[wMceqj7F]

JB's thread about putting got me thinking. How well do you read a green? My father keeps lecturing me on the grain of the grass. I can't see it. Maybe I should get those special sunglasses for golf - then I would see the different shades of green. Do you take into account the firmness, how wet/dry the green is, the type of grass, the time of day and the wind when you're determining how to play the break. Are you able to read a triple break accurately? Do you plumb bob?

[nermise]

I read the greens pretty well I think. I am also a believer that Plumb Bobbing does not work. Actually I think some guys proved that it did not work a while back.

[prearpaccew]

I usually read the greens fairly well, at least until it gets complicated (multi-tier, triple breaks, etc). I've noticed that when using my Bolle polarized glasses I notice more as far as the look of a green than without. I may not make all of my putts, but I'm averaging under 2 putts/hole for the year which makes me happy.

Now if I'd just stop wimping out and not chipping far enough to leave an easier first putt, I'd probably be closer to 1.5 putts/hole!

[nermise]

Go back and watch THP TV Osahar. Andy has a good one on that.

[AbraxiaAsus]

i dont plumb-bob nor do i read the "grain" of the green. i just (try to) read the break as best i can and let the SeeMore do the rest :-)

[bloriMal]

I am fairly decent at reading the greens, just need to work on getting my distance set. I have a lot of putts which are dead inline with the cup but come up a touch short, or they roll just over the lip. Sank a couple of nice 12-15 footers today & it felt great.


I too agree that plumb bobbing is horse hockey, I see a few folks trying to copy the last few holdouts on the pro circuit..ala Kenny Perry who still try to plumb bob, & without exception none of them ever sink those putts.

[prearpaccew]

Go back and watch THP TV Osahar. Andy has a good one on that.

I have. It's helping, now I just need to gauge the distance and amount of roll I'll get better. The other day my distance was great, but wasn't getting any release and roll, it was stopping within a foot which is unusual for me.

[MP+4]

I can't plum bob and do not notice the grain. I've improved my speed this year by relaxing my grip which has helped a ton. Playing a new course in a league this year and I haven't caught on to the breaks yet.

[bloriMal]

Worst thing about putting is on most of the courses around here every green is a different speed. It's not like the PGA where every single green on the course rolls at the same speed. Pound one to get it to the hole on 1 green & then use half that force on the next hole & it rolls right past the hole & off the green.

[GogaMegaPiska]

I've improved my speed this year by relaxing my grip which has helped a ton.

Same here, the last thing I do before I pull the trigger with putts is release the tension of my grip and make sure I am not taking a white knuckle grip with the putter.

Diane, is there much grain in the greens in CT?? We don't have many if any courses here where grain is a factor.

I am okay at reading breaks, I don't make a lot of putts outside of ten feet, but then again I don't three putt very often either. On the longer putts I am more of a "three foot circle" type of putter.

[wMceqj7F]

Diane, is there much grain in the greens in CT?? We don't have many if any courses here where grain is a factor.

Full disclosure - my family says watching me read a green is painful.

The greens here are typically bent grass. People tell me that you can see the grain depending on the time of day. I don't see it though. Perhaps another New Englander can answer better than I can.

[bF8CCmmr]

I'll confess too, Diane, I stink at reading greens. I just don't know how, or what I'm looking for. I can see the little hills and what's higher or lower, but beyond that I'm stymied.

Maybe a good THP article or THP TV film would be, thoroughly, how to read a green. (For someone else to write, haha!)

[Relsenlilky]

I am notorious for incorrectly reading the break of green when I am faced with one. My biggest problem was not reading enough break, and missing putts below the hole. So what I did was to teach myself that what ever the break was that I thought I saw, I would jut add more to it. The steeper the break, the more I would add. So, if I saw what I thought was a 6" break from 10', I would add an additional 2", and then putt towards the 8" break spot. After doing this, I found I was making more putts because I was giving the ball more the cup to run into. When I miss a breaker now, I usually miss it on the high side.

Something else I read some where was that after taking, and deciding on the line (spot) you want to roll the ball on, don't change from that spot after taking your stance. What happens is, you look at the putt at hand from behind the ball, and your eyes/mind see what they see. Then, when you take your stance over the putt from the side of the ball, your mind/eyes see something totally different.

As for reading the grain of the of the grass, I don't worry too much about it anymore. It is what it is at the time I am playing. A few practice putts to get adjusted to the green(s) I am playing on (imho) takes care of the grain thing. If I do look at grain, I will look and see what side of the cup that grass is growing into.

Triple breakers are fun to play with if you can find them on a practice green. All I do with those is break the putt down onto 3 separate putts. If a putt has a right, left and then another right break to it, all you have to do is just figure out the start, and finish points of each break, and then try to roll the ball so that it will roll over each of those points. Of course the hard part is seeing multiple breaks in the first place..

After reading greens, the next, but equally important thing is putting speed. Putting speed, and how to get it work with one's chosen putting line is a personal thing. You have to teach yourself to do this. No one can teach you how fast or slow to roll a ball, and have it fall into the cup. One thing I do know is that speed is most critical the closer the ball gets to the hole since it is slowing down. The slower the ball is rolling the more effect the green's surface will have on it. Because of this factor it is wise to study the area around the cup, more so than where the putt is starting from. Also you can't be hesitant about rolling the ball past the hole.

Plumb bobbing works for some, and not for others. I don't use it because I was told at a Billy Casper clinic that since I am right handed, but left eye dominant it would be a waste of time for me depend on it. I don't know if there is any truth to that, or not, but at the time it sounded good.

My apologies for being so long winded.............

[infarrelisam]

I would say that I probably read greens as well as the average golfer. Maybe I'm giving myself too much credit though, I don't look for grain in the grass, I don't pay attention to if a green has water nearby(green always breaks towards water, etc.), but I do try and view from a multiple angles.

[AlistDakisa]

Full disclosure - my family says watching me read a green is painful.

The greens here are typically bent grass. People tell me that you can see the grain depending on the time of day. I don't see it though. Perhaps another New Englander can answer better than I can.

When I started playing, I lived on the "break line" between bent and bermuda greens. Everything north was bent and south was bermuda. Consequently, I had to learn to read the "grain" when we played bermuda. We never considered that bent had any grain. I suppose when you see the heavy grain effect on bermuda, bent doesn't seem nearly as bad. Whenever I read a green, I am looking for where the water runs off to establish the direction of break. I imagine pouring a cup of water out on the highest part of the green and seeing where it flows. That helps me establish the slope and tells me my aimpoint for my putt. Works for me.

[finasteride]

JB's thread about putting got me thinking. How well do you read a green? My father keeps lecturing me on the grain of the grass. I can't see it. Maybe I should get those special sunglasses for golf - then I would see the different shades of green. Do you take into account the firmness, how wet/dry the green is, the type of grass, the time of day and the wind when you're determining how to play the break. Are you able to read a triple break accurately? Do you plumb bob?

I like to think I read the green pretty well. Rarely do I putt more than 32 times a round. If I do I'm Sponge Bobbing more so than plumb bobbing.