Tip #31: Learn to Read the Green

A good putting stroke is only half of what you need to become a good putter. The other side is artistic -- reading the green.

Good green reading comes with experience. After hitting enough putts over enough different types of terrain and grass, you develop a sixth sense of how the ball will roll. As you walk onto a green, whether you realize it or not, you take in all sorts of subtle information.

If the green appears light, you know you're putting against the grain; if it's dark you're downgrain. If the green is set on a high area of the course and you feel a breeze as you step onto it, you sense that the putt will be fast. Even if you don't look closely at the surrounding terrain, you are aware of any major slope in the land.

Without having to tell yourself, you know which is the low side of the green and which is the high. If the putting surface is hard and crusty under foot, you receive one message, if it's soft and spongy you get another. Experience with many, many putts allows you to run this data through your mind before you even mark your ball.

The most elusive aspect of green reading has to do with the grain. Grain refers to the direction in which the blades of grass grow. The light/dark appearance is one way to read it. Another method you can use is to take your putter blade and scrape it across a patch of fringe. If the blades of grass brush up, you're scraping against the grain. If they mat down, you're scraping with it. (Incidentally, be sure to do this scraping on the fringe. On the greens, it's against Rule 35.)

A third method is to take a look at the cup. Often, the blades of grass will grow over the edge of the cup in the direction in which the grain moves. Grain usually grows toward water, especially toward the ocean, and in the West it's apt to lean toward the mountains. If you're not near any such topography, figure on the grain growing in the direction of the setting sun.

Grain is strongest on bermuda grass, where short, crew-cut-like blades tend to push the ball strongly. Although each putt on each green is different, as a general rule you can figure on stroking the ball about 20 percent harder than usual on a putt that's dead into the grain and about 20 percent less on a downgrain putt.

When the ball breaks with the grain, read-in extra "borrow." When the slope is against the grain, play for less break. These effects are less marked on the long-stemmed bent and other strains of grass, but they are present nonetheless. The break of your putt will also be affected by the firmness of a green, the wetness/dryness, the amount of wind you're facing, and even the time of day. In general, any time you have to hit the ball hard, you play for less break.

Once you have the line in mind, ingrain it by continuing to visualize the ideal path of the putt.

Another way of reading the break on a green is to watch the way other players' putts behave. I'm all for "going to school," but with one caveat: Allow for any difference between your own playing style and those of your fellow players. If, for instance, your friend is a lagger and you're a charger, don't play as much break as he does.

Finally, if I have one hard and fast rule in putting, it's this: Never hit the ball until you have a good vision of the path on which it will roll. Sometimes-we all know those golden moments -- the vision will come to you immediately. You'll "see" the perfect putt the minute you step up to it, and more often than not, you'll sink it just as you saw it.

Other times, it will take much longer to get a picture of the putt, and even then you won't be comfortable. But don't make your stroke until you have the best read you can get. You have to believe in your line if you want to have a good chance of sinking any putt. When the putt has lots of break in it, be sure to visualize the entire path that the ball will take, particularly the last part as it drops.

And if it must come in from one side, visualize that moment in particular. Keep in mind that every cup has sort of a gate or doorway. On straight putts the doorway faces directly parallel to the blade of your putter. On putts that break, however, you have to mentally reposition that doorway -- slide it a bit clockwise or counterclockwise around the cup to allow for the sidewinding approach of the ball.

I'm a confirmed "spot putter," which means that once I have the path of the ideal putt visualized, I pick out a point at the crest of the break and orient my eyes, my putter blade and my mind toward that point rather than at the hole. After all, if my read is correct, and if I hit that spot with the correct speed, the rest of the putt will take care of itself.

So search for those spots and discolorations in the green that you can use to discipline your aim on putts. This practice also teaches you to ensure that the line of your putt is a smooth one, free of twigs, debris, and particularly ball marks. (Ball marks, by the way, are a "hot button" with me. I often repair two or three of them on a green, and I can't understand why every player can't take care of his own. In fact, I once went so far as to suggest that players be fined for failing to repair their ball marks.)

Once you have the line in mind, ingrain it by continuing to visualize the ideal path of the putt. Ingrain the feel for distance too, as you take your practice strokes. Don't just flip the putter back and forth. Stroke an imaginary ball with exactly the force you plan to impart on your putt.

Distance is by far the most important consideration on putts of 20 feet or more. Hit the ball the correct length, and even if you misjudge your direction you'll rarely finish more than a foot or two from the hole. Keep in mind, however, that "proper length" for an aggressive putter means striking the ball with enough force to rattle it into the cup.

The only way to get a touch for distance is to practice. Someday, spend 15 minutes hitting the same 50-foot putt, and at the end of that session you'll be able to hit it consistently to within a couple of feet of the hole. It's just a matter of training your hand and arm muscles to respond to what your eye sees, then refining that ability through repetition.

Long-putt practice always gives me sort of a general sense of feel. For a more refined touch, I like to work on the fast downhillers, particularly those with some break in them. These are without question the hardest putts. Usually, I'll hit them off the toe of the putter. This deadens the hit a bit while still allowing me to make a normal stroke.

I practice uphill putts when I want to work on the mechanics of my stroke. Whereas on a downhiller, you simply want to get the ball moving on the proper line with the proper pace, on the uphiller you have to make it go. If you want to be successful when putting up a steep slope, you must keep your head down and steady, keep the putterhead low going back, and accelerate through the ball -- all hallmarks of a good stroke.

Another great way to practice your stroke is to hit putts first using only your left hand, and then only your right. You can "teach" each of the hands the proper feel much more easily when you work with them one at a time.

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