A Simple Drill to Get Better at Reading Greens
We are back on the green again, we talked about short putts and the importance of keeping that face square to the hole. We talked about getting a feel for long putts by just looking at the target instead of the hole and just letting your eyes tell you how hard to hit it. Now we are going to talk about reading putts.
How to Read Slope on a Putting Green
I have selected downhill right to left breaker to that far flag located in the back of the green. You have heard a lot about look at the slope, pour the water on the green, see which way it goes. The best way to learn how to read putts is by experience.
What I like to do is bring out eight balls on the putting green and I will get down on one knee, superintendents will not mind, and with my hand low to the ground I am going to roll this ball and see how close it ends up to the target. That is a pretty good one right there, it rolled about three feet past. What would happen if I rolled the ball a little bit higher. I am watching the speed, watching the break that it takes. That was pretty good, it was a lot higher line, and what I am doing is I am trying to learn from every single stroke.
A Drill to Improve Your Putting Accuracy
You can actually go out to your golf course and perhaps late in the afternoon do this on putts that have mystified you. That one was a straighter line but ran past and what I am really wanting to do as I do this is see the speed that the ball is rolling down and how depending on the speed how fast it goes. That one was below the hole and is going to run about three feet past.
I am going to do one more, this one I am going to roll a little bit harder and take more of a straight line, that is a pretty good line right there. Almost hit the hole but look where it ends up.
What I have learned from these putts, and what I want you to do on the eighth ball, is take your putter and try to create that speed on the line that you found the best. By the way, this is probably not a putt that you are going to make, so on your last ball just take your set up and try to visualize that line and that speed that you just saw with seven balls to see if you can create the right speed and break. Get in the hole, get in the hole, oh. That is a great way to let experience help you roll in those long putts and read those long greens. Good luck.