![]() Moving your putterhead from the ball to the hole at the proper speed when you’re calculating distance helps your brain move your arms and putter with the correct amount of energy when you putt the ball for real. From the side of the putt, point your putter at the ball, then pass it over an imaginary line running from the ball to the cup at the same speed you want the putt to roll (above). “Walk” off the distance with your stroke. Remember how far the putt looks from this perspective, then go back to the ball to complete your read.Ģ. This gives you much better appreciation of the overall putt length. ![]() Judge distance from the side of the putt, not from behind the ball. I’ve developed some quick, easy ways to offset the tricks your beautiful blues can, and will, play on you.ġ. Yet the effects can wreak havoc on your reads and your score. You putt to an illusion instead of the hole. If you’re like the majority who take this depth-perception test, you ended up pointing to a spot on the ground (or green) well short of the real target, which floods your motor systems with an improper distance to react to. Give yourself an “eye exam,” using the depth-perception test above. ![]() One of the first things I do with a new client is to make sure they don’t suffer this malady, which is as common as freckles-and just as threatening if left untreated. In some cases, their perceptual error is 25 percent-that means that a 25-footer looks like it only needs to travel 20 feet. Many players I work with are “depth-deficient,” perceiving the location of the hole as closer than it is. | talking green-reading, we tend to focus more on breaks rather than on distance, because golfers think distance is easier to discern than tilt.Īs an optometrist and sports-vision specialist, I know that’s not the case. See and Score Golf Schools, The Palms G.C., La Quinta, Calif. Give Yourself an Eye Exam!ĭo your peepers deceive you? You can’t read putts unless you can judge distance.īy Craig Farnsworth, O.D. Here’s how to see the correct line every single time! Some 25 years ago, Dave Pelz told everyday players to triple the amount of break they saw, and that’s as true now as it was then. Our study subjects misread everything, no matter where they stood or crouched. Initially, our research team simply sought to determine the ideal position from which to accurately detect slope (behind the hole, behind the ball, etc.), but results showed view position to be meaningless to good green-reading. In our study, we assessed the green-reading skill of 72 golfers just like you. All of these flawed reads add up to lots of lost strokes, even with perfect putting technique. ![]() Sixty-five percent of golfers under-read the break on a typical putt, according to a Golf Magazine–sponsored study conducted at the Pinehurst Golf Academy. You’ll soon detect the subtlest bumps, bends and breaks, learning to read the trickiest greens as if they have subtitles.įIRST THINGS FIRST: We Seriously Under-Read Our Putts! ![]() PGA Tour star Adam Scott has cracked the code, becoming the world’s best green-reader, so start by trying the 11-time Tour winner’s groundbreaking method.īeyond Scott, we have six more easy-to-learn techniques from golf’s keenest putting minds. As a new season beckons, now’s the time to raise your reading level-and save a fistful of strokes. That won’t get you close to the hole, let alone “in.” You’re not the only one reading, and weeping, on the greens.Ī new Golf Magazine study shows that America is massively misjudging the slope under its collective FootJoys, under-reading putts by a whopping 65 percent, on average. You read almost every putt, but if you’re like most players, your routine is guesswork disguised as green-reading. ![]()
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