How to Read a Long Putt with Multiple Breaks

Hitting the green with your approach shot isn’t always great news.  Sure, you are happy to be on the putting surface, but some of that happiness might quickly disappear when you realize just what kind of challenge is in front of you.

If your ball has stopped a significant distance away from the hole after your approach, you might be facing a long putt with two or more breaks to contend with.  Suddenly, what seemed like it should be an easy par has turned into something else entirely.  Just getting the ball down in two is a nice accomplishment when facing a long putt with multiple breaks and three (or even four) putting is a real possibility.

When you do find your ball in this situation, the first thing you need to do is take a deep breath and relax.  You can easily get ‘stressed out’ when you are trying to deal with such a complicated putt, but there’s no time for those kinds of emotions at this point.  You have a job to do, so the only thing to do is get down to work on solving the puzzle in front of you.  There has to be a way that you can two putt from this spot, and it is your task to find that way.

Read the End of the Putt First

Reading a long putt with multiple breaks is a process, and you actually want to start with the end of that process first.  The last few feet of the putt are the most important when it comes to your read, as the ball will break most when it is moving slowest.

With that in mind, your first job on the green is to read the final few feet of the putt.  Is it uphill or downhill?  Will the ball be breaking to the right or left, or not at all?

Once you have a great understanding of the end of the putt, you can then back up and get a look at the bigger picture.

Ignore the Start

Generally speaking, unless you are on a seriously dramatic slope, you can likely ignore the first few feet of your putt.  Since you are going to have to hit the ball hard to cover the long distance to the hole,, those first few feet are unlikely to include much break from side to side.

Remember, the ball will be moving quickly at this point, so it won’t have time to turn in one direction or the other.  The middle of the putt, however, will have some influence over the path of the ball, so you want to consider anything that is going to take place once you get a few feet away from where the ball is resting.

Speed, Speed, Speed

In the case of a putt with multiple breaks, it’s easy to get caught up in the line as you try to figure out all of the various left and right turns that the ball will make.  However, the line is not as important as the speed when it comes to a long putt.

Even if you get the read wrong from a left/right perspective, you will likely only miss the target by a couple feet if you get the speed right.  On the other hand, nailing the line perfectly will do you no good at all if you hit the ball ten feet too far or leave it ten feet short.  If your goal is to two putt from long range – which it should be – you want to focus the majority of your attention on getting the speed spot on.

To get the speed right, one of the main jobs you will have prior to hitting the putt is determining whether the putt as a whole is uphill or downhill.  To make this determination, you want to stand halfway between the ball and the hole, on the low side of the putt.  Back away from the line until you can get a good overview of the putt from start to finish – from this perspective, it should be pretty easy to decide if you are putting up or down hill.  Once that info is gathered, you will have a better idea of how hard you need to hit the putt in order to reach the cup.

The Smart Leave

Most likely, you aren’t going to make this long putt with multiple breaks.  Sure, you might run one in from time to time, but the vast majority of the time you are going to miss the first one.

The goal from the start should be to get down in two, which is why you want to think about your leave when lining up the first putt.  Again, take a look around the area of the hole.  Which side would you rather be putting from on your second attempt?  Unless the area around the hole is flat, there will always be one side that is the ‘low side’ – and that is where you want to leave your ball.

Putting uphill for your second putt is ideal, even if you are doing so from slightly farther away.  You never want to leave yourself a slick downhill second putt if you can avoid it, because those often lead to misses.  Do your best to error on the low side with your first putt and you will find that the second putt starts to fall in more than ever before.

Getting down in two from long distance when there are multiple breaks involved will test even the most experienced, accomplished putter.  This is as much a mental challenge as it is a physical one, so take your time in gathering all the information you need to pick the right line and the right speed for the roll.

You are never going to two putt 100% of the time in this situation, but you can greatly improve your percentage by taking advantage of the tips above.

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