Reading Greens

ekim133b · June 26, 2006

Secrets?

Is there any special routine you go through to read the greens correctly..I just got back from a quick nine.. and I had 4 birdie chances.. and they were all short 3 in around the cup.. .. it pissed me off so much..

GolfFitPro · June 27, 2006

I checked out a bunch of books and Dave Pelz's Putting Bible has the most extensive amount of info just on green reading. Good stuff.

phillypete · June 28, 2006

for me its all about moving back away from the ball, get low to the line and try to visualize how the ball will roll over the contours of the green. If you have a good imagination this should come easy, but if not you can work on it.

one good thing to do is get on the practice green and put a bunch of balls in your pocket but leave your putter in the bag. Now find a spot with some decent break. take a look at it and think what is going to happen to the ball if i roll it straight from this spot as it... crests the ridge, comes down the slope, ect... now roll one ball at a time study the way the ground dictates its path, pay attention to the way speed effects the break. leaving the putter out of it frees you from having to think about a stroke and allows you to concentrate on the breaks. Work with that till you can picture lines in your head.

Furrankee · June 28, 2006

I checked out a bunch of books and Dave Pelz's Putting Bible has the most extensive amount of info just on green reading. Good stuff.

I'm buying this book. Is there a short game bible also?

Geo · June 28, 2006

I checked out a bunch of books and Dave Pelz's Putting Bible has the most extensive amount of info just on green reading. Good stuff.

I'm buying this book. Is there a short game bible also?

Are you joking? Maybe not, so HERE'S the amazon link to the Short Game Bible, and for completion's sake the LINK to the Putting Bible. I have both and decided to purchase the King James Bible for the trifecta. :yahoo:

Very good information in both volumes (well, all 3 volumes really), but I found the putting bible to be the most useful (though I do need to revisit the short game book--guess where I'm having problems lately. :yahoo: ). I'd recommend giving it a good read, and even adding it to your library as it comes in handy for trouble-shooting or general fundamental work. Just learn what to ignore as information overload is the only real risk when referencing Pelz (that and the danger of being crushed by his crazy large ego).

beruo

Furrankee · June 28, 2006

I checked out a bunch of books and Dave Pelz's Putting Bible has the most extensive amount of info just on green reading. Good stuff.

I'm buying this book. Is there a short game bible also?
Are you joking? Maybe not, so HERE'S the amazon link to the Short Game Bible, and for completion's sake the LINK to the Putting Bible. I have both and decided to purchase the King James Bible for the trifecta. :yahoo:

Very good information in both volumes (well, all 3 volumes really), but I found the putting bible to be the most useful (though I do need to revisit the short game book--guess where I'm having problems lately. :yahoo: ). I'd recommend giving it a good read, and even adding it to your library as it comes in handy for trouble-shooting or general fundamental work. Just learn what to ignore as information overload is the only real risk when referencing Pelz (that and the danger of being crushed by his crazy large ego).

beruo

Hallelujah. I'm buying these tomorrow. I'm going to Atlanta for a tournament. These are going to be my in flight reads. Thanks.

dachtor · June 29, 2006

I've been putting great lately so let me tell you what I do. The first thing I do when I pull up to the green is try to figure out where the high points are both front to back and left to right. This will give you an immediate indication of what the tendencies are and can usually be done with a quick glance. Also, if there is any water on the hole then that is a good indication of where it is likely to break. Then I just get really low behind the ball and try to figure out where I need to start it. Once I do that, it's all speed. Occasionally I will adjust once I get over the ball based on how my feet feel, but not very often. When I do adjust it's usually the right thing to do.

The hardest part though is to trust the line. At my club the greens are really hard and fast right now so there are some scary putts out there.

BTW - I'm in Atlanta and we haven't had much rain this year (although we did get some earlier this week). Get ready for some hard and fast greens. Where is your tournament?