Instruction - Reading
the Green
If you're an avid golfer and spend every
waking moment thinking about how to improve your game and every sleeping
moment dreaming about putting like a pro then you already know that the
difference between a high score and a low score, winning and losing,
being a hero or goat revolves around a good putting game. Obviously
hours of practice putting will significantly improve your golf game but
in order to really score like the pros you need to develop the ability
and skill of learning to read the green.
A mediocre golfer will just walk up to
their golf ball and putt without really placing any thought into what
they are doing. A good golfer will take their time and address their
golf ball concentrating the whole time to line up their putt. A master
golfer will do all of the above along with several other actions in
order to sink their putt but the biggest difference is their ability to
predict their golf ball's path and speed based on their read of the
putting green. The Master golfers know that the art of precise aim and
control over a golf ball doesn't help you out if you can't accurately
predict where your golf ball will go once hit by your putter.
The best way to accurately read the
green is to avoid doing what the professional golfers do when they read
their greens. Remember, these guys are pros and have been doing this for
quite some time so they have considerable experience when it comes to
easily reading golf greens. For the novice or beginner golfer, don't be
afraid to get down on your hands and knees and carefully study the
ground between your golf ball and the cup. It's also highly recommended
that you lay one of your clubs down on the ground and carefully observe
the ground that runs along the shaft of your golf club.
When scanning the golf green you want to
keep an eye out for any bumps, no matter how small, any curves or small
hills. Try and formulate a rough estimate on what the ratio is between
downhill and uphill terrain between your ball and the cup. Consider how
dry or wet the grass is because a golf ball has the capability of
traveling an additional 9 to 13 inches over wet grass when compared to a
dry green.
Believe it or not even the way the grass
is cut can have an effect on the distance your golf ball travels after
being hit by your putter. A condition known as double cutting where the
grass is cut in one direction then cut again in a perpendicular
direction can change the distance your golf ball travels by 5 to 10
inches. The grass height can also affect your putt. The lower the grass
is cut the farther your ball can travel.
As you can see there are many different
factors and variables that need to be looked at in order to properly
read a putting green. Correctly read the green and you could
dramatically improve your golf game score by slicing a few strokes off
your golfing score. Improperly read the green and most likely you'll
need to spend more time on the practice green in order to learn how to
properly putt.
Timothy Gorman is a successful Webmaster
and publisher of Golf-Swing-Improvement.com. He provides more golf swing
tips, putting tips and more information on
becoming a better putter that you can research in your pajamas on
his website.
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