How to improve green reading? and stop your divots aiming left?

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Owen_Thomas_14

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Played today and got beat down the last but never really made a putt so whats the best way of reading greens? (plumb lining, look at all angles or by memory). I putt by memory normally but at different courses its not going to really help me.

I also noticed most of my divots aim left but the ball can still go straight but when i get the release right i get the hooks. Does my strong left hand produce these divots or something else? Thanks :)
 
divots pointing left is more than likely your out to in swing path, do you fade the ball? If so have you heard of the 3 ball drill?
 
Divots pointing left, straight ball flight. You are swinging over the top, and holding off the release to avoid hooking it, effectively blocking it right. You need to move your hips towards the target, and open them more, whilst dropping the club inside.

Failing that, get a lesson.

Reading putts comes with experience. It can't be taught in 10 minutes.
 
I actually have quite a flat swing but i think that i can come over the top and still be on plane if that gives you an idea of how flat it is :mad: and quite recently getting the pull hooks which are destroying any score im on.
 
Picture this... you swing in-to-square-to-in (or in other words PRETTY STRAIGHT)...after impact your club will be travelling back to the inside... so ALL your divots will point left even though you have approached the ball from the inside.

It's only the first inch of the divot you need to look at... and even then only if you know you have a problem with your swingpath. Sounds like you are not driving through the ball enough.. Oddly the result would be pulls and hooks :)

Really try and get through your shots onto your left side, this will keep you accelerating through the ball and effectively cause the ball to appear further back in your stance at impact... thus keeping that club coming from the inside.
 
With regard to the divots going left, just how left are we talking about here ?

Assuming correct ball position, just before the bottom of the swing arc and a downward strike on the ball, will the divots not be cutting the turf slightly left of the target line anyway ?

Edit, beaten to it by JOUK
 
The divots aim a good 20-30 yards left but their always quite long too. Im trying to keep my arms connected to my body all through the swing so thats why i have quite a flat swing but i know what your saying about my divots aiming left, but just thought if your playing for a draw your divots should aim right then the balls comes back from the right :D :D
 
Lots to consider as we are possibly talking small margins here what with you being a 7 h/cap.

Is your alignment right?, ball position right?, getting through the ball?, clubface slightly open to the target for a push-draw?, grip ahead of the ball at address? grip ahead of the ball at impact? clubshaft and left arm form a straight line at address?,.... etc etc.

There are several things you could try.. but I'd start with trying to get through the shot a bit more.

Long shallow divots are to be expected with a flatter swing plane. Just HOW flat are we talking?... got a vid?
 
Green reading is flippin' hard if you are playing on greens with different speeds all the time.

You should get used to your own greens a little bit but even then it's not easy if they are only cut twice a week :)

The pro's have very specific green speeds requested by the PGA on their behalf.. so they will be used to the speed and break. if your greenkeepers can't get (and keep) your greens to that speed then the Tour won't be coming to your course any time soon.

Pro's have it SO easy! :( LOL

For anything over 10feet think pace, pace, pace, line, pace pace.
 
Played today and got beat down the last but never really made a putt so whats the best way of reading greens? (plumb lining, look at all angles or by memory). I putt by memory normally but at different courses its not going to really help me.

I also noticed most of my divots aim left but the ball can still go straight but when i get the release right i get the hooks. Does my strong left hand produce these divots or something else? Thanks :)
Click to expand...

Owen, forgive me for a second, if your divots are pointing left when your putting your a helpless case :eek:

Alright back to the real world,do you mean that the ball goes straight with an out to in swing divot with your short irons? This can happen as the backspin will disguise the slice spin. The longer the club the more the slice will reveal it'self.

Your strong left hand could possibly turn the club over, but the culprit is the out to in swing path.
If for instance you had an in to out swing path you might produce a draw, or your hook which is possibly a pull hook? This being the product of the out to in path.
 
Green reading is flippin' hard if you are playing on greens with different speeds all the time.

You should get used to your own greens a little bit but even then it's not easy if they are only cut twice a week :)

The pro's have very specific green speeds requested by the PGA on their behalf.. so they will be used to the speed and break. if your greenkeepers can't get (and keep) your greens to that speed then the Tour won't be coming to your course any time soon.

Pro's have it SO easy! :( LOL

For anything over 10feet think pace, pace, pace, line, pace pace.
Click to expand...

What has the speed of the green got to do with the line of a putt? A faster green will break more admittedly but if you can't see if it's from the left or right then....??

As you walk up to the green look for the natural slope (ie which is the high bit/low bit of the green) as most putts will follow that...
 
Have a look at the general slope of the green as you approach but the bottom line is that green reading is a skill that has to be learned. There are no short cuts and its about experience and your stroke. If you rap the shorter putts firmly they will take less break than those that die into the hole. Why not go onto your clubs putting green and start to learn the breaks and reads there and take what you discover out with you
 
I have videos on my phone but it wont let me upload them for some reason and there not great quality to be honest. JOUK my swing starts like the stack and tilt swing, quite far inside the line but when i try and hit the ball harder i have a tendency to come over it a bit causing some more problems. My divots aim left but the ball starts (most of the time) where im aiming, which is quite confusing :D
 
I agree but he's a 7 h/cap so I reckon he knows a little bit about left and right.

I believe that stringlines and a second person are required to really learn to read greens.

Pick your line, put down your string and see if you were right, see where the ball veers off the line, have someone SEE if you were lined up where you thought you were, did the ball start where you thought. Put tees in the greens along the lines you want to putt, make the same putt from different distances...etc etc..

and then they get cut and all those breaks/borrows will change by an inch or two.... or ten :)

I think it's an art that is learned over time, a feeling, an intuition. It helps when the playing surface is consistent.
 
My putting has improved greatly since last year and is quite good but just wanted to know whats the best way to read a green as i couldnt make anything today (probably one of those days). I do putt by memory and it doesnt help me when playing different courses.
 
I have videos on my phone but it wont let me upload them for some reason and there not great quality to be honest. JOUK my swing starts like the stack and tilt swing, quite far inside the line but when i try and hit the ball harder i have a tendency to come over it a bit causing some more problems. My divots aim left but the ball starts (most of the time) where im aiming, which is quite confusing :D
Click to expand...

The ball should start where the clubface is aiming AT IMPACT, give or take a degree or two, that's the physics part... think bunker shots where your stance is 20yards open but the clubface points at the target, even though you slice across it at 45° that ball is going towards the target.... with some slice spin on it.

Hitting the ball too hard is a classic way of STOPPING YOURSELF TURNING and then cutting across the ball. It could either be that you don't make a complete backswing or that you don't make a complete follow through and stop turning as you go through the shot (the main culprits being the hips and/or shoulders stop turning or you literally get stuck on the back foot). Basically you try and skin the ball alive but your body bails out of the shot, stops turning and your arms immediately start bringing the club back inside the target line (out to in).

If you really do want to hit the ball hard you have to actually commit to that and make it happen. A full and proper backswing to a full and proper follow through... all perfectly in balance




You'd need a vid (down the line) if possible to see what's happening with your swing plane... and one from the front to see what's going on at impact.
 
Thanks for clearing things up it all makes sense now, just need to commit to the shots then and turn through it.

Ill try and get a video on as soon as possible but will need to get a better quality video as the ones ive got are a bit dark to see much. Thanks :)
 
Surely pace is every thing in putting. Otherwise, in theory, every putt is straight, you just have to hit it hard enough to hit through the break (ok, sometimes you would have to hit it stupid hard, and it wouldn't go in, but we are talking makeable putts here). Once you stop doing this, then it is about matching pace to borrow. There are still a multitude of lines that could work, dependant on the pace. The only time line is important is straight putts, where the pace can vary according to how agressive you feel.
 
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