Im constantly misreading greens

[APrince]

Yesterday, I had a range session, practiced chipping and putting on the greens, and then i had time to fit in a few holes at the end before dusk - damn my putting yet again.

I squeezed in 8 holes and had 7 bogeys and 1 par, but, i had 6 birdie attempts that i ended up f ing up on the green. they were all longer attempts though too. Regardless, i just misread the green and i dont know what i should do to improve this. it never breaks as much as i think or breaks more than i think; faster/slower than i think etc.

I practice but when practicing you get one hit and figure out the read and shot basically, so the rest are generally good. the straight short ones are easy too. My shot is generally straight. However at times toooo hard and way misread on the course.

any drill to help with this?

[Golfingdad]

Take an Aimpoint class.  They teach you how to read the break of the greens with your feet, and then convert that knowledge into the exact break of each putt in inches.  If you can judge speed pretty well, you will quickly improve your putting.

[APrince]

Take an Aimpoint class.  They teach you how to read the break of the greens with your feet, and then convert that knowledge into the exact break of each putt in inches.  If you can judge speed pretty well, you will quickly improve your putting.

i dont think aimpoint is in oz, since they arent why dont you break it down for us. ill look and see what they are about on youtube i guess.

i could of saved par a couple of more times if i didnt get pissed...so rather than just focus on the par shots instead, i wanna choke somebody and lose sanity for a stroke or 5.

I thought they would come out with that ea tiger woods putt path technology in my google glass i dont own but i used back on the playstation 2 back in the day.

[Ernest Jones]

Geoff Magnum's "Spider" concept is something I just stumbled on. Very interesting way to look at reading putts. It's pretty easy to find the basics on google. I've just started to use the concept and I really like it so far.

[iacas]

i dont think aimpoint is in oz, since they arent why dont you break it down for us. ill look and see what they are about on youtube i guess.

You won't be able to learn what you need to learn by looking on youTube.

Geoff Magnum's "Spider" concept is something I just stumbled on. Very interesting way to look at reading putts. It's pretty easy to find the basics on google. I've just started to use the concept and I really like it so far.

It's got some holes in it, and fails on slopes over a certain percentage, and green speeds over a certain amount as well. The Spider would predict maximum break always being at 90° and that isn't accurate.

[Fourputt]

Yesterday, I had a range session, practiced chipping and putting on the greens, and then i had time to fit in a few holes at the end before dusk - damn my putting yet again.

I squeezed in 8 holes and had 7 bogeys and 1 par, but, i had 6 birdie attempts that i ended up f ing up on the green. they were all longer attempts though too. Regardless, i just misread the green and i dont know what i should do to improve this. it never breaks as much as i think or breaks more than i think; faster/slower than i think etc.

I practice but when practicing you get one hit and figure out the read and shot basically, so the rest are generally good. the straight short ones are easy too. My shot is generally straight. However at times toooo hard and way misread on the course.

any drill to help with this?

I don't know if it's a drill, but instead of hitting a dozen balls from the same place, just take a couple of balls to the putting green.  I never hit more than 2 balls consecutively from the same place.  I'll drop one, then flip the other on 4 or 5 feet away, putt both, then do the same thing from a different direction or at a different hole on the practice green.  That forces you to read each putt, not just hit the same track every time.

Really long putts are going to be harder to read anyway, because there will be more variation in the break along the way.  Even the pros make some horrendous reads at times.

[rrobb911]

Don't just look at the line of the ball, look at the entire green. Is there a definitive way that the green slopes?

Walk around the putt and kind of "snapshot" what the slope looks like from different angles.

Go to the opposite side of the ball and see if the break is the same on both sides.

I think that reading greens is easily the toughest part of any golf game. Just spend time on different greens and practice and you will get better.

[dchoye]

I find for really slow greens or uphill putt I like to walk along the line on my putt to sense the amount of force I need to get it at the hole.

On the fast breaking putts I dont need to feel with my feet, I walk around in a circle from the low side to high side and try to visulize the putt breaking to the hole.

On the really long ones like >15 feet, I dont need to read the 1st 1/3 distance from the ball, it's the last 5-6 feet to the hole I need to pay close attention as ball slows down this is where the i need to know how much break if any. I will not replace my ball where my coin is until i have a clear idea what the ball will do near the hole.

also if you are playing with others and you are the closest to the hole, you can see how their ball breaks before you putt.

[Beachcomber]

If you have issues controlling your speed. Hen you should get fitted for a putter. Look into Edel. Having the proper weight in a putter is key to gauging speed. Edel will also ensure your aiming your putter properly via their fitting process. Lastly, agree with the guys who recommended you checking out Aimpoint. It's very informative.

[guiseppe]

I'm terrible at reading greens too.  I have a golf buddy that works running an excavator; he flattens earth for a living.  It's awesome to see him walk up to a green and be able to see things that I can't.

Best tip I ever got was:  there are two points at the hole where the putt would be straight.  They are not always exactly on opposite sides of each other.  Once you find the two straight putts, imagine your ball going into the hole at the point where the putt is straight.

Of course, this only gives you the break at the hole and there are other variables, but as a starting point, this has been very helpful to me.

[Ernest Jones]

I'm terrible at reading greens too.  I have a golf buddy that works running an excavator; he flattens earth for a living.  It's awesome to see him walk up to a green and be able to see things that I can't. Best tip I ever got was:  there are two points at the hole where the putt would be straight.  They are not always exactly on opposite sides of each other.  Once you find the two straight putts, imagine your ball going into the hole at the point where the putt is straight.   Of course, this only gives you the break at the hole and there are other variables, but as a starting point, this has been very helpful to me.

That's called the fall line, some people call it the zero line. Being able to see it and learning how to find it is a big step in learning how to read a putt.

[APrince]

thanks for the advice peeps. i just slowed down and made sure to use the same routine every time. this has minimized my 3 putts and eliminated the 4 putts.. back to 2's and the few 1's.

plus i changed the level of my head its helping me see better at address.

[CooCooRiku]

Me too!  I suffer from mis-reading the greens.  I wish there are some kind of gadgets that I can use to help me develop green reading abilities but it seems this is some skills that can only develop over time with experience.

[inthehole]

reading greens is an art - through much repetition it can of course be improved upon, but IMHO, to be really good at it, it's an inherent aptitude that some have & some don't.

I clearly don't

[Golfingdad]

Me too!  I suffer from mis-reading the greens.  I wish there are some kind of gadgets that I can use to help me develop green reading abilities but it seems this is some skills that can only develop over time with experience.

There are! http://www.aimpointgolf.com/

reading greens is an art

No, it's really not.  See above.

[boogielicious]

AimPoint!!!  Definitely +++1 on this.

[Always an 80]

Hummmmummumm. Be..be...be the ball Danny. lol I have the same problem. I feel your pain. Please update when you find something that seems to work for you.

[iacas]

Please update when you find something that seems to work for you.

Several people have already done that btw. :-)