Green reading techniques

I have gotten fed up with my inability to read greens. I struggle with reading putts of the break is not painfully obvious and this weekend had some putts break the opposite way I read them by a good bit. So now I’m making a decision to improve this area of my game.

Aimpoint Express intrigues me a bit because I have already attempted to start to feel the break with my feet although I know I need a lot of improvement on this as well. Reading this forum it appears the discussions around AE peaked a couple of years ago and now it’s doesn’t get talked about as much. Is that because everyone is using it or because not as many people are using it? I don’t want to adopt a practice that has been ruled not as affective as other methods.

Are there any other green reading techniques or tips you could share or should I jump in with Aimpoint Express?

Make sure you get an electronic level that reads percent of slope so you can calibrate your feels. Getting the video is a good idea or get to a clinic if possible.

I took the AE clinic about 3 years ago, and I've become a believer. I've never watched the videos, but I have a feeling that a class will give you much better feedback as you begin to learn, so that would be my recommendation. No matter how you learn, @SNIPERBBB is correct, get yourself a 12" digital level that reads in percent. Once you've "trained your feet" the rest is pretty straightforward. Even after 3 years, I still will regularly spend a little time with the level to reinforce my training.
I do think that Aimpoint Express is becoming more accepted, and less "weird". I remember hearing TV announcers almost making fun of anyone who used it a few years ago. Now they've taken a look at the science, the telecasts use the same science to develop their putting graphics, the green-reading books (now more limited under the rules) rely on the same science to be effective.

A few years ago, OK, more like 10 years ago, it became very difficult for me to read the breaks on a green. I never took an Aimpoint Express class, but read up on it, and use its principles. Basically, I use my feet to feel the break. It really isn't that difficult once you get used to it.

Another method I have used successfully is Geoff Mangum's. He has some terrific videos on youtube about finding the "fall line" of a putt. Both methods have helped, and I typically use one method to validate the other.

Good luck!

One thing that has really helped my reading ability lately, is to try to understand the design of the green. Especially as you walk up to it. We tend to view the green as the static map in front of us. Like its a video game, we walk up to it we try to read the break, we putt and we move on to the next map. In fact, the green is a living, breathing force. It has been designed to hold up to a hundred players a day, hot days, intense watering, inclement weather. Those breaks in the green aren't only there to mess with you, they also drain water, and protect certain elements around the green. Sometimes, you get this tip to picture water or marbles on the green and where would they fall? That's supposed to help you understand the breaks. But if you have trouble seeing the break, and easier question is where is the water designed to fall? Where are the draining areas? Where are the low points surrounding the green. Water is usually not designed to be directed toward a bunker. Designers don't want soft sand getting wet. Water usually is directed to existing water, like ponds or creeks around the green. Look for mounds and low spots around the green, with water likely being directed t the low spots. Look at the grass and ground around the green, is there a wet or soft area? Thats a lowpoint designed for drainage and the green is generally sloping towards it.

Read up a touch on golf course green design. Extensive thought goes into how the green drains, In the example below the green is designed to route water to two areas. We can guess just from the visual how the green will break with the left bunker being one of the high points. Implement these thoughts into your game, and you can figure out the general layout of the green and get a sense of which way the green breaks before you even look at your ball.

Thank you, just purchased a Husky digital level.

Thank you, I have not heard of Geoff Mangum so I will do some research into him tonight.

Always happy to get people to spend money lol.

I really need to start charging commissions want times as this happens.

Very insightful commentary. That’s some out of the box stuff that I have never thought of but will be sure to try and observe some of these during my round this weekend!

I have had success with even a Frankenstein version of Aimpoint Express, so I recommend it if you have the time and money.

My Frankenstein version is with me still using my eyes and not my feet. I didn't take a class or watch the videos, but just bought the Husky level and used that on some greens to learn with 1-5% looks like with my eyes. I just eyeball the putt and say "this is about a 3% break" and then use the standard APE finger-method to get my aimpoint 3 fingers outside the hole.

I am in no way endorsing this as actually being more accurate than using your feet, but it has been worlds better than the guesswork I was doing with eyes-only beforehand. My lags have gotten much closer, I'm burning more edges, and most important of all, making more putts.

I use plumb bobbing and a bit of "educated guessing". Plumb bob to read which way the putt breaks, then the "guess" comes on where to actually aim the ball. Usually on the slower greens I play, I can almost aim right at where my shaft seems to line up toward and the ball usually burns the hole at worst as long as I struck the putt well. I don't expect to make much outside of 10ft, so honestly I'm just trying to make all my 5 footers and 2 putt everything else. Every now and again you drain a 15 footer.

Plumb bobbing has worked a lot better for me than trying to use AE, which I did try for a while and did not like.

AE is plumbobbing taken to the next level.

***Update on progress

Thank you for all of the suggestions to far. Since I started this post on Monday I have taken the advice and purchased a digital level and the Aimpoint Express DVD. I watched the DVD twice and took diligent notes and feel like my understanding of the concept is very solid.

Armed with my new knowledge and digital level I took it to the practice green this morning (first day back open) for a test.

The Aimpoint Express method worked VERY well for me for my first time out. I was making a much larger % of shots and I mainly attribute this to being confident in the read the more I practiced. When I had a level verified % I was draining putts...here's the bad part...My my FEEL for the slope is bad. When the slope was between .5%-1.4% I would sometimes FEEL the break going to opposite direction as to where it actually broke. I felt like at around 1.5% is where I could start really feeling the break and knowing with my feet that the putt breaks either left or right. How long did it take you to get a feeling for those putts that were around 1% or less? So far, my trouble spot is still my trouble spot, when the break is subtle I cannot decipher it. I do love the AE system and I know it will save me a few strokes each round immediately as I was pretty confident after an hour and a half of picking and number and being close to it with my level. Much more practice ahead of me until I can solely rely on this but it's a great start.

Might check how your standing to see if that's influencing your feels.

Wish I could help, but this is precisely the reason I ended up with the Frankenstein version I described in post #10.

My right leg is shorter than my left leg due to some muscle imbalances, so I had a hard time confidently matching anything under 2% with my feet. Likewise, I discovered that I was already pretty good at eyeballing 2-5% slopes. So that's why I ditched the feet. If it's less than 2% and inside 6 feet, I pick the high edge. And outside 6 feet, I use 1 finger on the high side.

So in sum, even the Frankenstein version has helped a ton on 2-5% putts from any distance. On putts 1.5% or less, I probably haven't improved that much from before. But I'm no worse off, either.

This morning, I made 2 long birdies that I attribute directly to APE: one from 20 feet (uphill / 2% / R-L) and the other from 30 feet (downhill / 3% / R-L).

That's the great or maybe frustrating thing about aimpoint is that it is something that is easily modified to fit you.

Ive had to make adjustments for the .5% reads and some other things but with the varified reads from the level, it's something that you can calibrate if you have body parts that don't quite line up to the standards from the DVD

I think I pulled the level out only twice after I bought it since I picked the feels and made my calibrations pretty quickly.

Hip to shoulder width apart (varied it to try and get a better feel). Soft knees. Closed eyes if didn’t feel it right away. Practice green was super busy this morning so I plan to go back late one afternoon and mark of some set slope % and stand on them to try and reinforce the feel.

I didn’t expect to be a master after one session, it just alarmed me that I was still half them time on relatively flat putts feeling the break going the wrong direction.

Would plum bombing + AE be an affecting way to try and solve this small breakers?

Try narrowing your stance a touch , I like feet underneath the shoulders. Narrower the stance the more sensitive you get.

I agree with @SNIPERBBB , experiment with width of feet. Try both soft knees and rigid knees, people are different. I do it quickly, the feel I get in the first second or two is usually the right one. I usually stop, close my eyes, and rock just a little side to side, one side feels like its easier to fall that way. Most people get it, but a small minority just don't.
For plumb bobbing, I've never used it. If you just want a vertical reference, it can't hurt, but I can feel better than I can see. And the feel takes out the misinformation that everything on the other side of the hole can sometimes provide to your eyes.

***update from weekend round

WOW. Aimpoint Express it for real. I made more putts today than I have in a very long time and most importantly I only three putted once today (typically 3-4x per round) and that was on one where my speed was off a touch and then lost focus on a short putt.

The highlight of my day was a 65’ putt that I read as a 4 and poured it in the cup. Cannot remember the last time I was able to stand over putts and have confidence that they were probably going to go in. This is already a game changer for me less than a week in.

Also, my feel of the slope did not hinder me today. A couple of times I did feel like I needed to view the slope from the side and once from the low side, but if that’s the Frankenstein version I need to move forward with I’ll do it because I was still lining my putts up at least twice as fast as the rest of my group. Thanks for all the advice in this thread and if you guys have anymore tips and tricks that have helped you with AE please share. Such a weird feeling being confident with the flat stick in my hand.

yes AE 100% real and I’m really happy with it as well.

I have only taken a Clinic so I’m not sure about the difference between a live lesson vs dvd.

something that Mark Sweeney and Preston Combs mentioned that has helped me was to figure out the length of my arm(how far my fingers are from my face) to match the speed of the greens early as possible and stick to that arm length the whole round.

slow greens- slight elbow bend, fingers further from my face.

fast green- more elbow bend, fingers closer the face.

also, this might not help but it’s good to know if you need. They had a putt off during our lesson and Preston did something that another student ask about:

As he saw the target(aim point) with his fingers, he turned his hand with his fingers pointing at the target like a gun and slowing brought it back to his ball to draw his line. It’s just another visual like using your shaft.

On 5/4/2020 at 1:28 PM, Bamabowtie said:

***update from weekend round

WOW. Aimpoint Express it for real. I made more putts today than I have in a very long time and most importantly I only three putted once today (typically 3-4x per round) and that was on one where my speed was off a touch and then lost focus on a short putt.

The highlight of my day was a 65’ putt that I read as a 4 and poured it in the cup. Cannot remember the last time I was able to stand over putts and have confidence that they were probably going to go in. This is already a game changer for me less than a week in.

Also, my feel of the slope did not hinder me today. A couple of times I did feel like I needed to view the slope from the side and once from the low side, but if that’s the Frankenstein version I need to move forward with I’ll do it because I was still lining my putts up at least twice as fast as the rest of my group. Thanks for all the advice in this thread and if you guys have anymore tips and tricks that have helped you with AE please share. Such a weird feeling being confident with the flat stick in my hand.

Bamabowtie, being a couple years on from this message how is the reading of the greens with your feet going? 
Do you find it easier now and if so how long did it take to get familiar with it?

Any tips or tricks?