How to read the green correctly
Reading greens on the golf course can sometimes seem complicated, depending on the speed of the green, for that reason most golfers don’t do it and get carried away by intuition.
But it has a good part. When you learn how to do it you will gain a huge advantage over the rest of players, we know many of them playing golf in Murcia, who have reduced the number of putts just by following the tricks you will see below.
The best part? Learning to read the green on the golf course is much easier than you think. You don’t need complicated calculations just relax and put your intuition to work:
Guidelines for reading green correctly on the golf course
The key to success on the golf course is continuous improvement (not perfection). We have seen many golfers in Murcia reduce their handicap and improve their level of play thanks to the continuous practice of putt. Any small progress in the putt, will be noticed in your results.
Know the processes to read the green
In golf every putt needs a defined strategy. Two processes are involved:
- Determine the fall and speed of the putt.
- Stay focused as you approach to hit the ball.
The ideal is to do it once, some people who play golf in Murcia read the green from multiple perspectives, in the end they get nervous and do not know very well how to make the correct putt. Does this situation sound like?
Follow these steps to do it correctly, and remember, only once! Then you can make your shoot with total confidence.
Steps to read the green correctly on the golf course:
- As you approach the green and your ball, locate the drop lines to the hole.
- Stand behind the hole to see the next putt. Look 2 feet past the hole and mentally place two € 0.05 coins, one two feet to the right of the hole-ball line and another two feet to the left. What currency would be more inclined? This is the direction where the putt will fall when approaching the hole.
- Place yourself in the middle between ball and hole. Are you uphill or downhill? The slope goes in the direction of the foot where you feel more pressure. Listening to your body on the golf course is key to reading the green.
- Get behind the ball and imagine the speed as it goes to the hole. This predicts the line and is key to deciding where to aim.
- If your goal is the ball slip smoothly through the hole, choose a slightly higher line. For a firmer putt the line must be more aggressive.
- Squat down mentally (“coin to coin”) the entire length of the putt. Now that you have learned how the ball will behave when it approaches the hole thanks to step 2, you can put all the pieces together to know how to make the putt. If you feel that there is a fall, look for a reference for the start line of the putt:
- Line up the painted line on your ball with the line set for the putt.
- Select a mark on the green to focus.
- Use the hole as a reference…
At this point the reading of the green will be complete, now you just have to do the putt calmly and with the confidence of having done a good reading.
Remember that experience makes the teacher. As we have already spoken we have seen great players in Murcia improve their green reading only based on adding experience. You will also improve when you try these tricks and above all, repeat them until you master them!