Reading putts from behind the hole

Since I started to do this, my reading of putting lines has improved lots.

Anyone who has trouble reading lines should try this. Try and do it when others are putting, mind. We don't want you becoming a green-stalker.

Mercurio wrote:Since I started to do this, my reading of putting lines has improved lots.

Anyone who has trouble reading lines should try this. Try and do it when others are putting, mind. We don't want you becoming a green-stalker.

practise,practise,practise is my main advice on putting and reading lines- it gets so much easier with practise and use any method that helps you out- on some putts is very good to look from the back. The first thing to do if you have difficulty with putting is making sure you have a perfect on line putting stroke that can hold under pressure- no point in being able to read every line on planet earth of you cant hit it where you want it.

Most people that have got to the point of having a lovely consitant putting stroke have got to a very good level of being able to read putts anyway- it takes time and as said before loads of practise.

My problem with putting is that having played my home course for nearly 30 years, I find I don't really need to read them, I know what they are going to do. A quick glance to confirm what I expect and off we go. My problems start when I play away courses, then I find out how useless at green reading I really am!

I have started doing this in the last couple of months, and think I can see the line a lot better than before, just being confident now to commit to it.

I find the secret is to look at a putt from the low side. ie from behind the ball on an uphill putt and behind the hole on a downhill putt.

The secret to reading the line is having the same tempo for every stroke. Keep that consistent and your distance control improves meaning your putts arrive at the hole at a more consistent pace. If that pace keeps changing then so will your perception of the correct line.

You also have to accept that every putt is effectively a straight putt, it's only the shape/form of the green that affects it.
You should not try to shape a putt, so I agree with Lairdy, the same smooth stroke/tempo should always be used.

super_realist wrote:You should not try to shape a putt,

lol

i always try to work the ball against the slope, so if the green slopes left to right i'll try and putt with a draw or fade my putt if it breaks to the left.

I think nearly everyone does Ray. Some deliberately others subconsciously. I did a bit of self research when I got the iPing cradle I found I was closing the face on left to righters and opening the face on right to lefters. Rather than keeping it straight and trusting my read+pace. Even when it's revealed what you're doing it's still hard to correct. It's a big thing to work on because it's so so much easier to grasp pace if you square on impact each time rather than having the spin that an open or closed face will generate.

JAS wrote:I think nearly everyone does Ray. Some deliberately others subconsciously. I did a bit of self research when I got the iPing cradle I found I was closing the face on left to righters and opening the face on right to lefters. Rather than keeping it straight and trusting my read+pace. Even when it's revealed what you're doing it's still hard to correct. It's a big thing to work on because it's so so much easier to grasp pace if you square on impact each time rather than having the spin that an open or closed face will generate.

really? I was only joking. I just keep my head down and focus on straight back and through, following the line drawn on my ball. When out on the course I pick a particular spot and aim at it... isn't that what most people do?

That ping cradle sounds like a great toy. I've started practicing my putting by finding a flat area of the green and aiming at a tee from 12-15 feet. When I consistently hit it then I know my stroke is pure.

I believe there's a section in Harvey Penick's Red Book that suggests a player might slice a putt to help counter right-to-left break. I think he says you can do so by hitting off the toe (but also adds that you can't or shouldn't try to do the opposite, i.e. hook a putt through heel contact).