9 min
Brad Faxon on Reading Greens
In this video, Titleist staff members Jason Baile and Brad Faxon discuss reading greens and if there's one point you MUST take away from their conversation it's this: Take responsibility for reading your own putts! You have a unique perspective on every putt you face and you are ultimately the best person to pick a starting line and match it to a speed, based on the putt you envision in your mind's eye.
When reading putting greens, try some of Jason and Brad's key tips:
• Whenever possible, try to approach the green from the front. Take in the pitch of the green complex. Is it flat? Pitched from back to front (most greens are designed this way for drainage purposes)? Canted or banked to the left or right? Try to envision where water would run off the green. That will inform you on the general direction of the slope.
• As you mark your ball on the green, take a look at your putt from behind the ball. First determine if your putt is uphill, downhill, or fairly level.
• Next, try to determine if the sidehill break. Will the golf ball fall left? Fall right? Or is it relatively straight? Walk to the side and look at your putt from the low side of the putt (the side towards which you feel your ball will break). Confirm or reject your initial read by determining if the cup in higher or lower than terrain on the opposite side of the putt is higher or lower than where you are standing. If what you're seeing is inconclusive, move to the opposite side of the putt for that side-view.
• Perform your reading "due diligence" while your playing partners are putting out. Much like "Ready Golf", doing your homework as others putt is not discourteous and it won't slow play.
• When it's your turn to putt, convert all the information and impressions you've gathered and translate it into a mental image of how your ball will roll, break and fall into the cup. Address your ball and make that picture come to life.
When reading putting greens, try some of Jason and Brad's key tips:
• Whenever possible, try to approach the green from the front. Take in the pitch of the green complex. Is it flat? Pitched from back to front (most greens are designed this way for drainage purposes)? Canted or banked to the left or right? Try to envision where water would run off the green. That will inform you on the general direction of the slope.
• As you mark your ball on the green, take a look at your putt from behind the ball. First determine if your putt is uphill, downhill, or fairly level.
• Next, try to determine if the sidehill break. Will the golf ball fall left? Fall right? Or is it relatively straight? Walk to the side and look at your putt from the low side of the putt (the side towards which you feel your ball will break). Confirm or reject your initial read by determining if the cup in higher or lower than terrain on the opposite side of the putt is higher or lower than where you are standing. If what you're seeing is inconclusive, move to the opposite side of the putt for that side-view.
• Perform your reading "due diligence" while your playing partners are putting out. Much like "Ready Golf", doing your homework as others putt is not discourteous and it won't slow play.
• When it's your turn to putt, convert all the information and impressions you've gathered and translate it into a mental image of how your ball will roll, break and fall into the cup. Address your ball and make that picture come to life.
