Putt reading drills.

[Beezerk]

Can anyone recommend some good ones?
I feel this year I've hit the lines I've wanted but bad reads have cost me more than anything.
Maybe I've got lazy, dunno but I want to work on this part of my game over the winter.

 

[chrisd]

do an Aimpoint course with Jamie Donaldson - it helped me no end!

 

[Dannyj1984]

Are you getting the line totally wrong? or is it the small undulations around the hole? I was reading the other day how important it is to pay attention especially to the area around the hole. Obviously as the ball slows down it is affected more by any changes. I am far from an expert and struggle more with underhitting that reading the line. But it may be worth spending a moment looking at the area immediately next to the hole

 

[Beezerk]

do an Aimpoint course with Jamie Donaldson - it helped me no end!

Mate, if I stood with my fingers in the air reading a putt, I'd get laughed off the course 😅

 

[Beezerk]

Are you getting the line totally wrong? or is it the small undulations around the hole?

Bit of both but mainly spotting the line, sometimes I get the break conpletely the wrong way. Thing is after I've missed the putt and have another look I see how it should have been if that makes sense.

 

[AmandaJR]

Mate, if I stood with my fingers in the air reading a putt, I'd get laughed off the course 😅

Try just feeling the slope with your feet and work out your own measure for that? I do feel a bit daft sticking fingers up (so to speak) but have kind of learnt how much outside the hole 1, 2 or 3% etc is. I'll recalibrate using my sticky up fingers from time to time and also assess accuracy each time I putt...

 

[chrisd]

Mate, if I stood with my fingers in the air reading a putt, I'd get laughed off the course ��

I don't care if they do laugh if I make the putt but at my course there's rarely a need to use the fingers as the greens don't break overly much. I just use what I learned on the course to gauge the break by eye

 

[Wayman]

Mate, if I stood with my fingers in the air reading a putt, I'd get laughed off the course 😅

Plus it will slow you down even more!!

 

[Beezerk]

Plus it will slow you down even more!!

Ooooh bit harsh that mate 😂
I'm usually slowed down by apologising to other players after Snell nearly took their heads off with a tee shot. I'm saying nowt btw 😉

 

[Wayman]

Ooooh bit harsh that mate 😂
I'm usually slowed down by apologising to other players after Snell nearly took their heads off with a tee shot. I'm saying nowt btw 😉

Haha that time on the 3rd when you scattered that group on 11th tee

 

[MendieGK]

I don't care if they do laugh if I make the putt but at my course there's rarely a need to use the fingers as the greens don't break overly much. I just use what I learned on the course to gauge the break by eye

I rolled in a 30ft 2% breaker on the 18th @ burnham yesterday, loved seeing people wonder what i was doing taking the read.

 

[Beezerk]

Haha that time on the 3rd when you scattered that group on 11th tee

Jesus, christ knows how I didn't hit someone. Ask Alan about the 16th yesterday, I had to stand between him and a 70 old bloke 😁

 

[chrisd]

I rolled in a 30ft 2% breaker on the 18th @ burnham yesterday, loved seeing people wonder what i was doing taking the read.

I've certainly rolled more putts in since the course and when I have used the fingers no one has asked why.

 

[ManinBlack]

I've never experienced Aim point but I can't imagine how it would work, although I don't doubt it helps some people.

I think that, in general, most folk don't allow for enough borrow. Watching the European Tour yesterday even the pros miss more putts on the low side. What I find helps is to "see" the putt in my mind's eye going into the hole, breaking more & more as it reaches the hole. I then make my point of aim a point level with the hole on the line that I have imagined. This usually results in allowing more borrow than originally envisaged. Remember, if you miss low side by 1" you're around 4" out in reality. It surprises me sometimes when the pros miss by this much.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Mate, if I stood with my fingers in the air reading a putt, I'd get laughed off the course 😅

Has to be aimpoint from me. And yes, my playing partners in the normal roll do take the proverbial but when I roll a long putt stone dead or hole out from 3-10 feet more often than they do, it's always me that ends up smiling. Of course aimpoint has been done to death on here and will divide opinion but for me it works

 

[pinberry]

AimPoint has been great for me. However, I would like to point out that usually there is no such thing as "bad green reading but good putting" etc. The two are correlated.

When someone complains about bad green reading but good putting, usually the green reading is bad because the quality of the putting stroke is bad. If distance control is inconsistent (which is the problem for 99% of us) then green reading will always be poor as the same putt will always have different amounts of break. Without proper distance control, green reading tends to be of little help.

So yeah, by all means go and do an Aimpoint class, but you will probably save more strokes by getting a putting lesson and buying a putting mat to work on technique over the winter.

 

[SteveJay]

Have seen quite a bit written about Aimpoint, plus a few videos, but admit I am still baffled by it. If you can accurately establish the slope using your feet - sounds like a tricky skill anyway, surely you are measuring just at the point you are standing on. What if 2 yards further forward it is flatter/more slopey?

I could see how it would work on a perfectly flat surface, like a billiard table with one side propped up to create a consistent slope, but how many putts have a consistent slope between the ball and the hole?

 

[pinberry]

I can flip all your points the other way around. How can you identify with your naked eye subtle break changes? Impossible if you ask me.

A lot of putts have a fairly consistent slope, especially those within 10 feet. Longer putts are trickier, but then reading those precisely is not even required given the tiny margins for error.

I don't use AimPoint expecting to read all putts correctly. But I increases my chances of reading a putt correctly and this is all that matters for me. I'm not trying to convert anyone though - I fully accept that most people are fine with more traditional green reading.

By the way, even if you don't realise it, when you eyeball your line in reality you are already basing your reading on what your feet are feeling. You are just subconsciously doing it

 

[chrisd]

Have seen quite a bit written about Aimpoint, plus a few videos, but admit I am still baffled by it. If you can accurately establish the slope using your feet - sounds like a tricky skill anyway, surely you are measuring just at the point you are standing on. What if 2 yards further forward it is flatter/more slopey?

I could see how it would work on a perfectly flat surface, like a billiard table with one side propped up to create a consistent slope, but how many putts have a consistent slope between the ball and the hole?

Depending on the length of putt you will probably take more than one reading

 

[Beezerk]

AimPoint has been great for me. However, I would like to point out that usually there is no such thing as "bad green reading but good putting" etc. The two are correlated.

When someone complains about bad green reading but good putting, usually the green reading is bad because the quality of the putting stroke is bad. If distance control is inconsistent (which is the problem for 99% of us) then green reading will always be poor as the same putt will always have different amounts of break. Without proper distance control, green reading tends to be of little help.

So yeah, by all means go and do an Aimpoint class, but you will probably save more strokes by getting a putting lesson and buying a putting mat to work on technique over the winter.

Distance hasn't been a problem, I know when I've hit a bad putt and I'm fine with that. What irks me is hitting putts on the line you've picked and it's wrong from the start.