3.02.03 - Reading Greens & Putts

3.02.03. Abrahams, Jonathan The putting game: Read 'em or weep Golf Mag. 33(5), May 1991, 48-49

3.02.03. Aultman, Dick Golf primer: How to play sloping putts Golf Dig. 31(6), Jun 1980, 150 uphill putts are faster and therefore break less, so don't allow too much break on uphill putts; downhill putts are slower and break more, so allow more break for downhillers.

3.02.03. Epps, Charlie & Yocom, Guy The art of reading greens: There's more to seeing the break than meets the eye Golf Dig. 42(5), May 1991, 72

3.02.03. Farnsworth, Craig L. See It and Sink It: Mastering Putting through Peak Visual performance (New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1997)

3.02.03. Golf Magazine High handicapper: Beat the amateur side Golf Mag. 39(7), Jul 1997, 146-147 148: "[T]he "amateur side" refers to the low side of the hole on a breaking putt." Missing on amateur side has little to do with misreading. "Most often it's a mental mistake: You know how much the putt breaks but you just can't bring yourself to hit the ball that far outside the hole." To help overcome this problem, use a "gate" as in skiing at the break point and keep the ball on the high side of the gate on its path into the hole; like a slalom skier, get the ball close to the gate as it goes by. 147: Drill: alternate gates to demonstrate interrelation between speed and curve of break; read a sloping 10-foot break and place a tee at the gate, then place a 2d tee 3" inside this, and a 3d gate 3" outside the 1st. Putt outside each gate to see how different curves requires different speeds.

3.02.03. Golf Magazine Straight hitter: Beat the big breakers: Sloping greens and breaking putts shouldn't ruin a round Golf Mag. 28(11), Nov 1986, 48 judge speed, pick line, hit straight line, and don't steer.

3.02.03. Guyton, J. Banks Getting on the high side Golf Mag. 14(6), Jun 1972, 80 80: many miss on the low side because they read say 6 inches of break but aim at a spot only 6 less 2.25" or 3.75" from the edge of the hole, when they should aim for spot 6 inches from the edge.

3.02.03. Huntsberger, Janie Get the break right Golf Mag. 16(8), Aug 1974, 74 ball position: back for R-L; normal for straight; off left heel for L-R.

3.02.03. Jones. R. How to read a golf course Golf Australia May/Jun 1991, 42-47 Sydney, Australia

3.02.03. Kite, Tom & Dennis, Larry How to Play Consistent Golf (New York: Golf Digest/Tennis, 1990) 170: "To be honest, I don't think there is any way to tell somebody how to read greens. Reading greens is a learned ability."

3.02.03. Lewis, Beverly Perfecting Your Short Game (New York: Sterling Publishing Co., 1988) 22: develop a green reading routine, such as 1st behind hole; then along side; then behind ball and pick target spot for alignment.

3.02.03. Lumpkin, Jack & Schiffman, Roger How to read greens: Use your eyes, feet and head to get a better feel for the line Golf Dig. 40(9), Sep 1989, 58-59 58: "To read greens effectively, you need to use your senses: your eyes, your ears, your feel. I look at the color of the green, the height of the grass, anything unusual like grains of sand on the putting surface. Deep, bright color generally means slow greens. Slightly off-color or grayinsh or tannish hues usually mean fast greens."

3.02.03. Middlecoff, Cary & Michael, Tom Master Guide to Golf (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1960) 137: "Break depends a great deal on the force behind the putt. Of course, if the ball is travelling quite slowly, it will follow whatever break there is in the green. On the other hand, if it's moving briskly, its momentum will keep it more in line. ... The greater the distance a ball rolls along a slanted green, the more it will veer in the direction of the slant. ... [But] the ball does not maintain the same speed on a putt so that the break isn't consistent. In the early stages of the putt, the ball will be traveling with greater force and hence will tend to stay in line. The sharper break begins when the ball nears the hole and begins to roll more slowly." [138:] "The green may show a sharp break for the first few feet and then level out as the ball nears the hole. Under such circumstances, the tendency is to attach too much importance to the early break; the player allows for too much break and leaves the ball above the cup. The proper approach is to minimize the early break because the ball will have greater momentum in the early stages and will hold more closely to a straight line. When the sharper break is near the hole, allow for the maximum break."

3.02.03. Nicklaus, Jack Jack's playing lesson 25: Reading greens Golf Dig. 30(7), Jul 1979, 54-55

3.02.03. Palmer, Arnold & Dobereiner, Peter Arnold Palmer's Complete Book of Putting (New York: Atheneum, 1986) 31: "Side-hill putts do not travel along a regular parabola but instead trace a path more like the shape of a full drive, taking off straight from the clubface, then gradually bending in a tightening curve until they are slanting sharply downward." 34: "The human eye is a remarkably accurate instrument for detecting variations from the horizontal, that is, slopes on greens, provided that the eye can refer to a genuine horizontal such as the roof of a house or the horizon of the sea. A vertical reference, such as a pine tree, is also helpful because we are all thoroughly indoctrinated in the relationship of right angles by living in a world of rectangular buildings, doors, windows, books, newspapers, picture frames, and the like. If a picture on the wall is askew, we can detect it most easily by observing the horizontal top edge, helped by the arrangement of having two eyes set in a horizontal plane, but most of us are also pretty fair at detecting whether a vertical line is out of true if there happens to be a genuine vertical line handy as a reference. So, on seaside links -- or courses that have the vertical trunks of conifer trees or buildings by the green -- golfers can normally read slopes without much difficulty. But our ability to detect them is seriously impaired when we are denied true references, as in mountainous country. Then, indeed, nature sometimes conspires to confuse us."

3.02.03. Pelz, Dave A study of golfers' abilities to read greens In Cochran, A.J. & Farrally, F.R., eds., Science and Golf II: Proceedings of the 1994 World Scientific Congress of Golf, St. Andrews, Scotland (London: E. & F.N. Spon, 1994), 180-185

3.02.03. Pelz, Dave Flunking grades: On sloping greens, don't putt what you see Golf Mag. 37(12), Dec 1995, 58

3.02.03. Pelz, Dave Golf Magazine's Truth About Putting Golf Mag. (Indianapolis, IN: Golf Mag., 1995) $19.95 plus $3 SH; (800) 526-8927; Golf Magazine, Box 55742, Indianapolis, IN 46205

3.02.03. Pelz, Dave More "truth": It's time to evaluate your progress Golf Mag. 37(7), Jul 1995, 78-79

3.02.03. Pelz, Dave & Frank, James A. The amazing truth about putting Golf Mag. 37(4), Apr 1995, 36-42 38: "[G]reens are built with slopes for drainage. The only straight putts are those directly up or down hill, and many of them break due to grain or surface inconsistencies. (Even short putts have some break, but golfers usually hit them hard enough to minimize it.) The majority of missed putts -- around 85 percent -- miss on the low side, below the hole." 38: "I started moving toward an answer several years ago when Tom Kite asked me about green reading. He didn't understand why golfers try to read break by standing behind the ball, on a line running straight to the hole, since they don't aim at the hole on a sloping putt. I agreed with him because I believe you should stand behind the ball and look down your hitting line on every shot, from drive to putt. Kite and I discussed this many times before I realized what it meant. By looking at the hole instead of the high point of the break, golfers would think putts are straighter than they really are. As a result, they would under-read the break." Golfer think they are aiming lower than they point the putter face, and then hit the ball with a stroke higher than the face points, but still not as high up the slope as necessary. 39: think aimed 25% of true break; actually aim 65% of true break; stroke putt 85% of true break. "In most cases, golfers see only 25 to 30 percent of the real break, then steer the putts to 85 or 95 percent." 40: "I can only describe it as a fight between your conscious and subconscious minds." "Why do we do this? Based on my observations, it seems that we humans see only what we want to see. ... We don't think we can make a big-breaking putt, so we convince ourselves that it is straighter, therefore easier to handle. Then we rely on our subconscious to supply the corrections." 41: Straight stroke Drill

3.02.03. Snead, Sam Reading greens Golf World 3(51), May 31, 1950, 10-11 Look at line from behind hole to see contour and to inspect contour near hole. "The ball should be traveling slowest at the hole, and that's when the grain will affect it the greatest." (p11)

3.02.03. Stockton, Dave & Barkow, Al Dave Stockton's Putt to Win: Secrets for Mastering the Other Game of Golf (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996) 35: "There is no scientific way to determine precisely [36] how much a putt will break or where the ball will begin to break. But the more you work on trying to obtain all information that is available, the better a "guesstimate" you will make. There are ways to come very close to the correct read."

3.02.03. Templeton, H.A. Vector Putting: The Art and Science of Reading Greens and Computing Break (Fort Worth, TX: Vector Golf, Inc., 1984)

3.02.03. Toski, Bob Toski talks golf: The lowdown on reading putts Golf Dig. 35(6), Jun 1984, 109 109: "The closer your eye gets to the surface of the green, the better you can read the contour." read from behind the ball and from behind the hole; also check grain around the hole; "Grass always grows across the hole in the same direction it is cut on the green; in other words, the blades will be neatly clipped on the upgrain side of the cup, while the down grain side will appear worn where the roots have been cut." [NOTE: some say the hole cutter cuts these roots]; "One often overlooked indicator of a green's texture and how it will react is your feet. When you're walking to your ball on the green, pay attention to how the grass feels underneath your spikes. If the surface feels hard and the grass is very thin, you can bet the green will be fairly quick. If there is a lot of grass and then green feels soft, you know the ball will roll relatively slowly."

3.02.03. Toski, Bob Toski talks golf: Trouble with angles Golf Dig. 34(3), Mar 1983, 65 reading greens; "Second guessing leads to three-putting."

3.02.03. Watson, Tom & Seitz, Nick Make more putts by learning to read: Give yourself a break by sizing up the greens the way Watson does Golf Dig. 34(7), Jul 1983, 60-65 read putts with feet feeling the slope; favor pro side of the hole; use caddie at flag for aim point [put caddie on high side]; watch ball whenever it goes past the hole for comeback line; always see some break even on a 3-footer, to increase your concentration and improve your margin of error by making target at hole more precise and smaller. "You hear that you should play less break on Bermuda greens, but that isn't necessarily so. I've played on very fast Bermuda greens that break dramatically." "Also, look for compacted areas around the hole. (Usually, you can see the sheen.) This part of the green will be faster, so beware." "Putts on any type of green will break less late in the day after the grass has grown and become a slower surface."

3.02.03.01. .-- -- -- READ FROM FAIRWAY FOR GENERAL LAY

3.02.03.01. Aultman, Dick Golf primer: Look for an overall tilt to greens Golf Dig. 31(7), Jul 1980, 88

3.02.03.01. Ballesteros, Seve & Andrisani, John Natural Golf (New York: Atheneum, 1988) 122-123: "I start trying to read the slopes of greens when I'm about ten yards away from them, not least because -- especially in late afternoon -- it's easier to see the big undulations from about that distance out. Then, as I mark and lift my ball, I glance at the line between it and the cup to get a preliminary feel for what I'll need to do next. Next, I walk around and check the line from both ends and both sides, to be sure I catch all of the lesser variations in ground contour I have to deal with. To get a bird's eye view of the breaks, I look back to the ball from beyond the cup, then go back to a spot several feet behind the ball and make my final conclusions about break, grain, and speed, usually with the help of my caddie, and I look directly down the line."

3.02.03.01. Cutting, James E. & Vishton, peter M. Perceiving layout and knowing distances: The integration, relative potency, and contextual use of different information about depth In Epstein, William & Rogers, Sheena, eds., Perception of Space and Motion (New York: Academic Press, 2d ed., 1995), ch 3, 71-118

3.02.03.01. Dennis, Larry and Golf Digest Professional teaching Panel & Advisor Staff Art of putting: part 1: judging direction Golf Dig. 26(10), Oct 1975, 32-35 1. sight slope from distance: Middlecoff 150 yds; 2. use your eyes as a level: Runyan; 3. imagine flow of water on green surface to see break: Wiren.

3.02.03.01. Farnsworth, Craig L. See It and Sink It: Mastering Putting through Peak Visual Performance (New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1997) 15-17

3.02.03.01. Floyd, Raymond & Dennis, Larry From Sixty Yards In: How to Master Golf's Short Game (New York: Harper Collins, 1992) 66: "As you approach the green, note how it is set into the surrounding terrain; this is especially important in the mountains." 67: "Playing in the mountains can be particularly deceptive. In general, the putt will almost always break away from the nearest mountain, even when it looks like it will roll in the opposite direction. That's because, appearances to the contrary, the putting surface usually conforms to the overall slope of the terrain."

3.02.03.01. Golf Magazine Low handicapper: Read the green from 100 yards away Golf Mag. 36(4), Apr 1994, 154

3.02.03.01. Golf Magazine Golf Magazine's Handbook of Putting (New York: Harper & Row, 1973; London: Pelham, 1975) 76: "Nicklaus uses a trick that works best on hilly courses where the greens are difficult to read, and a putt looks like it may break either way. In such a situation, Nicklaus studies the slope of the ground surrounding the green, notices which way it lies, and figures that it is probable that the green will run the same way."

3.02.03.01. Lewis, Beverly Perfecting Your Short Game (New York: Sterling Publishing Co., 1988) 22: observe general lay of land while approaching green: which side is higher; are you walking up a slope to the green; the green very likely will slope in the same direction as the general lay of the surrounding land.

3.02.03.01. Lumpkin, Jack & Schiffman, Roger How to read greens: Use your eyes, feet and head to get a better feel for the line Golf Dig. 40(9), Sep 1989, 58-59 58: "You can see the profile and how the green slopes over all better from 150 yards out. You can tell whether it slopes toward you, away from you, or right or left. Once you get on the green, quite often there is an optical illusion and it is a little harder to read."

3.02.03.01. Manor, Doyle Instant lesson: Chart the break from afar Golf Dig. 24(11), Nov 1973, 112 112: "Note the tilt of the green in relation to any vertical references available -- buildings, telephone poles or trees."

3.02.03.01. Middlecoff, Cary Read greens from the perspectives often overlooked Golf Dig. 32(2), Feb 1981, 70-71 1. read green from 100-150 yards out for general lay; 2. test the fringe for grain; 3. check around hole; "Also check around hole to see if the grass has been trampled down and worn thin by earlier play. Your approach putt might roll far past the hole, or slide well off line, if you fail to allow for the extra slickness created by trampling and wear."

3.02.03.01. Middlecoff, Cary & Michael, Tom Master Guide to Golf (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1960) 135: "Sometimes you can decide on the break by getting well away from the ball and taking a long-range look at the whole green area."

3.02.03.01. Nicklaus, Jack Jack's playing lesson 24: How to putt better before reaching the green Golf Dig. 30(6), Jun 1979, 128-129

3.02.03.01. Pelz, Dave & Mastroni, Nick Putt Like the Pros: Dave Pelz's Scientific Way to Improve Your Stroke, Reading Greens, and Lowering Your Score (New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1989) 149

3.02.03.01. Rodgers, Phil & Barkow, Al Play Lower Handicap Golf (South Norwalk, CT: Golf Digest, 1986) 106: "You should begin to get an idea of the overall contour of the green before you even step onto it. The long view from five or 10 yards away can be more revealing in this respect than the closeup."

3.02.03.02. .-- -- -- READ FROM LOWPOINT OF GREEN

3.02.03.02. Middlecoff, Cary Read greens from the perspectives often overlooked Golf Dig. 32(2), Feb 1981, 70-71 1. read green from 100-150 yards out for general lay; 2. test the fringe for grain; 3. check around hole; "Also check around hole to see if the grass has been trampled down and worn thin by earlier play. Your approach putt might roll far past the hole, or slide well off line, if you fail to allow for the extra slickness created by trampling and wear." zzz

3.02.03.02. Pelz, Dave & Mastroni, Nick Putt Like the Pros: Dave Pelz's Scientific Way to Improve Your Stroke, Reading Greens, and Lowering Your Score (New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1989) 149-150

3.02.03.02. Smith, Horton & Taylor, Dawson The Secret of Holing Putts (New York: Barnes; London: Yoseloff, 1961) 84: if possible, get on same level as ball, as when the green under the ball is elevated enough to allow you to get eyes level with ball; if not, sqaut behind ball on th line of the putt; then move to downside view.

3.02.03.03. .-- -- -- READ FOR DRAINAGE PATTERN

3.02.03.03. Farnsworth, Craig L. See It and Sink It: Mastering Putting through Peak Visual Performance (New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1997) 15, 17-18

3.02.03.04. .-- -- -- READ FOR DOUBLE BREAKS & TIERS

3.02.03.04. Golf Magazine Golf Magazine's Handbook of Putting (New York: Harper & Row, 1973; London: Pelham, 1975) 89: "Double breaks or rolls can be problems. But remember that the putt which must break twice is going to break much more sharply off the second turn than the fi4rst. This is due to the fact that during the first part of the putt the ball is still being affected more by the power of the club than by the contour of the hill, while during the latter part of the putt the slope of the green will have a greater effect on the roll of the ball. For this same reason, a putt that has to roll across a slant at the near conclusion of its roll will break more sharply at that point than if the slope is met shortly after the ball was stroked. In other words, on putts that must roll over several slopes, be sure to allow for more of a break nearer the cup than at the beginning of the stroke. When undertaking a putt which is going to have a double break, you should not aim as far to the right or left of the cup as you would normally be inclined to do. There is really no formula for successful double-roll putting. Experience will teach you how to cope with [90] the situation. But here's a system that has worked for many beginners in learning to handle double-breaking putts: Study both breaks carefully; however, as yu prepare to stroke the ball, concentrate on the first break only. Plan it so that the ball will reach the point where it has been determined the second break will start to take effect. Keep in mind, of course, the speed required to cover the total distance. Once you learn to recognize the double break and apply the correct principles, you'll find that you can perform wizardry with your putter."

3.02.03.04. Golf Magazine Golf Magazine's Handbook of Putting (New York: Harper & Row, 1973; London: Pelham, 1975) 90: "In putting, of course, you're faced with many problems, and one of the most difficult is when you must putt to a plateau or over a crest. When faced with such a putt, it's most important to keep in mind that it is necessary at all expense to be "up" to the hole with your putt or at least over the edge of the plateau. Being short on the crest of the plateau compounds your problems since the ball most likely will roll back down the slope, and even if it doesn't your next putt will be rather hard to judge and execute successfully. For this reason, it's usually best to spot putt. That is, attempt to place the ball at a spot or area just over the edge of the plateau and allow the slight momentum of the ball to carry it from there to near the cup. Carefully line up the putt, since you'll be trying to make the ball "die at the cup"; settle for a two-putt anytime and be glad of it."

3.02.03.04. Lewis, Beverly Perfecting Your Short Game (New York: Sterling Publishing Co., 1988) 23: for more than 1 break, the break nearer the hole counts most because the ball will be rolling slower there and will be more affected by the nearer break; a double-break of ten feet or less usually requires playing both breaks due to the slower ball speed for that distance; sometimes two breaks will offset each other so the putt ends up nearly straight; double-breaking putts usually require looking over the path of the putt from multiple perspectives. 3.02.03.04. Nicklaus, Jack How to play the 10 toughest shots: 10: The long double-breaker: Concentrate on the first break only Golf Dig. 40(2), Feb 1989, 54

3.02.03.05. .-- -- -- READ FROM BEHIND THE BALL

3.02.03.05. Aultman, Dick Golf primer: Size up putts from the sides Golf Dig. 29(12), Dec 1978, 72 72: "By viewing a putt from the sides, you will be able to detect sidehill break by noting a difference in the terrain as seen by the two perspectives." [ie, low-side and high-side perspectives midway along the path of the putt]; sloping to you vs. sloping away from you; also, "Looking at a putt from the sides also gives you a much better impression of its length than you would get as reading it only from behind the ball." "The side views also reveal clearly if the putt will be uphill or downhill."

3.02.03.05. Ballesteros, Seve & Andrisani, John Natural Golf (New York: Atheneum, 1988) 122-123: "I start trying to read the slopes of greens when I'm about ten yards away from them, not least because -- especially in late afternoon -- it's easier to see the big undulations from about that distance out. Then, as I mark and lift my ball, I glance at the line between it and the cup to get a preliminary feel for what I'll need to do next. Next, I walk around and check the line from both ends and both sides, to be sure I catch all of the lesser variations in ground contour I have to deal with. To get a bird's eye view of the breaks, I look back to the ball from beyond the cup, then go back to a spot several feet behind the ball and make my final conclusions about break, grain, and speed, usually with the help of my caddie, and I look directly down the line."

3.02.03.05. Charles, Bob All I know: One of the game's best putters reveals proven keys for holing out Golf Mag. 31(8), Aug 1989, 68-73 70-71: "To read the slope -- or break -- I follow a set routine. I start by squatting behind the hole and looking back to the ball. This view helps me visualize the line on which the ball will roll. Next, I syand on the low side of the hole, far enough away to see the hole and the ball at the same time; this lets me see the undulation. Be sure you stand on the low side; you won't be able to judge the true amount of the break if you look from the high side. Last, with a good idea of the break in mind, I start behind the ball and look back to the hole. This final view should confirm what I've already seen, but sometimes this angle reveals a subtle break that I might have overlooked."

3.02.03.05. Farnsworth, Craig L. See It and Sink It: Mastering Putting through Peak Visual Performance (New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1997) 32: crouch down behind ball on short putts for a better perspective on undulations 3.02.03.05. Floyd, Raymond & Dennis, Larry From Sixty Yards In: How to Master Golf's Short Game (New York: Harper Collins, 1992) 61: "On a putt where I am reasonably sure of the line, I will look at it from only one side, from behind the ball."

3.02.03.05. Golf Magazine Strokes of genius: What you can learn from history's finest putters Golf Mag. 17(5), May 1975, 64 II: Willie Parks Jr. -- where read from behind hole gives a different impression of line from read behind ball, give preference to one from behind the hole.

3.02.03.05. Golf Magazine Golf Magazine's Handbook of Putting (New York: Harper & Row, 1973; London: Pelham, 1975) 76: "Most touring pros feel that the best position to obtain the overall line of a putt is when squatting. When standing perfectly erect, you don't receive a true picture of the ground's topography in the immediate vicinity of the putt. Nor is lying flat on your stomach any better, since this position usually hides more than it reveals. e feel that the best position is an in-between position or squat." [well, squatting may be good fo seeing the contour, but not the line; you can see some of the line from this position, but you can see more standing up but well back from the ball, and this is only part of the process, which continues from the address position.] 96: "Even the beginner knows how to crouch behind the ball to study the line, but he should also appraise the putt from behind the hole. A front and rear view will help him catch any hidden breaks he might otherwise have missed. Looking over a putt from the side may also help him to visualize the proper path."

3.02.03.05. Hatalsky, Morris The putter: Putt by instinct Golf Mag. 33(5), May 1991, 46-47 47: "When you're lining up a putt, analyze the break of the green until you're sure of the correct line. If you see the line clearly from one look behind the ball, stop! There's no need to check from a different angle and put doubt in your mind."

3.02.03.05. Lewis, Beverly Perfecting Your Short Game (New York: Sterling Publishing Co., 1988) 22: develop a green reading routine, such as 1st behind hole; then along side; then behind ball and pick target spot for alignment.

3.02.03.05. Lumpkin, Jack & Schiffman, Roger How to read greens: Use your eyes, feet and head to get a better feel for the line Golf Dig. 40(9), Sep 1989, 58-59 58: "I try to look at a putt from whatever angle I approach the green. Then I will generally walk behind the ball. I make my first determination from there, based on the speed I want to hit it. If I see the line clearly, I may not go anywhere else. If I don't see it, I will walk about halfway to the hole on what I think is the low side. When you read a book, you tilt it toward you, not away from you. Likewise, it's easier to see the line if you look into the slope. I hardly ever go beyond the hole and look back. That confuses me. I think good green-readers make up their minds quickly. Once you've made up your mind, be a little bit cocky. If you are going to be a good green-reader, above all you want to believe in yourself."

3.02.03.05. McLean, Jim & Pirozzolo, Fran The Putter's Pocket Companion (New York: Harper-Collins Publishers, 1994) 94: "If you have great difficulty reading the line of a putt, imagine a good golfer hitting toward you from just in front of the hole. See how the ball breaks and then use that read to guide your ball into the hole. Just remember, if the ball breaks right to left when it comes at you, it will break the opposite way when you putt in the opposite direction. Apply the same strategy if the putt breaks from left to right. Straight putts are always straight." [NOTE: this is not only wrong, it is bad: however, it works beautifully if you imagine yourself standing behind the hole as a good golfer putts the ball down the curve of the break into the hole. The problem is that the curve of a breaking putt is not symmetrical, but shaped more like a fishhook and the speed is not symmetrical, but one of skidding, rolling, and decaying to a stop. The proposed image does not account for these differences and in fact encourages you not to notice them.]

3.02.03.05. Palmer, Arnold & Dobereiner, Peter Arnold Palmer's Complete Book of Putting (New York: Atheneum, 1986) 71: "Even so [using spot putting for alignment], the face of the putter must be square to the intended starting line of the putt because an error of one degree will mean a deviation of one and a half inches on a six-foot putt, enough to make the difference between a hit or a miss. The talent for seeing small deviations of angles is highly individual. Some people can detect it if a picture on the wall is one degree out of true. Small discrepancies are more difficult to spot within the relatively short span of a putter's head. Willie Park, Jr., understood the problem, and he was the first to advocate a long blade to help in squaring the face." [not so, generally; not hard to assess squareness of a short line; also, what really counts is the orientation of eyes to the intersection being judged] 74: "Far better to stand behind the ball with the eyes, clu, and target in a direct line so that adjustments can be made with slight movements of the eyes. From experiments with a croquet-type putter he [Dr. David Williams] satisfied himself that such an arrangement does, indeed, make it easier to sqaure the face accurately. He then designed a putter-head with features to facilitate the sighting process by this method. Now the golfer could be absolutely positive that his club was aiming on target, and he could concentrate exclusively on swinging the putter-head along that present line."

3.02.03.05. Peasless, Jr., Edward Putting reminder: Stand back to line up putts Golf Dig. 23(1), Jan 1972, 68 standing too close behind the ball when lining up the putt causes you to see less break than there is -- stand at least as far back from the ball as the ball sits from the hole (ie, twice as far from the hole as the ball is), "to get a better perspective of the green's slope. Then the trick was simply to pick out the high point of the curve that the ball would follow and putt for that."

3.02.03.05. Rodgers, Phil & Barkow, Al Play Lower Handicap Golf (South Norwalk, CT: Golf Digest, 1986) 106: "Once on the green, get low behind your ball and look for the contour between it and the hole; if there is contour, will it take your ball to the right or the left?"

3.02.03.05. Smith, Horton & Taylor, Dawson The Secret of Holing Putts (New York: Barnes; London: Yoseloff, 1961) 84: if possible, get on same level as ball, as when the green under the ball is elevated enough to allow you to get eyes level with ball; if not, sqaut behind ball on th line of the putt; then move to downside view. 85: return to behind ball for "last-gasp" view to confirm sense of line.

3.02.03.05. Stockton, Dave & Barkow, Al Dave Stockton's Putt to Win: Secrets for Mastering the Other Game of Golf (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996) 45: "Like everyone else, I read every putt from behind the ball, looking to the hole -- down the line of the putt." 48: "[F]or the most part, I get my read from behind the ball and from the low side of the slope. It reduces confusion to have only two views."

3.02.03.06. .-- -- -- READ FROM BEHIND THE HOLE

3.02.03.06. Ballesteros, Seve & Andrisani, John Natural Golf (New York: Atheneum, 1988) 122-123: "I start trying to read the slopes of greens when I'm about ten yards away from them, not least because -- especially in late afternoon -- it's easier to see the big undulations from about that distance out. Then, as I mark and lift my ball, I glance at the line between it and the cup to get a preliminary feel for what I'll need to do next. Next, I walk around and check the line from both ends and both sides, to be sure I catch all of the lesser variations in ground contour I have to deal with. To get a bird's eye view of the breaks, I look back to the ball from beyond the cup, then go back to a spot several feet behind the ball and make my final conclusions about break, grain, and speed, usually with the help of my caddie, and I look directly down the line."

3.02.03.06. Charles, Bob All I know: One of the game's best putters reveals proven keys for holing out Golf Mag. 31(8), Aug 1989, 68-73 70-71: "To read the slope -- or break -- I follow a set routine. I start by squatting behind the hole and looking back to the ball. This view helps me visualize the line on which the ball will roll. Next, I syand on the low side of the hole, far enough away to see the hole and the ball at the same time; this lets me see the undulation. Be sure you stand on the low side; you won't be able to judge the true amount of the break if you look from the high side. Last, with a good idea of the break in mind, I start behind the ball and look back to the hole. This final view should confirm what I've already seen, but sometimes this angle reveals a subtle break that I might have overlooked."

3.02.03.06. Dennis, Larry and Golf Digest Professional teaching Panel & Advisor Staff Art of putting: part 1: judging direction Golf Dig. 26(10), Oct 1975, 32-35 35: considered confusing by panelists, although many top pros do it.

3.02.03.06. Farnsworth, Craig L. See It and Sink It: Mastering Putting through Peak Visual Performance (New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1997) 22

3.02.03.06. Floyd, Raymond & Dennis, Larry From Sixty Yards In: How to Master Golf's Short Game (New York: Harper Collins, 1992) 61: "On a very important putt and on an unfamiliar course, when I don't want to make a mistake, I may go to the other side of the hole." "Checking every putt from all angles can increase your playing time a great deal over the course of a round. besides, you often end up confusing yourself. I don't know how many times in my career I've missed putts by looking at them from the other side of the hole. There is almost always a different look to the line from above and below the hole. Now I've put an uncertainty into my mind. Now I make a compromise on the amount of break I want to play. Now I almost always miss and say, "Damn, why did I do that?" As it turns out, your first look is generally your best one. Just go ahead and trust it."

3.02.03.06. Foston, Paul, ed. The Encyclopedia of Golf Techniques: The Complete Step-by-Step Guide to Mastering the Game of Golf (Philadelphia: Courage books, 1992) 146-147: Sloping putts; 147: Putting across a slope; 148-149: Putting on two tiers. "Look at your putt from all angles to check the line -- one view on its own could deceive." (147)

3.02.03.06. GCM Note The confusion from looking behind the hole probably arises from looking without also imagining the roll of the ball from its location to and into the hole; the failure to watch the imaginary roll of the ball deprives you of the "reversed" pace of the ball and this has a tendency to make you look at the surface as if you were putting from the hole back to the ball, which of course is backwards and gives a reversed image of the pace and break. When looking at putts coming at the hole from opposite sides of the same slope, the two putts look like reversed images of each other, that is, mirror images. These considerations should also be kept in mind when watching another's putt from a different angle and different side of the hole; you can learn from the break of the other putt, but only by recalibrating the look in terms of the other putt's speed and angle of approach to the hole.

3.02.03.06. Golf Magazine Golf Magazine's Handbook of Putting (New York: Harper & Row, 1973; London: Pelham, 1975) 96: "Even the beginner knows how to crouch behind the ball to study the line, but he should also appraise the putt from behind the hole. A front and rear view will help him catch any hidden breaks he might otherwise have missed. Looking over a putt from the side may also help him to visualize the proper path."

3.02.03.06. Koch, Gary How to develop a one-putt stroke: The year's firt two-time winner says routine and alignment are the key ingredients Golf Dig. 35(6), Jun 1984, 52-53 walk behind the hole for distance feel; go to the ball and get line of putt; practice stroke; look to the hole with head rotation; "come back"; rest putter outside ball; take a 2nd practice stroke; look down the line; move putter behind the ball; look down the line again; and "as soon as I come back to the ball" make forward press; use a chalk line to train proper head rotation. [good point about chalk line and head swivel]

3.02.03.06. Lewis, Beverly Perfecting Your Short Game (New York: Sterling Publishing Co., 1988) 22: develop a green reading routine, such as 1st behind hole; then along side; then behind ball and pick target spot for alignment.

3.02.03.06. Lumpkin, Jack & Schiffman, Roger How to read greens: Use your eyes, feet and head to get a better feel for the line Golf Dig. 40(9), Sep 1989, 58-59 58: "I try to look at a putt from whatever angle I approach the green. Then I will generally walk behind the ball. I make my first determination from there, based on the speed I want to hit it. If I see the line clearly, I may not go anywhere else. If I don't see it, I will walk about halfway to the hole on what I think is the low side. When you read a book, you tilt it toward you, not away from you. Likewise, it's easier to see the line if you look into the slope. I hardly ever go beyond the hole and look back. That confuses me. I think good green-readers make up their minds quickly. Once you've made up your mind, be a little bit cocky. If you are going to be a good green-reader, above all you want to believe in yourself."

3.02.03.06. McLean, Jim & Pirozzolo, Fran The Putter's Pocket Companion (New York: Harper-Collins Publishers, 1994) 94: "If you have great difficulty reading the line of a putt, imagine a good golfer hitting toward you from just in front of the hole. See how the ball breaks and then use that read to guide your ball into the hole. Just remember, if the ball breaks right to left when it comes at you, it will break the opposite way when you putt in the opposite direction. Apply the same strategy if the putt breaks from left to right. Straight putts are always straight." [NOTE: this is not only wrong, it is bad: however, it works beautifully if you imagine yourself standing behind the hole as a good golfer putts the ball down the curve of the brak into the hole. The problem is that the curve of a breaking putt is not symmetrical, but shaped more like a fishhook and the speed is not symmetrical, but one of skidding, rolling, and decaying to a stop. The proposed image does not account for these differences and in fact encourages you not to notice them.]

3.02.03.06. Palmer, Arnold & Dobereiner, Peter Arnold Palmer's Complete Book of Putting (New York: Atheneum, 1986) 119-121; 119: attributes rap stroke to bad greens of South Africa that made smooth stroke impractical; 121: critical elements: eyes directly over ball; head and body still; weight on left heel; putterhead low to avoid lifting head; some wristiness on long putts; short rapping action for putts within reasonable holing range; varied ball position for type of putt: opposite left toe for straight; back, inside left heel, for left break to keep hands ahead and avoid pull; up, outside left toe, for right break, to avoid push. 121: "Most golfers disapprove of the practice of sizing up the line of a putt by observing it from behind the hole, on the grounds that it cannot do more tha confirm the impression you already have formed from looking along the direction of the putt and that it might actually confuse you reading of the putt. Player likes to assess his putts from both directions and then, having settled on the line, to pick out a spot about two feet in front of the ball as a point of aim." 121: positive attitude.

3.02.03.06. Smith, Horton & Taylor, Dawson The Secret of Holing Putts (New York: Barnes; London: Yoseloff, 1961) 85: "I do not believe in looking a putt over from both in back and in front of the cup unless it appears to be a particularly treacherous one -- like the double-roll [double-break] variety. I think that an adequate and less confusing "study" ca be accomplished from the ball's side of the cup, and that too long or varied a study will only lead to confusion an indecision."

3.02.03.06. Snead, Sam Reading greens Golf World 3(51), May 31, 1950, 10-11 Look at line from behind hole to see contour and to inspect contour near hole. "The ball should be traveling slowest at the hole, and that's when the grain will affect it the greatest." (p11)

3.02.03.06. Stockton, Dave & Barkow, Al Dave Stockton's Putt to Win: Secrets for Mastering the Other Game of Golf (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996) 48: "For some reason, a putt that from down the line looks like it has a right-to-left break, appears to break in the opposite direction when you look at it from behind the hole. Many golfers have reported this phenomenon. Nevertheless, in certain situations I do read the line from the hole back to the ball, and especially when I have a downhill putt. Here, my "canyon" theory applies. In looking up the hill, I may see a bit of break to one side or another that I wouldn't see looking downhill from behind the ball. Also, if a green has a lot of moguls or I'm just not sure of the break, I will look from the opposite end. But for the most part, I get my read from behind the ball and from the low side of the slope. It reduces confusion to have only two views."

3.02.03.06. Trevillion, Paul The perfect putting method, part 2 Golf Mag. 15(10), Oct 1973, 65-72 69: Vaile: crouch to keep pivot parallel to green for accuracy and pure shoulder motion. Raising head tilts axis of putt and leads to inaccuracy; Thumbs stright down top like Locke; when right thumb is diagonal, stroke tends to cut across ball. Jones favored long sweeping stroke versus tap and belived it helped avoid a cut stroke. Casper has right hand touch and left hand steadies putter. 70: Split hand combines these elements. "On downhill putts, the ball will turn [vocab.: "break"] more than a similar length putt played uphill." Hit harder / faster uphill. Distance for long putts more important; watch misses for comeback putts; wet greens have less break; hard greens have more break; reading putt from both sides of hole forces you to notice the grain; "On long uphill putts it is a mistake to leave it short in order to avoid the risk of going past the hole and having a tricky downhill return. Uphill putts must be hit positively. Playing safe might well result in your leaving it so short that you finish up three-putting. Be bold -- an uphill putt loses pace with each roll so there is little chance of your going too far past." 72: novice puters including kids often use split hand; Harold Hilton sometimes used split hand in late 1890s.Strike ball at bottom of arc; axis is right shoulder; extend right forefinger down shaft.

3.02.03.07. .-- -- -- READ FROM SIDE VIEWS

3.02.03.07. Aultman, Dick Golf primer: Size up putts from the sides Golf Dig. 29(12), Dec 1978, 72 72: "By viewing a putt from the sides, you will be able to detect sidehill break by noting a difference in the terrain as seen by the two perspectives." [ie, low-side and high-side perspectives midway along the path of the putt]; sloping to you vs. sloping away from you; also, "Looking at a putt from the sides also gives you a much better impression of its length than you would get as reading it only from behind the ball." "The side views also reveal clearly if the putt will be uphill or downhill."

3.02.03.07. Ballesteros, Seve & Andrisani, John Natural Golf (New York: Atheneum, 1988) 122-123: "I start trying to read the slopes of greens when I'm about ten yards away from them, not least because -- especially in late afternoon -- it's easier to see the big undulations from about that distance out. Then, as I mark and lift my ball, I glance at the line between it and the cup to get a preliminary feel for what I'll need to do next. Next, I walk around and check the line from both ends and both sides, to be sure I catch all of the lesser variations in ground contour I have to deal with. To get a bird's eye view of the breaks, I look back to the ball from beyond the cup, then go back to a spot several feet behind the ball and make my final conclusions about break, grain, and speed, usually with the help of my caddie, and I look directly down the line."

3.02.03.07. Charles, Bob All I know: One of the game's best putters reveals proven keys for holing out Golf Mag. 31(8), Aug 1989, 68-73 70-71: "To read the slope -- or break -- I follow a set routine. I start by squatting behind the hole and looking back to the ball. This view helps me visualize the line on which the ball will roll. Next, I syand on the low side of the hole, far enough away to see the hole and the ball at the same time; this lets me see the undulation. Be sure you stand on the low side; you won't be able to judge the true amount of the break if you look from the high side. Last, with a good idea of the break in mind, I start behind the ball and look back to the hole. This final view should confirm what I've already seen, but sometimes this angle reveals a subtle break that I might have overlooked."

3.02.03.07. Dennis, Larry and Golf Digest Professional teaching Panel & Advisor Staff Art of putting: part 2: judging distance Golf Dig. 26(11), Nov 1975, 76-79 76: triangulate putt from low side, creating an equilateral triangle to judge distance and pace.

3.02.03.07. Floyd, Raymond & Dennis, Larry From Sixty Yards In: How to Master Golf's Short Game (New York: Harper Collins, 1992) 61: "You may want to make sure of the slope, up or down, on which the putt will roll, so check the putt from the sides."

3.02.03.07. Golf Magazine High handicapper: Handling the big breaks: Get control of roller-coaster greens Golf Mag. 30(6), Jun 1988, 100

3.02.03.07. Golf Magazine Golf Magazine's Handbook of Putting (New York: Harper & Row, 1973; London: Pelham, 1975) 79: "one of the best places to view a break is on the low side of your putt." 96: "Even the beginner knows how to crouch behind the ball to study the line, but he should also appraise the putt from behind the hole. A front and rear view will help him catch any hidden breaks he might otherwise have missed. Looking over a putt from the side may also help him to visualize the proper path."

3.02.03.07. Lewis, Beverly Perfecting Your Short Game (New York: Sterling Publishing Co., 1988) 22: develop a green reading routine, such as 1st behind hole; then along side; then behind ball and pick target spot for alignment; double-breaking putts usually require reading from multiple perspectives (24).

3.02.03.07. Lumpkin, Jack & Schiffman, Roger How to read greens: Use your eyes, feet and head to get a better feel for the line Golf Dig. 40(9), Sep 1989, 58-59 58: "I try to look at a putt from whatever angle I approach the green. Then I will generally walk behind the ball. I make my first determination from there, based on the speed I want to hit it. If I see the line clearly, I may not go anywhere else. If I don't see it, I will walk about halfway to the hole on what I think is the low side. When you read a book, you tilt it toward you, not away from you. Likewise, it's easier to see the line if you look into the slope. I hardly ever go beyond the hole and look back. That confuses me. I think good green-readers make up their minds quickly. Once you've made up your mind, be a little bit cocky. If you are going to be a good green-reader, above all you want to believe in yourself."

3.02.03.07. Rodgers, Phil & Barkow, Al Play Lower Handicap Golf (South Norwalk, CT: Golf Digest, 1986) 106: "Survey the ground between your ball and the hole from the side, which usually will show wehther a putt is uphill or downhill and can also give you a sense of the arch or brow of a green." 3.02.03.07. Smith, Horton & Taylor, Dawson The Secret of Holing Putts (New York: Barnes; London: Yoseloff, 1961) 84: if possible, get on same level as ball, as when the green under the ball is elevated enough to allow you to get eyes level with ball; if not, sqaut behind ball on th line of the putt; then move to downside view, using "equilateral triangle" to get distance and sense of slope.

3.02.03.07. Stobbs, John The Anatomy of Golf: Techniques and Tactics (New York: Emerson, 1962) 74: to see whether uphill or downhill; uphill, be bold and hit firmly: ball won't likely go far past hole.

3.02.03.07. Stockton, Dave & Barkow, Al Dave Stockton's Putt to Win: Secrets for Mastering the Other Game of Golf (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996) 45: "I also get a read from one side of the putt -- always the low side; never the high side." 46: "Looking from the high side can be very confusing. An analogy: If you stand on the lip of a canyon that slopes down and away from you, you can't see very much of what is below you. What you do see is distorted; it is difficult to judge distance. But if you look at the upslope on the other side of the canyon, it's a panoramic view and you see everything in good perspective and in detail. You can get a good idea of how big the trees and rocks are, and how far they are from you. Another analogy: If you read a book that is angled with its bottom away from you, you can't read it very well. Angle the top away from you and it's an easy read. The same thing applies to putting. Look at the line of a putt from the high side and you don't see as much break as there actually is. You will see a lot more from the low side. Looking at a putt from the low side tells you whether you are putting uphill or downhill, a slant that will also give you input on the speed of the putt. You will also get another picture of the curve of the terrain in respect to how much it breaks left-to-right or right-to-left. I'm not sure why this is so; on the surface, it doesn't seem a way to get that read, but you do. In fact, very often you will get a better pricture of the putt's curve from the low side rather than from behind the ball."

3.02.03.08. .-- -- -- READ NEAR THE HOLE

3.02.03.08. Dennis, Larry and Golf Digest Professional teaching Panel & Advisor Staff Art of putting: part 1: judging direction Golf Dig. 26(10), Oct 1975, 32-35 35: "Bob Toski teaches his pupils to look inside the cup at the liner and note how the rim of dirt around the top of the liner "tilts." Since the liner is presumably set into the green on a vertical line, any slope in the vicinity of the cup would be indicated by more dirt showing above the liner on the higher side."

3.02.03.08. Farnsworth, Craig L. See It and Sink It: Mastering Putting through Peak Visual Performance (New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1997) 21-22

3.02.03.08. Floyd, Raymond & Dennis, Larry From Sixty Yards In: How to Master Golf's Short Game (New York: Harper Collins, 1992) 62: "I once played a practice round with Bobby Locke before the British Open at St. Andrews, and he said to me, "Laddie, just look around the hole. That's the important spot." What he meant was that you should examine the slope near the cup and visualize how much a slowly rolling ball is going to curve at that point." 62: "Almost every breaking putt I see missed is missed on the low side. Players never read enough break because they never think of the ball dying at the hole. They don't consider how much the break will be accentuated as the ball slows down."

3.02.03.08. Foston, Paul, ed. The Encyclopedia of Golf Techniques: The Complete Step-by-Step Guide to Mastering the Game of Golf (Philadelphia: Courage books, 1992) 146-147: Sloping putts; 147: Putting across a slope; 148-149: Putting on two tiers. "To concentrate on the line of your putt, crouch down on your haunches and shade your eyes as you read the green. This helps give you a clearer, better defined picture of the putt you have to make than a wide and distracting view of the whole green -- which disturbs your concentration." (146)

3.02.03.08. Golf Magazine Back to basics: Perfect putting: Develop a consistent stroke and an eye for reading breaks to become a green giant Golf Mag. 27(6), Jun 1985, 64 reading green tip: look inside cup; one side will show wear where ball hits before dropping; the path across cup to this point shows direction of break.

3.02.03.08. Golf Magazine Golf Magazine's Handbook of Putting (New York: Harper & Row, 1973; London: Pelham, 1975) 76: Gary Player looks at the hole to determine slope; if one side is damaged, it is likely to be the low side; if one side of the inside of the cup has steeper dirt, that side is the high side. 97: What should be done, as Bobby Locke points out, is to examine critically the area about 3 feet around the hole. Here is the area where the speed of the ball diminishes rapidly; hence the greatest break will occur in this area. It is often the subtle break at the very end of a 15-foot putt which will be the deciding factor -- provided the speed was properly given in the first place."

3.02.03.08. Michael, Tom & Golf Digest Editors Golf's Winning Stroke: Putting (New York: Coward, McCann, 1967; London: Souvenir Press, 1968) 62: "Others find an examination of the hole itself useful in determining green slant. If one side of the hole appears slightly higher than the other, you may be reasonably sure that the green slants in the direction of the lower side, and that the ball will break that way as it nears the hole. This is a good test to try after you have applied the more obvious ones and are still in doubt about the break."

3.02.03.08. Middlecoff, Cary & Michael, Tom Master Guide to Golf (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1960) 135: "In most instances, you can see the slant of the green well enough to judge the break. When you're unable to determine the slant, the best solution is to examine the cup itself. If one side looks lower than the other, then the green does slant toward that side." [depends on whether hole cut vertically] 139: "You will notice that most good putters closely examine the final three or four feet before the hole because that's when the ball will be affected most by any contour in the green."

3.02.03.08. Palmer, Arnold & Dobereiner, Peter Arnold Palmer's Complete Book of Putting (New York: Atheneum, 1986) 31: "The skill of assessing the distance a putt will break on a side slope can be learned only by experience, and the most important lesson in that exercise os that a rolling ball is affected by slope in direct proportion to its speed. On a long putt across a side slope, the ball will hold its line over the first section, as its sheer impetus resists the gravitational pull. But as the speed drops, the ball will become more and more affected by the slope until the last few feet of its travel, when, on a severe slope, it may well be rolling downhill at right angles to its original direction in much the same way as happens on a roulette wheel. This is why you see good golfers paying so much attention to the area close to the hole. They may look as if they had heard that someone had dropped a diamond in the grass, but actually they are trying to gather as much information as possible about the territory where the ball will be most susceptible to slope, grain, and impediment. So it is sound practice to take a good look at your line from behind the ball, then to walk forward and make another survey from about six feet short of the hole, taking care not to stand on what you suspect will be your intended line."

3.02.03.08. Pelz, Dave & Mastroni, Nick Putt Like the Pros: Dave Pelz's Scientific Way to Improve Your Stroke, Reading Greens, and Lowering Your Score (New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1989) 150

3.02.03.08. Smith, Horton & Taylor, Dawson The Secret of Holing Putts (New York: Barnes; London: Yoseloff, 1961) 89: "Perhaps you have never seen a greens-keeper cut a fresh cup on your course. Well, he uses a tool that might be likened to a huge cookie-cutter to slice a circular cut into the ground, in order to remove a cylinder of turf about 10 inches long. He must necessarily pull this section out of the ground from directly above so as to have a perfectly level cup. Very rarely does the greens-keeper, much as he might try or wish to do so, actually remove the cut turf straight up. The result is, even on a supposedly level area, a cup with one side higher than the other. [90] When the cup has been cut from an area with a slight or even great slope in it, you will nearly always find the "high" side of that cup on the side toward the slope. This is very important for you to know, understand, and act upon. For when the ball is slowing down and is near the "high" side of the cup, it acts as though a magnet is there to draw it into the cup. I have seen this happen many times when it might appear that the ball is at least half an inch away from the lip of the cup and cannot possibly be expected to fall."

3.02.03.08. Snead, Sam Reading greens Golf World 3(51), May 31, 1950, 10-11 Look at line from behind hole to see contour and to inspect contour near hole. "The ball should be traveling slowest at the hole, and that's when the grain will affect it the greatest." (p11)

3.02.03.08. Toski, Bob Toski talks golf: The lowdown on reading putts Golf Dig. 35(6), Jun 1984, 109 109: "The closer your eye gets to the surface of the green, the better you can read the contour." read from behind the ball and from behind the hole; also check grain around the hole; "Grass always grows across the hole in the same direction it is cut on the green; in other words, the blades will be neatly clipped on the upgrain side of the cup, while the down grain side will appear worn where the roots have been cut." [NOTE: some say the hole cutter cuts these roots]; "One often overlooked indicator of a green's texture and how it will react is your feet. When you're walking to your ball on the green, pay attention to how the grass feels underneath your spikes. If the surface feels hard and the grass is very thin, you can bet the green will be fairly quick. If there is a lot of grass and then green feels soft, you know the ball will roll relatively slowly."

3.02.03.09. .-- -- -- READ OF BREAK POINT & ZERO BREAK LINE (ZBL)

3.02.03.09. Faldo, Nick Fast fixes: Putt to the breaking point, not the hole Golf Dig. 45(3), Mar 1994, 32

3.02.03.09. Templeton, H.A. Vector Putting: The Art and Science of Reading Greens and Computing Break (Fort Worth, TX: Vector Golf, Inc., 1984)

3.02.03.10. .-- -- -- READ NATURAL CUES

3.02.03.10. Farnsworth, Craig L. See It and Sink It: Mastering Putting through Peak Visual Performance (New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1997) 77: "In all fairness, there are no visual clues on the green for alignment."

3.02.03.10. Farnsworth, Craig L. See It and Sink It: Mastering Putting through Peak Visual performance (New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1997)

3.02.03.10. Foston, Paul, ed. The Encyclopedia of Golf Techniques: The Complete Step-by-Step Guide to Mastering the Game of Golf (Philadelphia: Courage books, 1992) 146-147: Sloping putts; 147: Putting across a slope; 148-149: Putting on two tiers.

3.02.03.10. Manor, Doyle Instant lesson: Chart the break from afar Golf Dig. 24(11), Nov 1973, 112 112: "Note the tilt of the green in relation to any vertical references available -- buildings, telephone poles or trees."

3.02.03.10. Palmer, Arnold & Dobereiner, Peter Arnold Palmer's Complete Book of Putting (New York: Atheneum, 1986) 31: "Side-hill putts do not travel along a regular parabola but instead trace a path more like the shape of a full drive, taking off straight from the clubface, then gradually bending in a tightening curve until they are slanting sharply downward." 34: "The human eye is a remarkably accurate instrument for detecting variations from the horizontal, that is, slopes on greens, provided that the eye can refer to a genuine horizontal such as the roof of a house or the horizon of the sea. A vertical reference, such as a pine tree, is also helpful because we are all thoroughly indoctrinated in the relationship of right angles by living in a world of rectangular buildings, doors, windows, books, newspapers, picture frames, and the like. If a picture on the wall is askew, we can detect it most easily by observing the horizontal top edge, helped by the arrangement of having two eyes set in a horizontal plane, but most of us are also pretty fair at detecting whether a vertical line is out of true if there happens to be a genuine vertical line handy as a reference. So, on seaside links -- or courses that have the vertical trunks of conifer trees or buildings by the green -- golfers can normally read slopes without much difficulty. But our ability to detect them is seriously impaired when we are denied true references, as in mountainous country. Then, indeed, nature sometimes conspires to confuse us."

3.02.03.11. .-- -- -- PLUMB BOBBING

3.02.03.11. Abrahams, Jonathan The putting game: Read 'em or weep Golf Mag. 33(5), May 1991, 48-49 49: the "pro side": "When average golfers miss a breaking putt, it usually isn't on the "pro side," or high side, of the cup. When faced with a big breaker, they don't allow fo enough curve, so the ball rolls by the low, or "amateur" side and never had a chance to go in. It's not that these golfers haven't read the green properly, but a big break requires a harder hit, and that's not easy when worrying about knocking the ball four or five feet past. Also, putting off sidehills tends to open or close the clubface with the direction of the hill, making unwanted pushes or pulls common. Avoid the amateur side by adjusting your stance for big sidehill putts. On putts that break right to left, stay above the cup by closing your stance; for left-to-right, open your stance. Another precaution you can take is to play the ball off the toe of the putter for a right-to-left putt, off the heel for a left-to-right. By hitting the ball out at the ends, you ensure that the putterhead won't twist with the hill at impact. Remember, however, that since you won't be hitting the ball on the sweet spot, you have to swing a little harder to get it to the hole."

3.02.03.11. Abrahams, Jonathan The putting game: Read 'em or weep Golf Mag. 33(5), May 1991, 48-49 covers green reading of slope, grain, weather, and the "pro side": 48: slope: read from behind the ball; if unsure, read from behind the hole, and possibly from 10 or 15 feet to either side for uphill / downhill slope; plumb-bobbing procedure; stand; get as close to the ball as you can while plumb-bobbing; 48: grain: "The direction the grass is growing is called grain, and in many cases it will influence the roll of your putt." "bent grass, usually found on northern courses, grows in tight bucnhes and can be cut very short, reducing grain's influenece. Bermuda [49] grass, native to the South, grows more sparsely than bent and must be cut longer; as a result, grain is more of a factor."; 49: weather: "When moisture from rain or morning dew lies of the green, your ball will glide on a thin layer of water. This water slows the ball down and reduces grain's influence. Since the break is less severe, wet greens allow you to putt aggressively." Patches of extra sogginess can slow the ball dramatically; "Even though the ball is on the ground, wind can affect a putt's progress. Grain's influence can be completely eliminated by a high wind blowing against it. Conversely, if strong winds blow with the grain, your putss will roll appreciably faster and break more sharply."

3.02.03.11. Andrews, Gene Scientific Ananlysis of the Plumb Bob Method of Reading Greens (1968)

3.02.03.11. Beers, Richard H. Plumb-bobbing: For putters or for plumbers? Golfing physicist rules once and for all the validity of this popular method for planning putts Golf Dig. 20(7), Jul 1969, 38-42 plumb bobbing establishes two planes, one vertical (the putter shaft) and one perpendicular to the surface of the green where you are standing, and compares the two. The 2d plane depends on the golfer standing sqaure atop the surface, with no adjustment of any kind to right himself on any slope; Al Geiberger suggests standing a little stiff legged; do not crouch -- this is illegal in the world of plumb bobbing; stand a little wide with a conscious effort to keep both legs the same length and let the head be square on the shoulders; do not let the upper body compensate for any slope; stand a few feet behind the ball (any further back loses sensitivity to the slope), and no more than necessary to get the putter shaft on the ball; staddle an extension of the ball-hole line and locate your dominate eye over top of this line by shifting stance about 1 1/2 inch left or right; hold putter shaft in correct orientation (toe pointed at hole) suspended lightly from fingers so as not to interfere with gravity's pulling it straight; align shaft with ball and sight with dominate eye only (close other eye) up shaft until you see the hole; assuming the ground of the hole is the same slope as that you are standing on, the shaft indicates whether there is any slope -- hole to left of shaft, slope from right to left, and vice versa. May need several readings for multiple break putts, using a spot on green in place of the ball for others. Does not work if ground at ball is level but ground at hole is sloping and vice versa. "It is easy to sense visually whether a surface is warped. The more difficult problem arisies in determining if an apparently flat surface is truly level." (42) Plumb bobbing from behind the hole will likely indicate how ball will die near hole. golfer conventionally lines up a putt by seeking a natural horizontal level to assess slope of the surface, say, the horizon in the landscape, the flag, a building etc. In principle, he does the same as a plum bobbing golfer-- who seeks a vertical ref.

3.02.03.11. Dennis, Larry and Golf Digest Professional teaching Panel & Advisor Staff Art of putting: part 1: judging direction Golf Dig. 26(10), Oct 1975, 32-35 1. sight slope from distance: Middlecoff 150 yds; 2. use your eyes as a level: Runyan; 3. imagine flow of water on green surface to see break: Wiren.

3.02.03.11. Farnsworth, Craig L. See It and Sink It: Mastering Putting through Peak Visual Performance (New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1997) 33: "[T]he real reason most see any deviation of the hole to the side of the shaft is due to their subconscious, and nothing else." 33: "In actuality, if everything was perfectly in line, the ball and hole would always be aligned on the shaft. What really creates a situation of the hole being off the shaft starts with what golfers see. Their eyes tell them that there is a break, often based on previous knowledge or an obvious break. The players' subconscious positions them a little off line, or they tilt their heads to create an illusion of reality."

3.02.03.11. Foston, Paul, ed. The Encyclopedia of Golf Techniques: The Complete Step-by-Step Guide to Mastering the Game of Golf (Philadelphia: Courage books, 1992) 150-151: Plumb-bobbing; "Stand a few paces behind your ball, on a direct line with the hole. [ie, standing behind ball, establish a stright line through the ball to the hole] Take hold of your putter with one hand and hold it at arm's length, opposite your master eye. The putter must hang straight in relation to your viewpoint. Make sure that the toe of your clubhead points directly towards or away from you. Line up the center of your ball with the lower part of the shaft. Let your master eye come up the shaft until it is level with the hole. If there is a slope, the hole will be to the right or left of the shaft -- adjust your borrow accordingly. If the slope is obvious, plumb-bob to confirm exactly how much." (150-151)

3.02.03.11. Golf Digest All About Putting (New York: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan; London: Kaye & Wind, 1973) 134-140: Plumb-bobbing: how plumb-line sighting works

3.02.03.11. Golf Magazine All about plumb bobbing: What they do, why they do it and how it's done Golf Mag. 29(8), Aug 1987, 36

3.02.03.11. Golf Magazine Golf Magazine's Handbook of Putting (New York: Harper & Row, 1973; London: Pelham, 1975) 76: Plumb-bobbing "is a very good system for putts of under 30 feet when you want to verify your original impression of the break." Center-shafted putter will hang straight, but blade will not, so point toe away from body. Use dominant eye. etc. 78: "This technique is a great help in judging the break and yet the line it shows is not absolutely true. The reason for this is that you must take the speed of the green into consideration -- remembering that a fast green breaks twice as fast as a slow green."

3.02.03.11. Goodner, R. Can plumb bobbing help you? Golf Dig. 29(9), Sep 1978, 44-49 3.02.03.11. Grizzard, Lewis Plumb stupid Golf Mag. 34(10), Oct 1992, 16

3.02.03.11. Lampert, Lawrence D. The Pro's Edge: Vision Training for Golf (Boca Raton, FL: Saturn Press, 1998) 67-71: plumb bobbing described; first hold putter shaft horizontally and stand behind ball and move from side to side until you see the ball and hole lined up on the shaft; then dangle the shaft vertically, with long axis of putterface pointing to or away from the hole, not sideways; try to get the ball lined up at or near the bottom of the shaft and the hole near the top of the shaft, which requires you to be a certain distance back behind the ball; use dominant eye and the same-side hand to hold the putter; 68: "Using the "plumb" is not totally scientific or reliable. It doen't read "double breaks" or factor in green characteristics or the grain but it is still a valuable aid."

3.02.03.11. Lewis, Beverly Perfecting Your Short Game (New York: Sterling Publishing Co., 1988) 26-27: general method described; master eye only, other eye closed; extent to which hole is away from shaft indicates extent of break, but is not exact; only works if slope near hole is same as slope where golfer stands and if golfer stands perpendicular to sloped surface (not vertical).

3.02.03.11. McLean, Jim & Pirozzolo, Fran The Putter's Pocket Companion (New York: Harper-Collins Publishers, 1994) 3: when in doubt, plumb-bob; close non-dominate eye.

3.02.03.11. Michael, Tom & Golf Digest Editors Golf's Winning Stroke: Putting (New York: Coward, McCann, 1967; London: Souvenir Press, 1968) 54: "This method [plumb bobbing] is recommended mainly for use on courses in the mountains or by the sea. On mountain courses in particular, optical illusions can play tricks. The green may seem perfectly level when you are standing on it, but actually it will nearly alwys be sloping away from the nearest mountain. Similarly, greens on seaside coures nearly always slope toward the sea, although the slope may be imperceptible. In these situations, the plumb-line method can be most helpful."

3.02.03.11. Palmer, Arnold & Dobereiner, Peter Arnold Palmer's Complete Book of Putting (New York: Atheneum, 1986) 35: "[Plumb bobbing] performs one, and only one, function: it establishes a true vertical." On a "regular" slope [ie, flat slope with no changes between ball and hole], plumb bobbing indicates slope and extent of break. But on double breaking surfaces or where the surface slants in different directions at hole and at ball, plumb bobbing creates confusion. Since ball breaks most near hole, plumb bobbing should be used to read slope near hole. "Thus the sensible procedure on long putts is first to stand behind your ball and make a rough judgment about the line, then pick out a spot on that line about ten feet from the hole, such as a spike mark or other blemish, then plumb-bob from that spot -- again taking care not to stand on your line." Calibrate your puttr for lumb bobbing by sighting a true vertical such as a building, to determine orientation of putter and line of shaft. Not necessary to try to stand perpendicular to ground while plumb bobbing: "You can safely forget all about that refinement, too. Just let nature take its course. After all, if you were able to detect sufficient slope for you to adopt this leaning-tower-of-Pisa stance, you would hardly need to bother with plumb bobbing." Once done, "It does not follow, however, that if the hole appears to be four inches to the left of the shaft, the putt will break into the hole if stroked four inches to the right."

3.02.03.11. Pelz, Dave & Mastroni, Nick Putt Like the Pros: Dave Pelz's Scientific Way to Improve Your Stroke, Reading Greens, and Lowering Your Score (New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1989) 150-152

3.02.03.11. Rodgers, Phil & Barkow, Al Play Lower Handicap Golf (South Norwalk, CT: Golf Digest, 1986) 106: "I also like to use the plumb-bob method for this. To plumb-bob, hold the putter vertically in front of you and centered on your ball. look at the club with only your dominant eye, closing the other eye. You should be able to see the general contour of the ground but not the refinements."

3.02.03.11. Stockton, Dave & Barkow, Al Dave Stockton's Putt to Win: Secrets for Mastering the Other Game of Golf (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996) 48: "This has become a popular way to read the line of a putt -- although I'm not sure all golfers do it correctly. Plumb bobbing gives you a [49] general read of the terrain -- whether it breaks one way or another -- but it's not a precise method." [eye dominance determination; technique -- all on 49] 49: "To plumb bob, hold the putter at the tip of the handle and let it hang vertically in front of you with the shaft bisecting the center of the ball and the hole. Align the putter in relation to the ball and hole using only your dominant eye; the other eye closed. If you are right-eye dominant, as I am, you will see only the left half of the ball. Now, look up the shaft to where the hole is "covered." If you see all or a large portion of the hole, you have a right-to-left putt. If you see very little or none of the hole, the putt breaks right-to-left. if you see half of the hole, the putt is dead straight."

3.02.03.12. .-- -- -- PRACTICE ROUND READING

3.02.03.12. Farnsworth, Craig L. See It and Sink It: Mastering Putting through Peak Visual Performance (New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1997) 15-16

3.02.03.12. Foston, Paul, ed. The Encyclopedia of Golf Techniques: The Complete Step-by-Step Guide to Mastering the Game of Golf (Philadelphia: Courage books, 1992) 140-141: Crenshaw: master putter. "The gentle Texan Ben Crenshaw is acknowledged by his fellow professionals as the best putter in the world. He studied the technique of Bobby Jones to help develop his near perfect stroke." (140); "Bean accepts that speed determines the line when gauging a putt, and poorly judged speed rather than line is the cause of most three putts." (140); "Crenshaw holds the putter with a light and perfectly balanced grip. Both thumbs point down the shaft, leaving his hands square to the target line. His wrists stay firm throughout the stroke." (140); Photo of grip: reverse overlap; L index lays curled on top of gap between 2nd & 3rd of R hand; R index curls under shaft so that R index tip is almost behind or above the shaft of the R thumb's fingernail, with about one finger's width separating the index and thumb from touching; both thumbs straight down shaft. Feet in stance are about hip wide, no more; very slight knee bend, almost not noticeable; ball positioned off L instep -- L heel; ball "well away" places eyes inside ball (5 inches perhaps) but gives "his arms the freedom to swing in a relaxed way." (141); "When Ben visualizes a putt he doesn't just imagine a line, he sees a lane the width of the hole. This makes him feel more confident -- he knows if he sets the ball off down the line with the proper speed it has a chance of going in." (141); "He treats short putts as 70% line and 30% feel. Keeping his head down until he hears the putt drop, he thinks about the stroke rather than the hole." (141); "On long putts, worry about the weight of the shot more than the line -- a putt that's the right distance is never far away." (141). "Trust your first instincts when reading a green is Crenshaw's advice." (141).

3.02.03.12. Foston, Paul, ed. The Encyclopedia of Golf Techniques: The Complete Step-by-Step Guide to Mastering the Game of Golf (Philadelphia: Courage books, 1992) 146-147: Sloping putts; 147: Putting across a slope; 148-149: Putting on two tiers. Pros practice putting from different locations to learn breaks, but also to learn best spot to land ball with approach shot to give best chance for a birdie putt. "Putting from every part of the green helps them learn the best spot on which to land their approach shots -- if they're on target they can look forward to a birdie putt." (146)

3.02.03.13. .-- -- -- GIVE PRIORITY TO THE -- FIRST READ / -- FIRST IMPRSSIONS

3.02.03.13. Floyd, Raymond & Dennis, Larry From Sixty Yards In: How to Master Golf's Short Game (New York: Harper Collins, 1992) 61: "On a very important putt and on an unfamiliar course, when I don't want to make a mistake, I may go to the other side of the hole." "Checking every putt from all angles can increase your playing time a great deal over the course of a round. besides, you often end up confusing yourself. I don't know how many times in my career I've missed putts by looking at them from the other side of the hole. There is almost always a different look to the line from above and below the hole. Now I've put an uncertainty into my mind. Now I make a compromise on the amount of break I want to play. Now I almost always miss and say, "Damn, why did I do that?" As it turns out, your first look is generally your best one. Just go ahead and trust it."

3.02.03.13. Hatalsky, Morris The putter: Putt by instinct Golf Mag. 33(5), May 1991, 46-47 47: "When you're lining up a putt, analyze the break of the green until you're sure of the correct line. If you see the line clearly from one look behind the ball, stop! There's no need to check from a different angle and put doubt in your mind."

3.02.03.13. Lumpkin, Jack & Schiffman, Roger How to read greens: Use your eyes, feet and head to get a better feel for the line Golf Dig. 40(9), Sep 1989, 58-59 58: "I try to look at a putt from whatever angle I approach the green. Then I will generally walk behind the ball. I make my first determination from there, based on the speed I want to hit it. If I see the line clearly, I may not go anywhere else. If I don't see it, I will walk about halfway to the hole on what I think is the low side. When you read a book, you tilt it toward you, not away from you. Likewise, it's easier to see the line if you look into the slope. I hardly ever go beyond the hole and look back. That confuses me. I think good green-readers make up their minds quickly. Once you've made up your mind, be a little bit cocky. If you are going to be a good green-reader, above all you want to believe in yourself."

3.02.03.13. Middlecoff, Cary & Michael, Tom Master Guide to Golf (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1960) 134: "When sizing up a putt, your first impression is likely to be your best. In any event, you don't want two different impressions about the same putt. That makes for confusion."

3.02.03.14. .-- -- -- READ WITH FEET TO FEEL SLOPE

3.02.03.14. Dennis, Larry and Golf Digest Professional teaching Panel & Advisor Staff Art of putting: part 2: judging distance Golf Dig. 26(11), Nov 1975, 76-79 79: from Toski: "[R]ead the green with your feet. The way your spikes sink into the putting surface will tell you a lot about its texture and the speed of your putt."

3.02.03.14. Floyd, Raymond & Dennis, Larry From Sixty Yards In: How to Master Golf's Short Game (New York: Harper Collins, 1992)

3.02.03.14. Golf Magazine Golf Magazine's Handbook of Putting (New York: Harper & Row, 1973; London: Pelham, 1975) 75: "You can learn to tell if a green has a slight uphill or downhill slope by walking on it and getting the "feel" through your feet. The walking "feel" will also help you determine whether the green is fast or slow. If it's quite spongy and soft, it will naturally be slower than if it is quite firm."

3.02.03.14. Leonard, Justin Golf Digest basics: Justin Leonard's smart golf: Use your feet to get the read Golf Dig. 49(3), Mar 1998, 180 180: the slope near the ball will affect the putt's initial break, a key factor in determining the putt's direction. Read the slope of the area near the ball with the eyes, but also with the feet. "After looking at the putt, confirm your read by feeling for the slope of the ground around the ball [with your feet] as you're taking practice strokes. It will help you start the ball on the correct line."

3.02.03.14. Lumpkin, Jack & Schiffman, Roger How to read greens: Use your eyes, feet and head to get a better feel for the line Golf Dig. 40(9), Sep 1989, 58-59 58: "When I walk on a green, I listen to my steps and try to feel with my feet whether the surface is firm or soft. ... On the green, I listent to my spikes. If they crunch, the surface is hard and probably very fast. I can also feel if I am walking uphill, downhill or sidehill."

3.02.03.14. Pelz, Dave & Mastroni, Nick Putt Like the Pros: Dave Pelz's Scientific Way to Improve Your Stroke, Reading Greens, and Lowering Your Score (New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1989) 149-150

3.02.03.14. Rodgers, Phil & Barkow, Al Play Lower Handicap Golf (South Norwalk, CT: Golf Digest, 1986) 106: "Your feet are very sensitive and just be walking around on a green you can get a feel of whether you are going sidehill, uphill or downhill. Through your feet you can also get a feel for the speed of the green, how fast or slow it is running. Be alert to this sense." [doesn't tell you what cues to be alert to in the feet, ie, sense of spikes going into turf, crunchiness of green, hardness of soil, puffiness of grass or turf, sponginess, tilt pressure on different parts of sole of foot, etc.]

3.02.03.14. Watson, Tom & Seitz, Nick Make more putts by learning to read: Give yourself a break by sizing up the greens the way Watson does Golf Dig. 34(7), Jul 1983, 60-65 read putts with feet feeling the slope; favor pro side of the hole; use caddie at flag for aim point [put caddie on high side]; watch ball whenever it goes past the hole for comeback line; always see some break even on a 3-footer, to increase your concentration and improve your margin of error by making target at hole more precise and smaller. "You hear that you should play less break on Bermuda greens, but that isn't necessarily so. I've played on very fast Bermuda greens that break dramatically." "Also, look for compacted areas around the hole. (Usually, you can see the sheen.) This part of the green will be faster, so beware." "Putts on any type of green will break less late in the day after the grass has grown and become a slower surface."

3.02.03.15. .-- -- -- READ UPHILL INTO PUTT PATH

3.02.03.15. Pelz, Dave & Mastroni, Nick Putt Like the Pros: Dave Pelz's Scientific Way to Improve Your Stroke, Reading Greens, and Lowering Your Score (New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1989) 150

3.02.03.16. .-- -- -- OBTAIN LOCAL KNOWLEDGE FROM LOCALS

3.02.03.16. Farnsworth, Craig L. See It and Sink It: Mastering Putting through Peak Visual Performance (New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1997) 15-16

3.02.03.17. .-- -- -- USE PROPER LOOK

3.02.03.17. Farnsworth, Craig L. See It and Sink It: Mastering Putting through Peak Visual Performance (New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1997) 17-18: wide, easy look rather than a hard, intense look; better chance of seeing proper perspective of degree of slope

3.02.03.18. .-- -- -- ASSESS WHOLE SLOPE BESIDE GREEN

3.02.03.18. Farnsworth, Craig L. See It and Sink It: Mastering Putting through Peak Visual Performance (New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1997) 20-21; stand half way at side of green between low point and high point of green to assess overall slope; may be two different lines from low to high that you need to look at.

3.02.03.19. .-- -- -- READ GREEN AT DUSK FOR SUBTLETIES

3.02.03.19. Farnsworth, Craig L. See It and Sink It: Mastering Putting through Peak Visual Performance (New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1997) 25

3.02.03.20. .-- -- -- WATCH OTHER PUTTS

3.02.03.20. Cohn, Patrick J. & Winters, Robert K. The Mental Art of Putting: Using Your Mind to Putt Your Best--The Psychology of Great Putting (South Bend, IN: Diamond Communications, Inc., 1995) 58-60: Watch other putts: your best clue; also watch chips and pitches; also watch your first putt.

3.02.03.20. Nicklaus, Jack Make your own decisions on the greens Golf Dig. 32(2), Feb 1981, 66 66: "In the final analysis, every putt is a speed putt -- the line is always determined by how hard you hit the putt." Also, don't focus on break more than speed/distance -- put priority and concentration on speed; don't watch other player's putt for line because you can't tell how hard he hit it.

3.02.03.20. Rodgers, Phil & Barkow, Al Play Lower Handicap Golf (South Norwalk, CT: Golf Digest, 1986) 106: "Additional feel for the speed of a green comes from watching the putts of playing partners and from your own experience after playing a hole or two."

3.02.03.20. Smith, Horton & Taylor, Dawson The Secret of Holing Putts (New York: Barnes; London: Yoseloff, 1961) 84

3.02.03.20. Stockton, Dave & Barkow, Al Dave Stockton's Putt to Win: Secrets for Mastering the Other Game of Golf (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996) 42: experience of speed on the practice green indicates speed of greens on course "provided it is consistent with the greens on the course." 42: experience of previous greens on course during round may indicate speed of a later green: "You can also draw on your experience from the holes you already have played. But keep in mind that different greens on the same course can have different speeds (although ideally they shouldn't), depending on the contour and grain. What's more, if play is moving slowly, keep in mind that grass grows during the day and the greens on the back nine, when you finally get there, are probably going to be a little slower." 42: "Many golfers judge green speed by watching their playing partner's putts. I don't think this is a good idea (and that holds for reading breaks, too). You [43] can't really know whether the other golfers in your group have hit their putts solidly or not, and of course you can't possibly know their feel for a green and how they react to it. Neither do you know if the type of ball they are using reacts differently from yours. If they are playing a three-piece balata, there is a significant difference. In any case, the information you get from watching others is uncertain and can cloud your own judgment and sense of feel. Always go with your own insights." 52: when playing with dew still on the greens, read the dew lines from earlier putts if possible.

3.02.03.21. .-- -- -- READ TEXTURE OF SURFACE FOR BREAK

3.02.03.21. Michael, Tom & Golf Digest Editors Golf's Winning Stroke: Putting (New York: Coward, McCann, 1967; London: Souvenir Press, 1968) 62: "Another factor that must be taken into account is the texture (height and thickness) of the grass. If the green's texture is such that the ball will be rolling more through the grass than over it, as will be the case if the grass is fairly high and lush, you should play for a minimum break. The same holds true on a wet green. There are two elements in this theory. One is that [63] the higher grass (or water) on the low side will resist the break of the ball in that direction. The other is that a putt over a slow green must naturally be hit harder, and its extra momentum in the early stages will keep the break to a minimum."

3.02.03.21. Middlecoff, Cary & Michael, Tom Master Guide to Golf (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1960) 139-140: "Break and green texture: The final consideration in estimating the break on a given putt is the texture of the grass. If the grass's texture [140] is such that the ball will roll through the grass, the break will be less than it would be if the ball were to roll along on top of the grass. If the green is soft and the grass soft and pliable, the ball will run through the grass and there'll be less break. If the green is hard, the ball will skim along the top of the grass, and take the full break as it appears."

3.02.03.22. .-- -- -- READ SURFACE MOSITURE FOR BREAK

3.02.03.22. Michael, Tom & Golf Digest Editors Golf's Winning Stroke: Putting (New York: Coward, McCann, 1967; London: Souvenir Press, 1968) 62: "Another factor that must be taken into account is the texture (height and thickness) of the grass. If the green's texture is such that the ball will be rolling more through the grass than over it, as will be the case if the grass is fairly high and lush, you should play for a minimum break. The same holds true on a wet green. There are two elements in this theory. One is that [63] the higher grass (or water) on the low side will resist the break of the ball in that direction. The other is that a putt over a slow green must naturally be hit harder, and its extra momentum in the early stages will keep the break to a minimum."

3.02.03.22. Middlecoff, Cary & Michael, Tom Master Guide to Golf (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1960) 140: "When the green is wet, the ball tends to run through the moist grass. When the green is saturated with water, you can count on a minimum break."

3.02.03.23. .-- -- -- READ ENOUGH BREAK

3.02.03.23. Golf Magazine Golf Magazine's Handbook of Putting (New York: Harper & Row, 1973; London: Pelham, 1975) 88: "On sidehill putts, you must learn the tricks of playing the rolling contours. A putt which has to traverse a sidehill slope must be started along an arc which will nullify the drag of gravity. This additional slope which the ball covers on its way from the club to the hole is called "borrow," and it's a pretty good general rule on this type of putt to allow more borrow than you think you should. Again, we have a situation where the tendency is to err on the amateur side and fail to [89] start the ball high enough on the slope. The pull of gravity increases proportionately as the putt begins to lose its momentum. It begins to fall dowwnhill slowly at first, then with a sharply increasing angle of decline. It's like a stone that you throw which follows a fairly constant arc for the rising trajectory, then falls rapidly until it is dropping vertically. Like so many aspects of putting, this judgment of borrow is an art that has to be developed and refined through practice and experience."

3.02.03.23. Leadbetter, David & Huggan, John David leadbetter's Fault's and Fixes (New York: Harper Collins, 1993) 114: golfers miss to low or amateur side because they have psychological difficulty overcoming instict to aim at the hole and hitting outside the hole and trusting break to feed ball back into hole; 115: visualize the path of the putt and identify the break point of apex as the intermediate target and aim the putterface at this point; notice that the center or entry point of the hole changes as the path into the hole changes; realize that you have chosen the line and have nothing left to decide about the line; concentrate only on the pace or speed; judge speed so ball is not hit thru the break and is not hit too softly to roll full length of path; trust your decisions and stroke the ball along the line to the apex and trust your decision.

3.02.03.23. Michael, Tom & Golf Digest Editors Golf's Winning Stroke: Putting (New York: Coward, McCann, 1967; London: Souvenir Press, 1968) 64: "As long as the ball is on the high side of the cup, there is at least a theoretical chance that it may topple in, but all chance is lost once the ball breaks below the cup. Experts use this technique mainly on approach putts, in situations where the principal objective is to get the ball near the cup for a tap-in. As long as the ball is rolling toward the high side of the hole, the slant of the green is helping to slow the ball down. Once the ball breaks below the hole, there is no slant to resist its trickling on down the slope and away from the hole." [this is important but inaccurate: as long as the path of the ball is parallel to the slope, it is not going uphill or downhill, and the slope itself is the only downward force; when the ball's path is partly across the slope and partly uphill, the uphill component does indeed act to retard the roll of the ball, and the slope is no worse, so the net effect is the ball breaks less when it runs uphill on the slope and it runs less far and at a slower speed until it nears stopping, and then it turns down sharply; when the ball's path is partly across slope and partly downhill, the slope and the gravity combine to add to the speed and curvature downhill, so that the downward-rolling ball goes faster, but since it goes faster, the curvature of its path is not as great as usually imagined. One way to see this is to hit one ball parallel to the slope and another slightly up the slope, but both with the same force: the straight ball will curve off its line more and farther than the ball hit up the slope and will travel farther as well.]

3.02.03.23. Pelz, Dave More "truth": It's time to evaluate your progress Golf Mag. 37(7), Jul 1995, 78-79

3.02.03.23. Pelz, Dave & Frank, James A. The amazing truth about putting Golf Mag. 37(4), Apr 1995, 36-42 38: "[G]reens are built with slopes for drainage. The only straight putts are those directly up or down hill, and many of them break due to grain or surface inconsistencies. (Even short putts have some break, but golfers usually hit them hard enough to minimize it.) The majority of missed putts -- around 85 percent -- miss on the low side, below the hole." 38: "I started moving toward an answer several years ago when Tom Kite asked me about green reading. He didn't understand why golfers try to read break by standing behind the ball, on a line running straight to the hole, since they don't aim at the hole on a sloping putt. I agreed with him because I believe you should stand behind the ball and look down your hitting line on every shot, from drive to putt. Kite and I discussed this many times before I realized what it meant. By looking at the hole instead of the high point of the break, golfers would think putts are straighter than they really are. As a result, they would under-read the break." Golfer think they are aiming lower than they point the putter face, and then hit the ball with a stroke higher than the face points, but still not as high up the slope as necessary. 39: think aimed 25% of true break; actually aim 65% of true break; stroke putt 85% of true break. "In most cases, golfers see only 25 to 30 percent of the real break, then steer the putts to 85 or 95 percent." 40: "I can only describe it as a fight between your conscious and subconscious minds." "Why do we do this? Based on my observations, it seems that we humans see only what we want to see. ... We don't think we can make a big-breaking putt, so we convince ourselves that it is straighter, therefore easier to handle. Then we rely on our subconscious to supply the corrections." 41: Straight stroke Drill

3.02.03.23. Pelz, Dave & Frank, James A. Why you can't putt: Ten mistakes you don't even know you're making Golf Mag. 39(9), Sep 1997, 24-31, 34-35 30: Mistake 6: "You underread the break." "Eighty percent of missed putts still miss on the low side of the hole, and many of you continue to believe you don't underestimate break." Once this is recognized, players aim at the correct break but then subconscious wants to compensate for chronic underread and forces actual putt higher still to compensate for habitual underread; high misses cause golfers to return to underreading in a vicious cycle. Solution: golfers "see" only one-fourth to one-third the actual break and subconscious tries to get the rest with unintended compensations; follow a 3-step process to increase the read: 1. assume normal speed and read the break as usual; 2. imagine maximum break that allows ball to still float into hole from highest path; 3. commit to 90 percent of highest path.

3.02.03.23. Smith, Horton & Taylor, Dawson The Secret of Holing Putts (New York: Barnes; London: Yoseloff, 1961) 89: "It is my firm conviction, based on years of my own experience, and on watching thousands of golfers attempt putts on a "borrowed" line, that 90 per cent are missed on the "low" side of the cup." 90: On breaking putts, because you miss often to the low side, aim for the "pro" side, and "since you, and probably most golfers, are inclined to underestimate the amount [91] of roll on a "borrowed" putt, I suggest that you add an arbitrary 25 per cent to your original estimate of the required degree of "borrow." This gives you what I call "tolerance for error" or margin for error. By allowing this margin you can take advantage of the chance to enter the cup from the "high" side."

3.02.03.23. Stockton, Dave & Barkow, Al Dave Stockton's Putt to Win: Secrets for Mastering the Other Game of Golf (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996) 38: one reason players miss breaking putts on the low side is that they incorrectly imagine the center the ball will enter the cup, seeing a smaller target than actually exists, so that either the ball is hit too hard for the break or not enough break is played. 39: "All the above is predicated on playing enough break, and in my experience most golfers underread and underplay the break. Why? For one thing, most golfers are more line conscious than speed conscious. That sounds paradoxical. If they concentrate so much on the line of a putt, why don't they get their breaking putts high enough? If they roll the ball too slowly, the ball breaks too much and if they roll it too fast, which is more common, it doesn't break enough. By never getting the speed right, they never get an understanding of the line. On the other hand, if they concentrated on and improved their speed, they would begin to recognize and understand the correct line. Another reason golfers do not play enough break is because they do not have consistent mechanics. There is a tendency to let the blade of the putter follow the contour of the terrain on which the putt is being made. For instance, when utting on a slope where the ball is blow your feet -- a left-to-right putt -- the putterhead is wung back to the outside, or away from your body, and toward the ball on the same curving path. At impact the blade is not going onto the correct line of the putt; instead, it is going under, or to the right, of the hole. The opposite applies on right-to-left putts; the blade goes back to the inside of the line, then moves to the inside at impact and beyond. The ball goes left of the correct line. In each case, the putt may have been read correctly, but the stroke didn't conform to the read -- it was corrupted by the stroke path."

3.02.03.24. .-- -- -- READ MOUNTAIN COURSE BREAKS

3.02.03.24. Michael, Tom & Golf Digest Editors Golf's Winning Stroke: Putting (New York: Coward, McCann, 1967; London: Souvenir Press, 1968) 54: "This method [plumb bobbing] is recommended mainly for use on courses in the mountains or by the sea. On mountain courses in particular, optical illusions can play tricks. The green may seem perfectly level when you are standing on it, but actually it will nearly alwys be sloping away from the nearest mountain. Similarly, greens on seaside coures nearly always slope toward the sea, although the slope may be imperceptible. In these situations, the plumb-line method can be most helpful."

3.02.03.24. Stockton, Dave & Barkow, Al Dave Stockton's Putt to Win: Secrets for Mastering the Other Game of Golf (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996) 44: "If you're playing a course at the base of a mountain range, putts are going to break away from the mountains. The Broadmoor, in Colorado, is a good example of this. The architect may try to counteract this and build slopes in the greens that turn directly into the mountains. He may succeed to some extent in changing the course of nature, and a putt may break well toward the mountain, but not nearly as much as the slope would make it appear. The mountain is always going to have its way to some extent."

3.02.03.25. .-- -- -- READ OCEANSIDE COURSE BREAKS

3.02.03.25. Michael, Tom & Golf Digest Editors Golf's Winning Stroke: Putting (New York: Coward, McCann, 1967; London: Souvenir Press, 1968) 54: "This method [plumb bobbing] is recommended mainly for use on courses in the mountains or by the sea. On mountain courses in particular, optical illusions can play tricks. The green may seem perfectly level when you are standing on it, but actually it will nearly alwys be sloping away from the nearest mountain. Similarly, greens on seaside coures nearly always slope toward the sea, although the slope may be imperceptible. In these situations, the plumb-line method can be most helpful."

3.02.03.25. Stockton, Dave & Barkow, Al Dave Stockton's Putt to Win: Secrets for Mastering the Other Game of Golf (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996) 43: "Grain also runs toward water. At the Riviera Country Club, in Los Angeles, for example, the greens become much eaier to read once you realize that the course is built in a canyon that runs to the Pacific Ocean. You may not be able to see the sea [44] from the course, but you should know in what direction it is and that everything breaks toward it. If you are on the right side of the eighteenth green, for instance, and putting toward the water, it may appear you have a flat run to the hole. But I can guarantee you that the putt will be faster than a similar one on a course built on a Kansas prarie." 44: "In some cases architects have defied nature completely. On the courses of PGA West, in Palm Springs, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and Pete Dye were working with basically pancake-flat terrain, although it does drop off gradually toward the nearby town of Indio and the Salton Sea, as is the case on most courses in the area. But Nicklaus et al. built so many large mounds into their greens that the Indio-Salton Sea "read" does not apply. In such cases, you find the break in them by looking for where the [45] water drains off -- the lowest point on the greens. As a general rule, on all greens that are designed correctly, or at least in the classic mode (the back higher than the front), the water will drain toward the front. That is the "master break." Any putt that goes across the width of the green, from one side to the other, probably will break toward the front of the green. ... With the "master break," ... there will almost always be other contours that affect putting."

3.02.03.26. .-- -- -- READ WITH CADDIE'S ADVICE

3.02.03.26. Stockton, Dave & Barkow, Al Dave Stockton's Putt to Win: Secrets for Mastering the Other Game of Golf (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996) 48: "A caddie can help you read a putt when you're not quite sure of the line. And if your caddie agrees with your read, you go into the putt with much more confidence. But you must be careful. You have to be sure you are both on the same wavelength, see things the same way, and speak the same language. What's more, the caddie has to have a sense of how you roll the ball so he can judge how much break to play. I put a softer roll on a putt than a lot of players and have to play more break than those who hit putts more firmly."

3.02.03.27. .-- -- -- READ FOR LONG PUTTS

3.02.03.27. Rodgers, Phil & Barkow, Al Play Lower Handicap Golf (South Norwalk, CT: Golf Digest, 1986) 92: "[E]ven if you've aimed the putter perfectly, made a beautiful pendulum-paced stroke and the grass is as smooth as glass, if the putt is 13 feet long or longer and the ground is not perfectly level, it may not go in anyway because you didn't ead the break correctly. Don't feel badly. When I was a kid Paul Runyan told me never to practice putts of more than 12 feet, because that's about the maximum distance you can have some positive thoughts about making them. A recent study proved that out. The odds on making a 13-foot putt and a 39-foot putt are identical. ... [T]he best any golfer can hope for is a good estimate of how much a breaking putt will break."

3.02.03.28. .-- -- -- READ FOR SHORT PUTTS

3.02.03.28. Golf Magazine Golf Magazine's Handbook of Putting (New York: Harper & Row, 1973; London: Pelham, 1975) 90: "In his eagerness to collate information about the green, even an expert can begin to "overread" and start to see imaginary breaks between his ball and the cup. He will then baby a short putt, and allow for a break that isn't there. On a putt of under 3 feet, never aim outside the hole. There is never much break on a putt so short, because the speed of the ball will nullify even a substantial borrow."

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