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Reading the putt break: Help

• pdiehm 292 Posts

  Wed, Jun 16 2021 6:04 AM

  I'm a decent player, not great, not bad.  I can just as easily go -8 in a 9 hole round as I can -2.  My stats say that I'm averaging 1.52 putts per hole, however, that number was markedly higher until level 85 or so and it's probably closer to 1.3 putts per hold than 1.52 these days.

   

  That said, when I get a 6-8' putt, there's probably a better than 90% chance I'm going to miss it.  And that's the frustrating part of this.  You can approach on average to 2 yards, but if you can't seal the deal, then it's worthless to approach well.

   

  My issue isn't with speed, my speed on average is pretty good.  I use Young46's formula and it works pretty well.  My issue is understanding how much or how little break to play on putts.  I'm not entirely sure how to figure that out as in that 6-8' range, I'm either high (mostly) or low.  very little in between.  

   

  I also seem to have a very large number of lipouts (I call it being championed) where anything that hits the edge will not fall, and spinouts are very very common.  

   

  Any help or tips is greatly appreciated.  

   

  PS:  I also find the putting green 100% useless as it's only 3 of the courses you play.  We should be able to pick any of the putting greens in the game to practice on.  

   

• twinponds169 3,043 Posts

  Wed, Jun 16 2021 6:59 AM

  pdiehm:

  That said, when I get a 6-8' putt, there's probably a better than 90% chance I'm going to miss it

  Only a 90% chance of missing it? Heck, I'm more like 95%, lol. My putting has been an absolute disaster since 12/29/20. I have more confidence and success in sinking a 20 or 30 footer than I do a 5 footer.

  I've always been an off ding putter and had gotten pretty good at it over the years, that all went out the window with the end of Flash. Off dinging is drastically different now and much more difficult to gauge. I've never counted dots or any of that stuff, but nowadays the dots are just a bunch of lying bass turds much of the time. Love it when you have one showing very little movement and it falls off the shelf the second your putter hits it.

  I too have no issues with speed or such but the whole putting thing in general is like playing the lottery or a scratch off ticket these days, and it is making the game far more frustrating and far less enjoyable.

  When you go at it hard for years to achieve tour champ status and overnight you are back to having tour pro like game results even though you are doing nothing much different, the fun is gone.

• Dave33200 2,955 Posts

  Wed, Jun 16 2021 9:40 AM

  twinponds169:

  pdiehm:

  That said, when I get a 6-8' putt, there's probably a better than 90% chance I'm going to miss it

  Only a 90% chance of missing it? Heck, I'm more like 95%, lol. My putting has been an absolute disaster since 12/29/20. I have more confidence and success in sinking a 20 or 30 footer than I do a 5 footer.

  I've always been an off ding putter and had gotten pretty good at it over the years, that all went out the window with the end of Flash. Off dinging is drastically different now and much more difficult to gauge. I've never counted dots or any of that stuff, but nowadays the dots are just a bunch of lying bass turds much of the time. Love it when you have one showing very little movement and it falls off the shelf the second your putter hits it.

  I too have no issues with speed or such but the whole putting thing in general is like playing the lottery or a scratch off ticket these days, and it is making the game far more frustrating and far less enjoyable.

  When you go at it hard for years to achieve tour champ status and overnight you are back to having tour pro like game results even though you are doing nothing much different, the fun is gone.

  In the new version of the game how is your putting grid set up in settings? In standard mode the dots move slower so you have to use more off-set, in classic mode the dot speed & off set is very close to what the flash version was. 

   

  Dave. 

• pdiehm 292 Posts

  Wed, Jun 16 2021 9:50 AM

  I play on mobile.  

• Tabarnak777 176 Posts

  Wed, Jun 16 2021 3:44 PM

  pdiehm:

   it's probably closer to 1.3 putts per hold

  Then you don't have to worry. Top players have between 1.25 and 1.30 avg.

• Cicero733 2,312 Posts

  Wed, Jun 16 2021 5:49 PM

  In mobile it’s a combination of pace and alignment and alignment is pretty much by feel. Practice by using the alignment you feel is appropriate. Then start matching the pace to the alignment adjusting the pace until the ball rolls in. Like building muscle memory. As a general rule, I notice that when I start missing putts I need to add more pace. With the formula I use, 6’ or less I add 2’ additional feet to the calculation. Between 6’ and 10’ I add 1.5’ additional. Above 10 i usually only add .5’ additional feet.

• pdiehm 292 Posts

  Thu, Jun 17 2021 7:02 AM

  i'm just guessing here.  it may be 1.3 to 1.4.  it's not awful.  the biggest issue is those 5-8' putts...that's where i pull what's left of my hair out.

   

• SamSpayed 5,018 Posts

  Thu, Jun 17 2021 12:28 PM

  pdiehm:

  the biggest issue is those 5-8' putts...that's where i pull what's left of my hair out.

  So, on those 5-8' putts, which ones are you missing?  Straight-in ones, ones with just a little bit of break, ones with a moderate break, or the crazy-breakers?   And, are you missing them on the high side, or the low side?  

  I'm not the best putter in the world, but I generally do OK.  One thing maybe to try on the 5-8 footers is to hit the putt for an extra 1 foot of power and cut the break in half.  Every putt's different, as you know, but that might help.  Just a thought.

• Babzilla33 910 Posts

  Fri, Jun 18 2021 12:08 AM

  pdiehm:

  i'm just guessing here.  it may be 1.3 to 1.4.  it's not awful.  the biggest issue is those 5-8' putts...that's where i pull what's left of my hair out.

   

  Putting has a lot to do with speed and elevation changes. I’ve always suggested that a putt is broken down into thirds: Strike, travel, and finish.  If you take a look at your line overall, sometimes the flag will show uphill. BUT if you pull the marker back closer to where your putt starts or even somewhere halfway in between, it could very well be traveling downhill for the first 1/3-2/3 of the putt before it ever reaches the “uphill” portion of the green. Therefore your line from contact will have a tendency to start off low and then finish low. Same works in the opposite fashion, a putt the says downhill at the hole but starts uphill. So when you determine your aim, the ball will stay on the high side line longer and then break at the end thus missing or lipping out. 

   

   

  As mentioned before with the 5-8 ft putts, the idea is to find the line that you can execute with a bit more speed and “eliminate” some of that initial or ending break.

  Hope this helps!

   

  -BABZ- 

• Yiannis1970 3,305 Posts

  Fri, Jun 18 2021 6:36 AM

  pdiehm:

  My issue is understanding how much or how little break to play on putts.  I'm not entirely sure how to figure that out as in that 6-8' range, I'm either high (mostly) or low.  very little in between.  

   

  Hello.

  This game is all about references. You say that you are missing many 6-8' putts. If the break is constant, you can try out this:

  Have a round in practice mode. Put yourself in a range of 6-8' for your putt. Count the speed of the dots till you come up with an average number (let's say 7 seconds). Try to move the aimer 2 or 3 cups to the side. If the ball goes in, here u go...you have your reference. Distance 8 feet, dot speed 7'', aiming 3 cups. Try always the ding cause the ding is another reference point.

  After that, you adjust your aimer accordingly for various speeds till u get a grip on it.