AimPoint Green Reading

[saevel25]

Missed my edit window, but I wanted to add that I also do this with pitches if I'm planning for more than a foot or two of rollout. I figure if the ball is going to have any opportunity to break, I may as well do my best to make sure it's breaking towards the hole rather than away.

It's pretty rare that I encounter those on the courses I play. The odd time that I do I just throw it wide and hope for the best. If the speeds right I'll at least get it closer than knee-knocker range.

I had a putt on  Monday that was off the green front right. the pin was in the middle slightly back. You have this mound on the right that has a pretty steep slope. Think of a cone cut in half type of shape. My read was a 4 and I basically almost had to putt it up to the fringe. I ended up 10 feet short because I didn't crest the mount. I hit another one and it went 7 feet past. I am thinking maybe a pitch would be better next time. Just pitch it low into the mound to kill some speed. I was about 3 feet off the front of the green.

[Ernest Jones]

I had a putt on  Monday that was off the green front right. the pin was in the middle slightly back. You have this mound on the right that has a pretty steep slope. Think of a cone cut in half type of shape. My read was a 4 and I basically almost had to putt it up to the fringe. I ended up 10 feet short because I didn't crest the mount. I hit another one and it went 7 feet past. I am thinking maybe a pitch would be better next time. Just pitch it low into the mound to kill some speed. I was about 3 feet off the front of the green.

Yeah I probably would have went with a pitch there, or even better, a lob if I'm feelin' it. Take some of that crazy break out of the equation.

[saevel25]

Yeah I probably would have went with a pitch there, or even better, a lob if I'm feelin' it. Take some of that crazy break out of the equation.

I am just a huge advocate of if you can putt it, putt it. The old adage of, your best putt is your worst chip is really true.

Maybe next time I am out there, if the course is empty, I might hit 5 shots with a putter, 52 degree low pitch and a 60 degree lobish shot and record how close each one gets on average.

Maybe a little video recording as well. Interesting case study on a short game shot scenario.

[Ernest Jones]

I am just a huge advocate of if you can putt it, putt it. The old adage of, your best putt is your worst chip is really true.  Maybe next time I am out there, if the course is empty, I might hit 5 shots with a putter, 52 degree low pitch and a 60 degree lobish shot and record how close each one gets on average.  Maybe a little video recording as well. Interesting case study on a short game shot scenario.

Generally agree and lately have actually made some great "putts" with my 4h from well off the green that left easy clean up putts. But that's contingent on a few things - how much crap I need to power through if I go that route, how much slope I'm dealing with and the orientation of that slope, how well I'm pitching on that particular day. If my pitching is "on", I'll likely go with a floppy that stops dead near/around the hole. if I'm blading stuff all day I'll chip/putt with whatever club suits the layout. And sometimes the choice is just obvious.

[rkim291968]

I have been recording total putt/round stat for my home course for the last 20 months.   My monthly median is about 33 before Aimpoint & an Edel fitted putter.    Next month will be the 1st month that I will have some concrete data on what their impact is to my game.    I will post the result here at the end of June.

If others have similar data, please share already.

[saevel25]

I have been recording total putt/round stat for my home course for the last 20 months.   My monthly median is about 33 before Aimpoint & an Edel fitted putter.    Next month will be the 1st month that I will have some concrete data on what their impact is to my game.    I will post the result here at the end of June.

If others have similar data, please share already.

I would break it down into putting distance. Putts per round can be deceiving. You can shoot even par with 36 putts or something like 29 putts.

You should be looking for 95% from 5 feet and in, 50% from 5-10', 30% from 10-15'. Then I would worry about lag putting, outside of 25 feet.

That 15 - 25' range is were you will not see many putts. Most approach shots end outside of 25 feet. Most short game shots end up inside of 15 feet. So really, make a high percentage of putts inside of 15 feet and get a lot of tap ins from outside 25 feet.

[rkim291968]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rkim291968

I have been recording total putt/round stat for my home course for the last 20 months.   My monthly median is about 33 before Aimpoint & an Edel fitted putter.    Next month will be the 1st month that I will have some concrete data on what their impact is to my game.    I will post the result here at the end of June.

If others have similar data, please share already.

I would break it down into putting distance. Putts per round can be deceiving. You can shoot even par with 36 putts or something like 29 putts.

You should be looking for 95% from 5 feet and in, 50% from 5-10', 30% from 10-15'. Then I would worry about lag putting, outside of 25 feet.

That 15 - 25' range is were you will not see many putts. Most approach shots end outside of 25 feet. Most short game shots end up inside of 15 feet. So really, make a high percentage of putts inside of 15 feet and get a lot of tap ins from outside 25 feet.

Yeah, but, for me, I play at least 10 rounds per months and it is a fairly a good indication of how well I am putting that month.   If I see any variable that can explain a sudden reduction/increase in total putt besides what I am doing with Aimpoint/Fitted Putter, I will note it.

[iacas]

Yeah, but, for me, I play at least 10 rounds per months and it is a fairly a good indication of how well I am putting that month.   If I see any variable that can explain a sudden reduction/increase in total putt besides what I am doing with Aimpoint/Fitted Putter, I will note it.

I agree with @saevel25 . You're dealing with too small a sample size. 33 putts or so will see 10+% changes fairly easily (three putts). And I've shot lower on rounds where I have 32 putts than rounds with 26 putts.

[rkim291968]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rkim291968

Yeah, but, for me, I play at least 10 rounds per months and it is a fairly a good indication of how well I am putting that month.   If I see any variable that can explain a sudden reduction/increase in total putt besides what I am doing with Aimpoint/Fitted Putter, I will note it.

I agree with @saevel25. You're dealing with too small a sample size. 33 putts or so will see 10+% changes fairly easily (three putts). And I've shot lower on rounds where I have 32 putts than rounds with 26 putts.

Over the course of many months and hundreds of rounds, it will tell the story.   My avg. total putt month to month (at least 10 rounds/month) stayed in mid 33's for good part of the last 2 years.    In May, I was still getting used to both but managed 32.62 putts/round.  It's a stroke better than my two year long average but within margin of normal variance.  June will be the 1st month that I will be taking full advantage of fitted putter & Aimpoint.  I need to see 3 - 4 months of the total put average dip below 32 before declaring victory.

My last 6 round total putts/round were 29-29-33-33-31-27 for 30.33 average.   Looking good.

[inthecup]

I am just a huge advocate of if you can putt it, putt it. The old adage of, your best putt is your worst chip is really true.

Maybe next time I am out there, if the course is empty, I might hit 5 shots with a putter, 52 degree low pitch and a 60 degree lobish shot and record how close each one gets on average.

Maybe a little video recording as well. Interesting case study on a short game shot scenario.

For most players that is true.  I have a very difficult time reading the speed of the fringe or fairway.  I play with a guy regularly who putts from way off the green and has success with it.

One of my favorite shots is a chip, with or without spin.  If asked to explain my success I couldn't and truthfully I don't want to think about it too much because if I did I'd probably screw it up.

Safe to say given the choice of a long putt off the green or a chip,  I am chipping.

[saevel25]

For most players that is true.  I have a very difficult time reading the speed of the fringe or fairway.  I play with a guy regularly who putts from way off the green and has success with it.

Depends on how you hit it as well. You can place the ball more up in your stance and try to hit up more on the putt from the fringe to really stop it from catching on that first few rolls.

Also you got to learn how to read the direction of the grass. If it is against you, then I would presume it would be a slower putt. Mostly I try to just take a much longer backstroke to add distance than try to bash the putt with a short punchy stroke.

[Jeremie Boop]

Depends on how you hit it as well. You can place the ball more up in your stance and try to hit up more on the putt from the fringe to really stop it from catching on that first few rolls.

Also you got to learn how to read the direction of the grass. If it is against you, then I would presume it would be a slower putt. Mostly I try to just take a much longer backstroke to add distance than try to bash the putt with a short punchy stroke.

I tend to chip a lot from fringe and just short in the fairway because the grass around the greens here have a lot of bad spots. By bad spots I mean dips from missing grass or bumps due to weeds. The safest and most predictable course of action for me is to chip over this stuff. Because of how much I play this way it's hard for me to make the change when I'm on a course or a spot where these things aren't a factor.

[Zesty]

I had a frustrating Saturday and I was wondering if anyone else has got an idea of how to manage a situation like this. I joined with three other singles for a round and one of them did not want to play ready golf but by the correct order of play. We all shrugged and went along, of course. So when we got to the green, everyone had to mark their ball and wait while whoever was out hurried to go through his routine. I normally play with a group that all use Aimpoint Express. We normally all mark our balls and then straddle our lines to make our reads. The guys that like to go quickly then step up and putt first. On Saturday, though, the guy who was out would have to set up to his ball quickly while we would all stand aside. When it was my turn I tried to go through my normal routine but it felt too long with these non-aimpointers trying to figure out why I looked like I was walking all over my own line. (Of course, I make sure to only straddle it.) Plus they all putted everything out, in order, so there were always ball marks all around the hole preventing me from getting a read anywhere near the hole. Needless to say it was frustrating. I did discover that finding even one slope between my ball and I still got me a pretty accurate read but the entire experience put me way off my putting game mentally. Sorry for the long post. Does anyone have any ideas for how to deal with this situation when it happens? Thanks.

[saevel25]

Plus they all putted everything out, in order, so there were always ball marks all around the hole preventing me from getting a read anywhere near the hole. Needless to say it was frustrating. I did discover that finding even one slope between my ball and I still got me a pretty accurate read but the entire experience put me way off my putting game mentally. Sorry for the long post. Does anyone have any ideas for how to deal with this situation when it happens? Thanks.

First, Aimpoint doesn't take long at all. So just go through your routine. It doesn't matter if your playing partners putt fast or not, that doesn't make you slow.

If you are near the hole you should have issues with getting a express read as long as the other golfers marker isn't directly near your marker.

[dsc123]

I had a frustrating Saturday and I was wondering if anyone else has got an idea of how to manage a situation like this. I joined with three other singles for a round and one of them did not want to play ready golf but by the correct order of play. We all shrugged and went along, of course. So when we got to the green, everyone had to mark their ball and wait while whoever was out hurried to go through his routine. I normally play with a group that all use Aimpoint Express. We normally all mark our balls and then straddle our lines to make our reads. The guys that like to go quickly then step up and putt first. On Saturday, though, the guy who was out would have to set up to his ball quickly while we would all stand aside. When it was my turn I tried to go through my normal routine but it felt too long with these non-aimpointers trying to figure out why I looked like I was walking all over my own line. (Of course, I make sure to only straddle it.) Plus they all putted everything out, in order, so there were always ball marks all around the hole preventing me from getting a read anywhere near the hole. Needless to say it was frustrating. I did discover that finding even one slope between my ball and I still got me a pretty accurate read but the entire experience put me way off my putting game mentally. Sorry for the long post. Does anyone have any ideas for how to deal with this situation when it happens? Thanks.

If you're doing it right it isn't slow. You need to believe that and focus on your putt. Forget what others are doing or thinking. It's in your head. The others are probably just thinking about their next or last shot anyway. Also, I would have insisted on playing ready golf. It's silly for one guy to make 3 others play by his rules.

[iacas]

Plus, please don't straddle your line. Too often you'll be off a little and stepping on your line.

[Mr. Desmond]

I had a frustrating Saturday and I was wondering if anyone else has got an idea of how to manage a situation like this. I joined with three other singles for a round and one of them did not want to play ready golf but by the correct order of play. We all shrugged and went along, of course. So when we got to the green, everyone had to mark their ball and wait while whoever was out hurried to go through his routine. I normally play with a group that all use Aimpoint Express. We normally all mark our balls and then straddle our lines to make our reads. The guys that like to go quickly then step up and putt first. On Saturday, though, the guy who was out would have to set up to his ball quickly while we would all stand aside. When it was my turn I tried to go through my normal routine but it felt too long with these non-aimpointers trying to figure out why I looked like I was walking all over my own line. (Of course, I make sure to only straddle it.) Plus they all putted everything out, in order, so there were always ball marks all around the hole preventing me from getting a read anywhere near the hole. Needless to say it was frustrating. I did discover that finding even one slope between my ball and I still got me a pretty accurate read but the entire experience put me way off my putting game mentally. Sorry for the long post. Does anyone have any ideas for how to deal with this situation when it happens? Thanks.

Since pace of play is paramount, I would remind them about pace and ask the group to play ready golf, but not hurried golf.

[ralphs007]

One helpful thing to have is a digital level ( husky 9" from home depot $39.99) . It helps you with the slope. Took express level 1 and express level 2 with Mike Dynda , the best $$ i have ever spent on golf .

Hi

I took an aimpoint clinic last year from Mike also. I'm trying to see when he has another aimpoint clinic so that I can go for a refresher course. Have you ever attended a aimpoint refresher course with Mike?