see the most level spot so that you could do a push up on. From that point through the hole (lay an imaginary line through the hole) you know were the breaking point is and putt from any direction to that point.......
 
ggsjpc

ggsjpc

New
Green reading is a learnable skill. Green reading comes before reading yout putt. The key to reading the green is always try and look uphill first, regardless of where your ball is. Human visual perception will always exaggerate looking uphill and deemphasize looking downhill.

On a simple angled flat surface green, try and find straight uphill and straight downhill. Once you find that, everything between 12 and 6 o'clock will break left and everything between 6 and 12 will break right. Between 2 and 3 and 10 and 11 oclock will break the most. The farther you are away from the 12 and 6 line, the more the break.

For more complicated greens, you will find that there are mulitiple 12's and 6's and they will make an X shape through the pin. They may not necessarily be straight putts but they will be putts you aim directly at the hole. There will be a specific direction of the break between these lines and it is very predictable.

It's kinda hard to explain without being on the green, but it is learnable and predictable. After that, always remember that pace is king.
 
S

savydan

New
Good stuff here, but the FIRST thing you do is when you are walking up the the green, try to get a general sense of the overall slope, and then zero in on the details between the ball and hole.
 
vjsinger

vjsinger

New
I took a combination of a few of these thoughts/observations to the course today and actually managed to make a few. I play a very easy little 9 hole close to my home, with tricky/deceiving greens(its only defense). I hit 7 greens and made 3 birdies(shot even par, damn double bogey and a bogey thrown in for fun:(), most birds I've ever made in one round, much less 9 holes. Believe it or not, the Villegas spider-man stuff really works for me on the putts within about 15 feet. I just feel like a poser,idiotic moron doing it, as I got my fair share of looks. Thanks for the help, I'll keep tweaking it.

P.S. Brian I got your message, and I'll give you a ring tomorrow. Im running out the door again, will talk soon.
 
T

Tball88

New
ggsjpc, I love the 12-6 idea on a straight uphill downhill putt. I'm going to try that.

I'm fairly decent at reading greens and I use the idea of putting with your feet. My eyes will deceive me.

a perfect example is number 13 at my course, there is a ridge in the middle of the green that appears to break left, however the entire landscape is moving right. If you just looked at it, you think it's a left putt. However if you walk up to the hole, you'll feel that your weight is more towards your toes, indicating the putt actually goes a bit right.
 
S

softconsult

New
I'd like to say that years of experience really help. I've played a very long time and I can read greens. However, years of experience mean nothing if the experience is the same year over and over.

My friend and I were driving to our Senior League tournament yesterday. He raised this very subject stating how bad he was at reading greens. So I asked him what his routine consisted of. He really struggled to answer.

I told him my routine. Walk up to the green looking at the general lay of the land, look at the horizon, look at the hills (NE Tennessee, Mountain golf). Next take a look from well behind the ball. Then walk down the line paying close attention and sort of internalizing the distance and speed required. Look at the area around the hole. Look at the line from directly behind the ball. In the case of a breaking putt, pick out a target spot to roll the ball over. Keep that spot in sight or in mind while walking back to the ball. Then go through actual putting routine. I try to do this everytime. If I get lazy, I can forget to walk to the other side of the cup. This often results in a miss, because of failing to see a hidden tilt, like a slope past the hole.

To me the most puzzling phenomenon is the situation where the putt looks uphill from behind the ball, and just the opposite from behind the hole. I don't understand the optics involved, but would love to hear an explanation.

In my experience, the vast majority of the people I have played with over the years have a routine, but don't make the effort to really read the line. They just stand there looking from behind the ball, address the ball and putt it.
 
D

dannyc

New
vj,
lots of good info from everyone here. i will only add that it helps me (once i have an idea of how the putt will roll) to identify where the "new" center of the hole is, and mentally draw a line back to the ball from there.
i.e., if the putt breaks right to left at the hole, i don't look at the edge of the hole closest to me, but rather one more on the right side of the hole and then work back.
 
D

Damon Lucas

Super Moderator
softconsult said:
I'd like to say that years of experience really help. I've played a very long time and I can read greens. However, years of experience mean nothing if the experience is the same year over and over.

My friend and I were driving to our Senior League tournament yesterday. He raised this very subject stating how bad he was at reading greens. So I asked him what his routine consisted of. He really struggled to answer.

I told him my routine. Walk up to the green looking at the general lay of the land, look at the horizon, look at the hills (NE Tennessee, Mountain golf). Next take a look from well behind the ball. Then walk down the line paying close attention and sort of internalizing the distance and speed required. Look at the area around the hole. Look at the line from directly behind the ball. In the case of a breaking putt, pick out a target spot to roll the ball over. Keep that spot in sight or in mind while walking back to the ball. Then go through actual putting routine. I try to do this everytime. If I get lazy, I can forget to walk to the other side of the cup. This often results in a miss, because of failing to see a hidden tilt, like a slope past the hole.

To me the most puzzling phenomenon is the situation where the putt looks uphill from behind the ball, and just the opposite from behind the hole. I don't understand the optics involved, but would love to hear an explanation.

In my experience, the vast majority of the people I have played with over the years have a routine, but don't make the effort to really read the line. They just stand there looking from behind the ball, address the ball and putt it.
Click to expand...


The deal with this situation is that not every green is a simple tilted surface. Some greens are more like skating ramps whereby there is slope on both sides. Otherwise, there are times when the high points on a green are nearby and there is a low point between them in which case you try to see which slope affects the putt the most.
 
L

latiger12

New
curtisj76 said:
Gizmos like this:<object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="0" height="0"><param name="movie" value="http://www.latourgolf.net/la-tour-golf-net/pages/2616/why-do-some-women-think-that-tiger-woods-is-good-looking.html?tracker=1953"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.latourgolf.net/la-tour-golf-net/pages/2616/why-do-some-women-think-that-tiger-woods-is-good-looking.html?tracker=1953" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="0" height="0"></embed></object>

Momentus EEZ-Read Putting Level
Click to expand...

I think there is an iPhone app for slope...
 
Richie3Jack

Richie3Jack

New
You need to understand the 'fall line' and how the ball will react to it. I highly suggest the Exelys Breakmaster. Goes for about $70 and most PGA Tour caddies carry one to chart and map out the break of the greens for each tournament. I not only will use it on the practice green to see if my fall line reading skills are up to snuff, but I'll bring it on the course when I'm playing a casual round. I'd say at one course I play on a weekly basis I know about 15 of the greens down pat. The other 3 greens have so many different breaks that I'd really have to go out there and study the green and find out what the popular pin locations are.

The good news is that I think you're on the right track. Give me a great green reader who has well develop speed/touch skills and a mediocre, but consistent putting stroke any day of the week over the guy who is mediocre with everything, but has a super putting stroke.


3JACK
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top