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Green reading drills?

TxAggie2018

TxAggie2018

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I am happy with the speed control on my putting (and know how to improve it), and am happy with the line accuracy of my putting (and know how to improve it). But green reading is still a mystery for me. Side hill putts especially give me that sinking feeling where I have no clue where to aim - I'm just guessing at it.

Do you know any drills to develop green reading ability?
 
I got a little mini seminar on green reading from Gavin (he’s, uh, really good at golf) at the Data Experience. It’s not an uncommon practice but he really tries to get a feel for the last four feet of a putt. Certainly made sense to me and has made a big difference in my putting. I figure that part out and then basically think of a putt in segments. What is going to happen to get me to that final four feet? What spot on the green becomes a starting point?

Nothing ground breaking but I really just think starting with those final four feet and working in segments from there can be really effective.
 
I spent about 4 hours watching AimPoint videos on YouTube and use my own interpretation of it- Has made a world of difference for myself so far this year.

*I should add I eliminate the part where it takes forever to read the green- Do all mine as quickly as possible, no practice strokes and go
 
Decades ago I drew myself a green with hills on it. Think mini topo map. It mimicked a practice green I used.

From various angles, I would roll golf balls, and chart how they rolled on my map.

Then I would just practice reading greens. The more I practiced, better I became at it. Eventually I was recognizing the same breaks I had seen before, on different courses.

How much I borrowed for breaks was dependent on my own putting speed.

Reading greens, like any other part of golf requires a copious amount of practice. The golfer gets what they puts into it.

The golfer akso has to be able to hit a straight putt on their chosen line.

I consider myself a decent reader of greens, but I still get fooled sometimes.

I have to be careful of the last foot, or so at the hole. This is where the ball is slowing down, and will be more affected by the greens surface.

On shorter putts,I tend stroke the ball faster which eliminates any breaks, or cups that have been improperly installed.

On putts with multiple breaks, I break the putt down to individual breaks, identifying each start, and end point of each break.

There's really no substitute for reading greens other than spending time practicing on how to read them .
 
I'm a good natural green reader so I have difficulty advising people on how to do what comes naturally to me.

However, one of the biggest things is while other people are putting or chipping, make sure you walk completely around your putt and view it from both sides. I can't tell you how many times I've made horrible putts only to realize I would have putted it completely differently had I gotten the full picture. You also want to be paying attention to the putts or chips of other players. Even if their ball is on a completely different line, it's still giving your brain information.

As for drills, the thing I've seen the most often is just to read a breaking putt and put a tee where you think you need to putt the ball. Notice whether it needed to be higher or lower. As you continue to do this drill with different holes and different breaks, your error margin should start getting smaller.

Finally, make sure 100% of your focus as you putt is on speed. A line is only correct if the ball is hit at the speed to match the line.
 
jlew said:
I spent about 4 hours watching AimPoint videos on YouTube and use my own interpretation of it- Has made a world of difference for myself so far this year.

*I should add I eliminate the part where it takes forever to read the green- Do all mine as quickly as possible, no practice strokes and go
Click to expand...
Do you mind sharing some of the videos you've watched on it? It's interesting to me but I don't know where to start.
 
That post said:
Do you mind sharing some of the videos you've watched on it? It's interesting to me but I don't know where to start.
Click to expand...
Let me find them tonight when I get home and I'll shoot them over to you
 
Similar to jlew - learn basic aimpoint. At min you will have a process to utilize instead of guessing.
 
PPFour12 said:
I got a little mini seminar on green reading from Gavin (he’s, uh, really good at golf) at the Data Experience. It’s not an uncommon practice but he really tries to get a feel for the last four feet of a putt. Certainly made sense to me and has made a big difference in my putting. I figure that part out and then basically think of a putt in segments. What is going to happen to get me to that final four feet? What spot on the green becomes a starting point?

Nothing ground breaking but I really just think starting with those final four feet and working in segments from there can be really effective.
Click to expand...
I really like this idea, and it's similar to what I've started doing this year. Think about the putt in 3 foot segments backwards from the hole to my ball. I feel like it's helped, but I'll be the first to admit that I don't always get it right. As they say, practice required.
 
I"m in the same boat, I"m a terrible green reader and it's something I really need to learn to do properly.
 
I would 2nd AimPoint even if you just use it as a practice tool. I started using it his year and it has made a big difference. Even if you don't learn it, I think using a digital level can be helpful to compare different slope amounts on the practice green to teach your eyes what low, medium, and high breaking putts look like.

If you're more technically minded, this paper was very helpful for me to understand how break works inside 10-15 feet: https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1106/1106.1698.pdf
 
willplaysgolf said:
I would 2nd AimPoint even if you just use it as a practice tool. I started using it his year and it has made a big difference. Even if you don't learn it, I think using a digital level can be helpful to compare different slope amounts on the practice green to teach your eyes what low, medium, and high breaking putts look like.

If you're more technically minded, this paper was very helpful for me to understand how break works inside 10-15 feet: https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1106/1106.1698.pdf
Click to expand...

That paper is FANTASTIC. I am taking that idea to the practice green as soon as I get the chance.
 
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