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putting

• PlopDog 4 Posts

  Sun, Mar 15 2009 10:51 AM

  Greetings fraternity of "whiteballers"

  Help, I'm stuck in "3 putt hell". Can anyone give a clue on how to judge the break when putting, other than what the WGT and youtube tutorials say.

  Thanks in advance.

• drivnchaos 286 Posts

  Sun, Mar 15 2009 4:51 PM

  The best I can figure is the faster the dots move the more the break. Also the up and down to the hole. Here' s my method...if they're really fast, a half to a whole square up depending on the distance. Also if you put a little extra power on, the break has less effect but then the dreaded fly-by comes into play. Other than that I guess practice practice practice !

  Enjoy your play

  Mike  

• TrickMilton 27 Posts

  Sun, Mar 15 2009 7:27 PM

  In my opinion, the best way to learn to putt is by first learning the compensated distances, and then you can get a better feel for left and right break. Here's how I putt, maybe it will help.

  First, I judge length. I don't think about left or right break at all. lets say I have a 25 ft putt. If the putt is uphill 0 inches I always give it 2 more feet (27 ft). If it is downhill 0 inch, I give it about 1 more feet (26 ft). Moving on to larger deviations ...

  On all putts that are uphill 1 or more inches, I add the uphill figure but in feet to my putt plus 1. (e.g. 25 ft putt, 7 in uphill, I will hit approx. 33 feet. 25 + 7 +1)

  On all putts that are downhill 1 or more inches, I subtract about 60% of the downhill figure in feet. (3 in = subtract 2 feet, 4 in = sub 2.5 ft, 5 in = 3 ft, 6 in = 3.5 ft , 7 in = 4 ft, etc.) 25 foot putt, 10 in down hill I would putt about 19 feet. 

  Now the way I read the greens for break is in sections, 3-4 boxes at a time starting at the putter, and I adjust the putting line every section according to what that section should do. Really judging the break just takes a feel that you can only learn by playing. Hope this helps, Good Luck

• jbowles824 67 Posts

  Wed, Mar 18 2009 9:42 PM

   

  My tee to green is not bad, it's the putting I have a hard time with too. This may sound dumb at first, but I work a lot at the skill challenge. Even if I am not great at it, the closer I am to the flag when I shoot at the green, the less distance I have to putt from.

  There have been times I am within 6 feet and two putt, I hate that. But I am going to have to practice to get better at putting. But if you hit the ball close on the shot to the green, it won't be as big an issue. Now if I could just DO THAT.

• sealseal 67 Posts

  Thu, Aug 13 2009 7:07 PM

  Just play against the dots (brake), hit it the correct power, and hit it perfect.

• suikerbiet77 1 Posts

  Sun, Nov 13 2011 7:30 AM

  Thanks for sharing your method. I applied it, and it works for me.

• cycle1979 1,555 Posts

  Mon, Nov 21 2011 7:36 AM

  Trick's suggestions are the closest but doesn't take in account for green speeds.  In his example of a 25 foot putt that is 10 inches downhill on tournament greens, a 19 foot putt will go past the hole atleast 25 feet.  On tournament greens that putt should be hit closer to 9 or 10 feet to compensate for the speed of the greens.

  You just have to have a similar system to what Trick suggested and keep practicing and adjusting your system until you figure out the distances.

  Once you figure out the distance you will atleast 2 putt everything and will eventually start figuring out the breaks just by trial and error.

  Practice practice practice.

   

• YankeeJim 25,827 Posts

  Mon, Nov 21 2011 7:52 AM

  Start by looking at the entire green as being a flat grid. That's what it is to the game. Now, envision the green as a cd with the pin in the center. How does that cd have to be tilted to represent the way the dots are moving? This gives you a feel for the size and speed of the break and how the ball will tend to roll. You know you're always going to aim on the high side of the break so figuring out how much to compensate for it becomes repetition. The more you do it, the better the feel will become.

  It helps to start your aim the same way every time so you can compare results. I like to draw a perpendicular line from the ball to the grid line that intersects the cup. Then look at how fast the dots are crossing that line and adjust from there. You have to train your eyes to just see the dots crossing your aim  line and block out the moving ones that are a grid away.