My green reading ability is so poor... anyone help?

[jj16888]

I am so puzzled by my green reading ability. Frequently, my green reading is opposite than others. Is there anything wrong with my eyesight or just pure dumb at green reading? Any help or wisdom on green reading is appreciated?

 

 

Thanks.

[OffTheDole]

I highly recommend taking an AimPoint Express course. I did in December and it has totally changed my putting. Now I'm very confident in the line I choose, and if I start the ball on that line I tend to make the putt or miss on the high side.

 

There's probably an instructor nearby where you are: http://www.aimpointgolf.com/findInstructor

 

Do a search on the forums and you'll find some good threads that go over the basics.

[GungHoGolf]

I can't judge slope with my eyes, either. Very common problem.

 

Look into Aimpoint Express, and learn how to read slope with your feet. Or at least learn to walk around the green and determine where the fall line is (lowest point) so you can at least get break direction right.

 

I use a personal variation on Aimpoint Express where I straddle the line, but then hold my putter between my legs as a pendulum and, looking down, can easily judge the % slope by which way and how far the putter is hanging off center. Using a face-balanced putter with a top line really helps in doing this (my Bettinardi SS15 is perfect for it).

 

Here are tons of Aimpoint Express threads on wrx forums: https://golfwrx.bladesearch.com/golfwrx/aimpoint%20express

[Santiago Golf]

Aim point Express

[dg_1983]

Aimpoint.

 

Funnily enough once you have got to grips with aimpoint, you can start to see the slopes better - well I did.

 

Quick read with the feet, quick check with the fingers, then I get down behind to align my ball , at this point the slopes - or what your brain thinks are the slopes do see to appear better. It is like your brain translates the view better having felt it in the feet first!

[jj16888]

It looks like the Aim point can be the solution for my green reading. Just a very curious question to you all with AIM point experience. How many putts do you save after using AIM point ?

[4Par]

It looks like the Aim point can be the solution for my green reading. Just a very curious question to you all with AIM point experience. How many putts do you save after using AIM point ?

 

Impossible to quantify.... but it's definitely given me more confidence in my putting and I'm rarely surprised by what the ball does after I send it on its way.... I may not have judged the slope correctly by a degree or so but at least I see it going in the direction I expected....

[Nard_S]

I walk the putt line on both sides to feel the slope with feet, then I focus on speed needed to go a 1'-2' past cup from there I pick my line. Always in that order.

[YoungJedi]

Another one for aimpoint.

 

I started tracking my strokes gained through Mark Broadie's Golf Metrics app last year. Let's just say my strokes gained are positive since switching to aimpoint :)

[jj16888]

It looks like the Aim point can be the solution for my green reading. Just a very curious question to you all with AIM point experience. How many putts do you save after using AIM point ?

 

Impossible to quantify.... but it's definitely given me more confidence in my putting and I'm rarely surprised by what the ball does after I send it on its way.... I may not have judged the slope correctly by a degree or so but at least I see it going in the direction I expected....

 

Having no surprise with the putt is way much better than completely off for me.

 

Thanks.

[jj16888]

Another one for aimpoint.

 

I started tracking my strokes gained through Mark Broadie's Golf Metrics app last year. Let's just say my strokes gained are positive since switching to aimpoint :)

 

That is great to know.

 

 

Thanks

[pusb365]

It looks like the Aim point can be the solution for my green reading. Just a very curious question to you all with AIM point experience. How many putts do you save after using AIM point ?

 

A well respected teaching pro told me it can saves an average of 0.3 strokes per round.

 

I have no idea where that stat came from, who/what it's based on, and I have no idea if its true or not!

[Jersey golfer]

Here is an inexpensive alternative that helped my green reading http://www.theputtingedge.com/

 

Good luck no matter what method you choose.

[jj16888]

It looks like the Aim point can be the solution for my green reading. Just a very curious question to you all with AIM point experience. How many putts do you save after using AIM point ?

 

A well respected teaching pro told me it can saves an average of 0.3 strokes per round.

 

I have no idea where that stat came from, who/what it's based on, and I have no idea if its true or not!

 

Wow... 0.3 strokes per round? not to try to question accuracy of the stat, but it seems like it is not a lot of improvement. Or maybe the stat is for scratch players or tour pro. Maybe will be higher for the weekend golfer like me. I am just hoping the AIM point can bring more putts... or maybe I am just too greedy....

[jasonfish11]

It looks like the Aim point can be the solution for my green reading. Just a very curious question to you all with AIM point experience. How many putts do you save after using AIM point ?

 

A well respected teaching pro told me it can saves an average of 0.3 strokes per round.

 

I have no idea where that stat came from, who/what it's based on, and I have no idea if its true or not!

 

Wow... 0.3 strokes per round? not to try to question accuracy of the stat, but it seems like it is not a lot of improvement. Or maybe the stat is for scratch players or tour pro. Maybe will be higher for the weekend golfer like me. I am just hoping the AIM point can bring more putts... or maybe I am just too greedy....

 

Yeah that stat seems pretty useless w/o context.

 

It can't be 0.3 strokes on average for everyone. There has to be some exponential curve based on your current putting ability.

 

Maybe 0.3 strokes gained for every stroke you are losing to a PGA tour pro? So someone who is 1 stroke worse than a PGA pro picks up 0.3 strokes, but someone who is 5 shots worse picks up 1.5 strokes?

[OffTheDole]

It looks like the Aim point can be the solution for my green reading. Just a very curious question to you all with AIM point experience. How many putts do you save after using AIM point ?

 

I can only offer anecdotal evidence because I took the course in December and have only a handful of rounds under my belt since, but I'll say this: I feel very confident in my reads and when I put a good stroke on the ball it has a very good chance of going in. I'm not getting fooled, especially on close putts.

 

My main problem has been my putter, a Nike Counterflex B1-01 that just doesn't suit my eye. I did a putter fitting last week and after finding out what I was doing wrong (aiming slightly left, too much arc in my stroke, and an outside-to-in path) I had a round with 29 putts. Next week I should have a new putter in my hands that should help me remedy some of my setup issues.

[dg_1983]

Strokes gained..........come on chaps - green reading is only one part of the puzzle.

 

IMO

 

If I had been able to align my putter to my intended start line consistently AND

if I had been able to start the ball on my intended start line consistently AND

If I had been able to control pace of the ball consistently AND

 

The only reason I would miss putts was down to bad read - AIMPOINT would have been INSANE for strokes gained.

 

As it was

 

I couldn't do any of the above to my target level, and would miss putts for any of these reasons, sometimes a combo of them.

 

Aimpoint along with a line on the ball takes away any doubt regarding one part of the puzzle. Your performance on the other items then need isolated and improved.

 

For me aimpoint highlighted I could start the ball on target, firstly because I couldn't align the putter, secondly because my face at impact was open and thirdly because my path wasn't neutral enough.

 

Aimpoint for reading, line on the ball for setup alignment, gate drill for path, and soft hands for face at impact = better putting for me

[josh4011]

Another vote for Aimpoint express. I was really shocked at how accurate this method can be (provided your calibration and measurements are correct). It's super simple, very quick, and relatively easy after practicing how to measure the slope with your feet. I've found that now that I don't under read large breaks my speed control is much better. All of this leads to more confidence for me, and confidence is a huge deal for me and my putting.

[MeikoKaji]

I am so puzzled by my green reading ability. Frequently, my green reading is opposite than others. Is there anything wrong with my eyesight or just pure dumb at green reading? Any help or wisdom on green reading is appreciated?

 

 

Thanks.

hi. can you jury-rig a stimp meter? or, ask your club to borrow for a couple of hours. i found that reading the green, then putting a ball on the stimp and rolling it consistently every time made me realize how much my problem was my green reading versus my stroke and what my tendencies were.

 

just drill a hole in a yard-stick and tilt until the balls rolls off. anyway, rolling it by hand is too inconsistent.

[jj16888]

I am so puzzled by my green reading ability. Frequently, my green reading is opposite than others. Is there anything wrong with my eyesight or just pure dumb at green reading? Any help or wisdom on green reading is appreciated?

 

 

Thanks.

hi. can you jury-rig a stimp meter? or, ask your club to borrow for a couple of hours. i found that reading the green, then putting a ball on the stimp and rolling it consistently every time made me realize how much my problem was my green reading versus my stroke and what my tendencies were.

 

just drill a hole in a yard-stick and tilt until the balls rolls off. anyway, rolling it by hand is too inconsistent.

 

Great idea. I will try that.

[b.helts]

I walk the putt line on both sides to feel the slope with feet, then I focus on speed needed to go a 1'-2' past cup from there I pick my line. Always in that order.

 

Every putt? 50 footer you walk the line on both sides? Every time?

[Exactice808]

BEST Reason why people "See/Read' Greens wrong,

 

This should point you in the right direction!!!

 

Good luck, this helped HUGE!!

 

[media=]

[/media]

 

 

echo on Aimpoint Express

 

http://www.golfwrx.c.../#entry10972269

[Guia]

There is a story in the latest Golf Magazine on the new way to read greens. I here people often say that they read it with their feet, unless the green is really un-level have never been able to feel any difference.

[BenHoganSlam1953]

I trained my eyes to see the line and learned to trust myself for the amount of force for the putting stroke. For training my eyes I would spend time on the practice green assessing the line and then rolling a ball on the line with my hand. Evaluate how close the line I saw in my mind was compared to the results and repeat. For distance control I would practice getting 15 feet from the edge of the practice green, then 10, then 5. When I warm up I hit to tees I place in the green instead of the holes so that I can create more difficult to read lines. Usually I hit the tees a few times or just skim by. Great to get ones confidence up before starting the around. I always try to pull the flag so that I can walk back to my ball, reading the green as I go. How well I putt will then depend on how much I do not interfere with my eyes reading the line and my body making the putting stroke. The more I trust my instincts instead of my thoughts - the better I putt.

[b.helts]

On many greens, the best place to read the green is from about 30 paces short of the front edge. Obviously doesn't work on all greens, but you can often see what will happen long before you get behind your ball.

[Exactice808]

There is a story in the latest Golf Magazine on the new way to read greens. I here people often say that they read it with their feet, unless the green is really un-level have never been able to feel any difference.

 

Agreed your statement is truly subjective, so lets fairly say that there isnt only one surefire technique, and you have to go through and find the one that works for you.

 

 

With that being said, from my relatively limited experiences,

 

your Body, is one of the most highly tuned precise devises that work 24hrs a day. "balance" is one of the reasons why the avocation of using your feet to read has become a hot topic.

 

Your body "automatically" balances, in relation to the level of the floor, this is antonymous to what your eyes input, open or close as long as the body does not pass a certain amount of slope it can naturally hold itself up without any assistance. it does its own self corrections.

 

So if you fit in to the "mold" of those that can naturally feel the changes within your body or you are "sensitive" enough to notice them. The input of balance from X slope should be felt with your feet, This is the Generic base line of Aimpoint Express. Again some people have feet that are so dead they look like a dried asphalt, Others are sensitive to walking on carpet.

 

when standing over a put, you feel pressure in a certain area your feet and this determines the slope. And based on the video I posted about "Putt Geometry" this is why for some people visually seeing a line can be much more confusing than feeling it.

 

Im sure there has been a point where you setup your putt, you line the ball up to your choice of line and then you stand over your ball and it feels like its going to break more then what your intended line is pointing at. This is the sensitivity of your body, precisely measuring, pretty amazing if I might add!

[Guia]

I guess I need to play barefooted.

[Exactice808]

I guess I need to play barefooted.

 

Does your feet look like the Mojave desert you need some Jergen's body lotion or some baby Oil LOL!..... totally kidding!

[Guia]

You must have snuck a look. :taunt:

[dkimbooo]

Plus one to aimpoint. I used to get the breaks completely opposite sometimes, which made me feel dumb. But it's pretty easy to feel the break with your feet.