One of the most important skills in learning how to play golf is being able to read putts and read greens.
Golfers need to be able to perceive how a putt will move along the putting surface, in terms of both speed (how fast a putt will move on the intended line, or track, to the hole) and break (how much a putt will move from side to side on the intended line to the hole). If they can read greens, then, and only then, can they effectively match their read to a putting stroke that will get the ball in the hole.
Of course, every putt is different. Some are fast, while others are slow. Putts can be flat, go uphill and downhill -- for all, some or none of a putt. The length of a putt plays a big factor in determining how much power to hit the ball with using a putter. A putt can have a lot of break, which requires a player to hit the ball a longer distance than directly at the hole to account for how much the topography of the green will force the ball to move.
For beginning, novice and expert golfers along, reading greens and putts can be difficult and frustrating. But if you get the basics of green reading right, then you have a much better chance of making putts. Let's talk about the three things every golfer has to understand to read a putt.
What golfers should look for when reading putts
Will the putt be rolling downhill, uphill or on a flat surface? There are two key components to putting: line and speed. The biggest portion of the speed component in reading a putt is knowing the topography of the portion of the green that the ball will travel over to the hole, also known as slope. What you need to figure out is the topography of the putt in total.
Some putts are all uphill. Some are all downhill. Some are practically flat the entire way. However, many putts have some combination of all three, and the golfer has to figure out, in the main, what the putt will do in total. If the putt is net uphill, then you'll have to hit it a little harder than a net flat putt. If the putt is net downhill, then you're going to hit it softer than a flat putt. If the putt is basically flat, then you will hit the putt the exact distance it appears to your eye.
What kind of side-to-side break is there in the putt? Typically, a putt has some kind of break to it -- and that's the amount of side-to-side movement that a putt will take on the path to the hole. Break means aiming to the left or the right of the dead-center of the cup to account for the net influence that topography will have on the ball.
Admittedly, figuring out how to read break (and slope) takes a lot of experience. You'll have to learn how to read break that fits your putting style. Some people prefer to play less break and hit their putts harder. Some prefer to play more break and hit their putts softer. However, there are typically a range of ways to match line and speed to make any single putt.
Is there any kind of grain in the grass on the putting green? There are some putting green grasses -- like Bermudagrass and paspalum -- that have a built-in grain to them. They grow along the ground more than growing up, and that can create different exposure of the grass to the golfer. When the grain is "with" a player, or moving toward the target (the hole), then the putt is going to go faster. When the grain is "against" the player, then the putt is going to move slower. There can be portions of putts that are with and against the grain on these types of surfaces.
What's critical is to learn to see grain. If you see a section of Bermudagrass green that is shiny to your eye, then that's the part of the green where the grain is going with you. If you see a section that looks more dull, that section is against the golfer. You have to learn how to net out the effect of grain on these surfaces, as they can have a significant influence on the speed of the putt on top of slope and break.
