Easiest Way to Read a Putt?

[fishgolf]

I find viewing the putt from both sides of the up/down slope to be my best aid. Also, using an alignment mark aimed where I want the roll to go has been helpful. 

[Patch]

Regardless of which ever technique one uses to read a green, a book with copious amounts of information on greens is always a plus. I made one up for a couple courses I play frequently. 

I once saw a copy page on display at an expo. It "supposingly" was from Tony Lema's golf gear. Youngsters on here probably never heard of him. The info it showed on slopes, and landing areas, depending on pin placement, was nothing short of immense. Today's pros do the same thing. Having diagrams, and playing the same greens year, after year takes alot their guess work out. 

[dennyjones]

1 hour ago, Patch said:

Regardless of which ever technique one uses to read a green, a book with copious amounts of information on greens is always a plus. I made one up for a couple courses I play frequently. 

I once saw a copy page on display at an expo. It "supposingly" was from Tony Lema's golf gear. Youngsters on here probably never heard of him. The info it showed on slopes, and landing areas, depending on pin placement, was nothing short of immense. Today's pros do the same thing. Having diagrams, and playing the same greens year, after year takes alot their guess work out. 

Did you see Jack and Gary Player make fun of today's professionals using books to read the greens?  It was comical.

[Carl3]

Something that has helped me make more putts is to find the line I want with the shaft of my putter and then use the line to pick a spot a foot or two down that line and putt through that. The trick is to find something on the green such as a mark, discoloration or something on the line. I have noticed the desire to instinctively want to putt to the right of the line (I am right handed), but when I trust the line I am more successful. I used to leave many puts to the right of the hole not realizing this was an aiming issue.

[Pretzel]

On 4/7/2018 at 11:50 AM, dennyjones said:

Did you see Jack and Gary Player make fun of today's professionals using books to read the greens?  It was comical.

Gary seemed more upset by it than Jack. Jack just kind of agreed with Gary when questioned without adding anything of his own besides saying that he would have done the same thing himself if it was available to him.

[Shorty]

One little tip for putts with serious break is to remember that there are 2 putts:

1. Your putt

2. Gravity's putt

Meaning that you hit the ball to the point where gravity takes over. So..... the putt might be 12 footer, but your putt might be  a 3 footer aimed 10 feet left of the hole.

On 08/04/2018 at 3:50 AM, dennyjones said:

Did you see Jack and Gary Player make fun of today's professionals using books to read the greens?  It was comical.

Good on them. If I was playing with someone who brought out a notebook and started staring at it on a green I think I'd make sure it was the last round I played with them. I would assume that it would be the type who's responsible for 5 hour rounds  and that the rest of their routine would back me up 90% of the time.  There's a difference between being meticulous and aping OTT pro moves.

[Shorty]

8 hours ago, Pretzel said:

Gary seemed more upset by it than Jack. Jack just kind of agreed with Gary when questioned without adding anything of his own besides saying that he would have done the same thing himself if it was available to him.

You also need to remember that Gary Player's main objective in life is to be seen in the same light as Nicklaus. He is a complete crank and egomaniac who exaggerates and embellishes almost everything he has done. Ask Nicklaus.

 

[saevel25]

10 hours ago, Shorty said:

Meaning that you hit the ball to the point where gravity takes over. So..... the putt might be 12 footer, but your putt might be  a 3 footer aimed 10 feet left of the hole.

The ball starts to break as soon as it leaves the putter face. It might be better to say, try to visualize your ball rolling to that spot.

If I say, "Aim were the ball will roll straight down to the hole". Then they will under read the putt all day. If I say, "Imagine a hole right were you want the ball to die in, and then read the break to that point." They will read more break because they know there is some break to get the ball to the point you want.

10 hours ago, Shorty said:

Good on them. If I was playing with someone who brought out a notebook and started staring at it on a green I think I'd make sure it was the last round I played with them. I would assume that it would be the type who's responsible for 5 hour rounds  and that the rest of their routine would back me up 90% of the time.  There's a difference between being meticulous and aping OTT pro moves.

You don't know that. I've played with golfers who took longer than PGA Tour players on the green, and they didn't have a book with them. If a golfer had a good system, then they could be just as quick as normal green readers.

Take a guy who does this,

1. Looks down the line from behind the ball
2. Walks around the low side
3. Reads the green from behind the hole
4. Walks back to his ball
5. Reads the green from behind the ball again
6. Adjusts the ball that has a line on it
7. Reads the green again
8. Re-adjusts the ball
9. Finally gets into his preshot routine

Versus

1. Reads the green from behind the ball
2. looks at his book, the books tells him that there is a bit more break near the hole
3. He gives the break a bit more break
4. He goes into his preshot routine

Who is faster?

[Zeph]

10 hours ago, Shorty said:

Good on them. If I was playing with someone who brought out a notebook and started staring at it on a green I think I'd make sure it was the last round I played with them. I would assume that it would be the type who's responsible for 5 hour rounds  and that the rest of their routine would back me up 90% of the time.  There's a difference between being meticulous and aping OTT pro moves.

As an amateur, sure, but the guys on the PGA tour are hardly that. They're the best in the world and they play for millions of moneys. Gary and Jack would've done the same if they played in this age. Bashing on newer generations for doing something older generations didn't do often comes off as silly. The game is always evolving and the competition getting tougher. Pro players today are doing a lot more to improve their scores than the guys in the 70's did.

[iacas]

9 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

The ball starts to break as soon as it leaves the putter face. It might be better to say, try to visualize your ball rolling to that spot.

I think @Shorty was talking about putts down a steep slope or something, and I'll do a similar thing: just tell myself "okay, get it to this point with no speed, and the slope will carry the ball to the hole."

You might still have to read the putt to that point (say, the top of a tier), but it's still about dying the ball right around that spot, in cases with steep slopes.

I agree with the pace of play stuff. When I had an AimPoint chart, I was faster than most people, too.

[Shorty]

6 hours ago, saevel25 said:

 

Who is faster?

The one who reads his putt whilst the other guys are putting if he isn't away. Who is ready to putt when it is his turn. Who realises that on his local course half his putts have a gentle break that he's played 100 times before and the one who knows that unless he is playing a course with really exceptionally horrible breaks his putting stats will not differ much whichever method he chooses. He's either got a good stroke and a feel for reading greens or he hasn't. Now that's not to say that we can't all benefit from using modern ideas and techniques, but if ON YOUR LOCAL COURSE with relatively simple reads that you've played many times and you're staring at a book you're not helping yourself or others. It'd bad enough watching Mickelson doing it with a 3 foot putt. I don't want it to become the norm. I suppose the main thing is that a lot of golfers can't interpret or apply what they're looking at anyway.

[The Hook Meister]

I don't think this does violate the rules. For a novice golfer this might be a good idea to help them learn hoe to read a putt.

[saevel25]

21 hours ago, Shorty said:

ON YOUR LOCAL COURSE with relatively simple reads that you've played many times and you're staring at a book you're not helping yourself or others

Books can help, or other methods can help. I played a course for 7 years, and I ended up with a putt once I never had before. Also, just moving your ball a few feet one way or another can change how much break you have. Heck, if you are near the zero-line (line of no break), going over that line will cause the putt to break the other way.

I would say, 95%+ of golfers putt fast enough. I rarely run into a slow putter.