Reading greens effectively will give us better opportunities to hole more putts. Here we are going to discuss some key features of reading a putt. By the end of this lesson you will have a better understanding of the process to effectively read greens.

Importance Of Pace

Before we get into reading the break of a putt, we need to establish the pace at which we want the ball to roll. This is an important aspect of putting as a whole because the pace at which you hit the putt will determine the amount of break the ball will have.

For instance a firmer putt will tend to roll a little straighter and nullify much of the break within the first portion of the putt. A softer, dead weight putt will be more susceptible to the contours of the green and will have more break.

I strongly recommend developing a pace that is consistent for every putt you hit. Whether this be dead weight, where the ball only just falls in the hole, or a firmer pace where the ball drives onto the back lip.

The reason for this, is by developing a consistent pace you will be able to learn from every putt. Whether you make or miss the putt, your mind will be able to associate and learn from how the ball reacted in relation to the amount of break you observed.

Becoming a great reader of greens isn’t something that comes to you overnight. It’s a continuous learning process.

Breaking Down the Putt Into 4 Sections

In order to effectively read putts, we can break each read into 4 sections.

Generalized Assessment of The Green  •  Entry Point   •   Apex   •   Starting Line

Generalized Assessment:

Assessing the contours of the green is a good starting point in order to create a detailed line for the ball to roll. Observing high and low points of the green will give a good idea of how the green slopes as a whole.

Always be observant when approaching the green. Take note of how your ball moves when you hit your approach shots. If you get the chance watch how your playing partners putts roll.

This information and assessment could potentially reveal any hidden or overlooked breaks which your putt may be influenced by. Key things to identify are, the severity of break and whether we’re putting uphill or downhill. These two elements will have a big influence on how we read the next sections.

Entry Point:

Once we’ve assessed the green and determined the severity of break we want to establish an entry point into the hole. We want to divide the hole into a clock face as shown in the image, with 6 o’clock being at the front center.

Now depending on the severity of break we are gong to select a number at which we want the ball to enter the cup. For instance a dead straight putt will enter at 6 o’clock, whereas a severely left-to-right breaking putt will enter closer to 8-9 o’clock.

Whichever ‘time’ we want the ball to enter effectively becomes the center of the hole.

Apex Point:

This is the highest point at which the putt will break. When the ball reaches this apex point it will effectively be the furthest point away from the center line between the ball and the hole.

Now the apex point wont necessarily be mid-way between the ball and the hole. It’s position will be influenced by the gradient of the putt, whether it’s uphill or downhill. There is a general rule of thumb we can use.

An uphill putt will tend to break a little later. Therefore we would want to locate the apex point closer to the hole.

This is because the ball will be traveling faster in the initial stages of the putt, as a compensation for the uphill slope. A putt hit firmer and traveling faster is less likely to be affected by the break/slope of the green.

A downhill putt will be hit with less velocity which means the ball will be influenced more by the slope of the green. Therefore we want to select an apex point a little closer to the ball.

Starting Line:

So with the apex point and entry point established we want to start visualizing the overall curvature of the putt. Painting this image and picturing how the ball is going to move will help determine a starting line/point for which we want the ball to roll on.

Selecting a point a few inches in front of the ball can make alignment a much easier task. This point should be on the line of the curve we anticipate.

The starting point may not necessarily be a target directly between the ball and the apex. The initial stages of the putt may have some break we would need to compensate for.

Over The Ball

Once we’ve selected our line, it’s time to address the ball. Now reading the putt doesn’t stop once we’ve established a line from behind the ball or wherever we have read the putt from. We still want to be actively reading the putt even when we are over the ball.

Its important to be following the curvature of our visualized putt when making our practice strokes. At this point we are getting a good feel for the putt and associating it with the line we selected.

If were not happy with how the putt feels, then step away and get a second read or simply make some minor adjustments over the ball (such as airing slightly inside or outside the points we’ve selected.

Prior to executing the putt read the line from the ball to the hole and back again to solidify the feel and image in our mind.

Always trust the line you’ve chose! Even if it doesn’t result in the ball going in the hole it will help you make accurate and necessary adjustments the next time your faced with a similar putt. Missing a putt you committed to always feels better than missing a putt you didn’t commit to.

Always be sure to make post shot analysis of how the putt broke and the distance control of the putt. This information will help you make positive adjustments the next time your in a familiar situation. Remember that becoming a good reader of greens is a constant learning process.