Advice on reading greens

[BigLeftyinAZ]

Any good books to read on how to read greens?

[DeaconBlues]

Read Dave Pelz's "Putting Bible".  400 pages of charts, pie graphs, etc.  All I remember is "Play More Break" which, it turns out, is really good advice....

[bl8d]

why overload yourself with pi-charts when you have that green you had built to practice on.

some golden rules- Uphill- has least break with more speed.
Downhill-plays more break the less the speed
Side hill-play it so your next put is from below the hole, never leave it hanging above the hole or as another side hill putt. 

[BigLeftyinAZ]

why overload yourself with pi-charts when you have that green you had built to practice on.

some golden rules- Uphill- has least break with more speed.
Downhill-plays more break the less the speed
Side hill-play it so your next put is from below the hole, never leave it hanging above the hole or as another side hill putt. 

Putting at home,I'm happy with my results.It's on the course that I'm unhappy with. reading the amount of break is way off.Sometimes I feel I'm readin break when there isn't any

[mr_divots]

I've had good luck looking at the last 3 feet from behind the hole. I also like to walk off the putt and feel the break with my feet.

[ShaneNZ]

Not sure if it is something you can learn from reading etc. - more of an ability to visualize / feel what is going to happen.

[My2Dogs]

Putting at home,I'm happy with my results.It's on the course that I'm unhappy with. reading the amount of break is way off.Sometimes I feel I'm readin break when there isn't any

I always say that if you cannot figure the break then go straight at it (especially from short distances).  I always look at the putt from past the hole and look back toward the ball.  That is where the most break will occur (if any) as that is the slowest the ball is traveling so the break will be more severe.  Also look at the hole itself and see which way the grass is growing.  if the putt is against it will be slower, with the putt will be faster and the so compensate for the break depending on the speed.  You can tell by looking at the hole itself and the brown mark.   If you are putting at a hole and the brown mark is on the far side of the cup then the grass is growing (grain) in that direction (from the side of the hole with grass growing over the edge of the hole toward the other side of the hole where the brown mark is).  This has happened becase when they cut the hole the brown mark is where they cut at the roots and the grass growing over the edge of the hole is the grass laying down in that direction (hoping I am making sense).  That means putts going in the direction will be faster (with the grain) and slower ( against the grain) in the opposite direction. 

[rok78]

I found David Orr's videos really good. It's a bit technical, but I read greens much better now. If I see another putt first (no matter from what direction), I'm always 100% sure of my putt. Never used to be that way at all.

[Divot Dan]

A while back Yes putters was offering a free putting DVD. The segment about reading break was helpful to me. Check out the Yes website to see if they are still offering it.

[Divot Dan]

Here is a link for the free dvd: http://www.yesgolf.com/dvd_promo.php Hope it helps.

[OldSchoolGolfer]

Thanks, this has been helpful

[Sillybodkins]

I've had good luck looking at the last 3 feet from behind the hole. I also like to walk off the putt and feel the break with my feet.

I have heard from a couple of very good putters that they can read the line this way.

Me - I think that my shoes are too thick in the sole - that's what I get for buying cheap shoes.

[bl8d]

I have heard from a couple of very good putters that they can read the line this way.

Me - I think that my shoes are too thick in the sole - that's what I get for buying cheap shoes.

I will agree with that because unless you are in bare feet it is difficult to assess anything other than a obvious or pronounced slope.
Your eye is so much better than clad feet for judging break.

On any slope or distance to the hole the primary concern is pace,after that the immediate area around the hole meaning the direction of the grass blades and the condition of the edges of the hole have to be considered.
Worn edges to the sides of your line require more care. Some player inadvertently tap down the edges of a hole after using their putter to retrieve their ball and that is a perfect recipe for the next ball to lip out.

[mr_divots]

I have heard from a couple of very good putters that they can read the line this way.

Me - I think that my shoes are too thick in the sole - that's what I get for buying cheap shoes.

Your feet stabilize your whole body against the forces of gravity. Your ankles are "swivels." You can tell the slope by how you have to balance yourself as a whole. Yes, subtle breaks it isn't much use, but for judging pace, especially if there is down or uphill slope to the putt, I find this method does work. Plus, if I'm going to look from the other side of the cup, I have to walk to get there anyway. 
My shoes are  5 year old FJ Contours that are falling apart because I can't find anything else to fit. 

[Sillybodkins]

With the attention on Billy Casper this weekend, I googled Mr Casper and found a video of his swing (nice) and an interview that he did for Golf Digest a long time ago.

ONe of the things that he said in the interview was that he used to practice putting in the dark.  I told that to a buddy that used to play mini-tours in FL, and he said that he did the same thing, and made everything, because he wasn't worried about green imperfections.  In any event, Casper said that putting in the dark (or moon light) was great because everything revolved around FEEL.

A great putters learns to putt with his heart.

[Juan73]

Here are a couple of great resources on green reading.

Look for Geoff Mangum on YouTube... he has a seven video series on green-reading.

The other resource is to check out Aimpoint  http://www.aimpointgolf.com/   There are Aimpoint Certified instructors in AZ one of which is Drew Reid in Sun City West near to Phoenix.  As part of the instruction you will get a 32 page Student workbook with LOTS on information on green reading.

[Desmond]

I found David Orr's videos really good. It's a bit technical, but I read greens much better now. If I see another putt first (no matter from what direction), I'm always 100% sure of my putt. Never used to be that way at all.

David Orr (orrgolf.com (?)) partners with AimPoint on some of his videos - they are worth the small amount of money he charges.

1. Here is the primary skinny on green reading (if you have a single break): find the straight downhill putt around the hole - from the straight downhill putt, you will see that it breaks right to left on one side of the straight putt, and left to right on the other side of the straight putt.

People don't believe me (I learned it from Aimpoint) but I've sunk a lot more putts since I started my reads with the straight downhill putt.

Secondarily, I will look at what happens a few feet before the hole and right after it (as Divots suggested). I will also look for a second break by walking the low side of the putt.  I will also look at how the green drains rainfall.

People think it's odd that I don't even go to my ball when I reach the green as I'm looking about 6-8 feet from the hole trying to find the straight, downhill putt.

But it works -- most of the time, not all of the time. I'd like to take the Aimpoint class once I can play again.

[Juan73]

I have had the opportunity to take putting lessons from both David Orr and green reading lessons from Mark Sweeney (originator of Aimpoint).. and I can read greens A LOT better than before and am making a lot more putts.

The investment in Orr's videos, and an Aimpoint Seminar... is worth it if you want to sink more putts.

Here is a link to a review of an Aimpoint workshop explaining a lot of the basics and later in the thread I am the guy on Youtube sinking the 70 foot putt.  These ideas were really helpful to me in winning the 2011 World Golf Hall of Fame Putting Championship a couple of months ago.

http://forum.mygolfspy.com/topic/3315-aimpoint-level-1-green-reading-class-review/page__p__40018__hl__aimpoint__fromsearch__1#entry40018

[NewJerichoMan]

I have had the opportunity to take putting lessons from both David Orr and green reading lessons from Mark Sweeney (originator of Aimpoint).. and I can read greens A LOT better than before and am making a lot more putts.

The investment in Orr's videos, and an Aimpoint Seminar... is worth it if you want to sink more putts.

Here is a link to a review of an Aimpoint workshop explaining a lot of the basics and later in the thread I am the guy on Youtube sinking the 70 foot putt.  These ideas were really helpful to me in winning the 2011 World Golf Hall of Fame Putting Championship a couple of months ago.

http://forum.mygolfspy.com/topic/3315-aimpoint-level-1-green-reading-class-review/page__p__40018__hl__aimpoint__fromsearch__1#entry40018

What's up with the string?

[Juan73]

Thanks for asking...  The string was used in the process of teaching me how to read a double breaking putt.   We just never pulled it up off the green's surface when I hit the putt.  Once I learned how to do it, we no longer needed the string for future examples.  If you look real close you can also see a "Mason Jar" rubber ring...above 1/2 way down the putting line.

What Mark did to teach me was he had me determine overall what the break would be, then to be specific I had to set out the Mason Jar ring so I would have a confirmation of the first part of the putt.  Then We/I determined from that point where the putt would need to roll to go in the hole.  I am a visual learner, so these helped me in the early stages of learning how to read lengthy double breaking putts.

Now no Mason Jar rubber rings or strings needed.