Reading of greens

TRS30

TRS30

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I was playing in a society outing yesterday and hit it pretty well, shooting an 80 so 1 under my handicap.

What annoyed me though was I missed about 4/5 putts as I miss read the line. My stroke was good as the ball went exactly were I aimed it.

How do you rate your green reading? And is there anyway to improve it??
 
At my home course i would rate my green reading about 8/10 as i prefer putting by memory. At different courses i would say 5 maybe 6/10. I dont like to look at the break to long or ill doubt myself so maybe if i stopped doubting myself i would become a better green reader.
 
I tend to get a bit blase when playing my course especially in a social game. I know the general contours and so don't always give the 3-6 footers as much respect as I should. I do read them more carefully in a competition and try and pick a specific spot, trust the line and swing. In the summer I try and practice my putting at least once a week and find a hole with a break on and put 6-8 around the hole about 3-4 feet away and aim to make them all, starting again if I miss one.
 
I would say that my reading of greens is very good/excellent, for an amatuer that is! However, i just find that i can never get the right pace on it to get it in the hole on that line
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If you've never got the right pace how the hell do you know you had the right line?? :D
 
I see my reading of the greens as fairly good maybe 7/10. But the thing that has improved it and continues to improve it is not over reading the greens. I think a lot of amateurs see pros putting on excessively quick greens were break is magnafied whereas we putt on slower greens where the break is not as much but as amateurs read it as the pros do on the telly when there is not as much break at all.
 
Our greens are very deceptive. A lot of them look like they'll break almost a foot but in reality the most you'll get is 4 or 5 inches - except the 12th which seems like the 16th at Augusta. Well not quite but it is in comparison to the others.
 
How do you rate your green reading? And is there anyway to improve it??
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4/10?

I'll tell you how to improve it when I've finally cracked a stroke that always sends it on the right line!

The longer I read a putt for, the better I see the line, but the worse I stroke the ball.......time spent seems to have a negative effect on me.

I've more chance of making a 6-12 foot putt taking an quick butchers and just "calling it" then hitting it.
 
My reading of the greens isnt too bad for an amateur i think but i read recently in another magazine that club players should worry more about the pace of the ball rather than the line it takes as no matter how much thought is put into reading a line of a putt its the pace that will dictate where the ball will end up ....Too little pace and the ball may go off line too much and you take the break out of the putt...
 
For me, yes I can read a green fairly well and I think I have a decent putting stroke but I find the two things that mess up my putts more than anything are a) getting too 'mechanical' with the stroke and b) not keeping my head rock steady until the ball is well on its way. IMO putting is mostly about intuition & feel.
Having said that, with the state of our greens at present there's about 50% luck involved too!
 
As Ive only been playing a few years havent played many courses but joined a club in 2008 and my puttung has improved alot since then from poor to average.

As an 18 handicapper I know I can take a few strokes off with the short stick. I am definately holing more short to middle distances and the odd one over a couple of postcodes.

I now have a solid routine that I stick to 80-90% of the time (something I can work on to bring that up as a target this year) I also have only one thought..."no consequences". This helps me get more putts to the hole and if you want them to drop you at least have to do that.

I also take my first practise swing looking at the ball follow by 3 looking at the hole, then just look at the ball and play the shot. Only been doing this nder a year but feel it really helps me.

I know this is not really to do with reading greens, I do take a look at every putt but I felt I should at least get a good routine first and make a good stroke, Im getting there so next onto reading these easy greens.. :p :p :p
 
If in doubt, 1:Focus on the pace 2:Focus on the pace 3:Focus on the pace, then aim straight at the hole, at amateur level if you get the pace right and aim at the hole quite a few will drop, don't over complicate, just my opinion!
 
You have to learn what type of putter you are first. Are you a have a go merchant or a dawdle it up to the hole stone dead. This will have a huge effect on your reading of the greens. The bolder you are then the less break generally you need to play for and vice versa. At our level I would assume all that is needed is an idea of which direction the ball breaks if at all and then work on pace alone.

The last thing I always say to my partners is 'think pace'
 
I'm really bad at reading break but I like to putt so the ball dies in the cup and have developed a good feel for pace. As a result i've had a few drop that if struck firmer would have lipped out. Even if I get the break horribly wrong I'm there or thereabouts for a simple second putt. Have to agree with earlier posts that if you putt to die in the cup you'll make more putts.
 
I would consider myself good at reading greens, I only have a quick look from behind and side on then go for it.

I seem to get a feel for the break and pace and usually get it close at worst.
Was out today at lundin links and was playing well with a few single putts and was +1 after 7, then we decided to head in due Mike's hangover and my 7 at 8 :o
 
......it is not over reading the greens.
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If you under read, it will NEVER go in



I think a lot of amateurs see pros putting on excessively quick greens were break is magnafied whereas we putt on slower greens where the break is not as much but as amateurs read it as the pros do on the telly when there is not as much break at all.
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If you don't mind me saying.... Absolute twaddle. What you see in 2-d on "telly" rarely shows the full break and therefore has no relationship with what we can see in 3-d on the course.

I would hazard a guess that where there is a significant break in the putt, most of us will leave the ball BELOW the hole rather than above which is what you are suggesting.
 
If you under read, it will NEVER go in
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I disagree... it depends how badly you miss hit it :D

I reckon I am an excellent reader of greens. the reason I say that is because if you doubt your abilities then you are only applying extra pressure to yourself.

I can also hit 600yrd drives and shape the ball to suit whatever is needed
 
Thanks for the replies guys, some interesting views.

I totally agree that pace is the key and that is something that I really want to work on in my putting. That and holing out from 3 feet and in. If I can really improve on these two areas that I think everything else (putting wise) will take care of it's self.
 
I reckon I am probably the worst putter ever to grace this forum.

Out of ten my green reading ability is 0.1.

My best 18 so far is 104, pretty sure if I cut putt I would be shooting around the 90 mark most rounds.
 
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