Sink More Putts: Three Steps to Better Green Reading

Recently, we learned a pretty effective (and easy) system to read putts from Tom Reynolds, Director of Instruction at the Leadbetter Academy at Crystal Springs. 

Appropriately called the ‘three-piece read,’ Tom walks us through the steps using a live demonstration by yours truly.

Step 1 – “The Preliminary Read”

This is the easiest step of the three-piece. Here, we’re simply standing over our putt, at the location of the ball, and observing the read for the very first time.  These ‘initial thoughts’ act as a baseline to determine the break of the putt almost immediately to the human eye. 

In this case, I observed a right to left break with what looked to be directly downhill the entire way to the cup. I did not know how dramatic the break was or at what point in my line it was going to begin breaking.  I needed to get a little closer to the hole to grab that information. 

Step 2 – “The Living Read”

Once you have a basic idea of which way the putt should break, it’s time to ‘live the read’ and physically travel the path of the putt from what you think is the low side.   The low side of a putt is the spot where we think the ball will fall below the hole.  In this case, with the ball breaking right to left, I determined the left side to the the low side.

As you walk the distance to the hole on that low side, be sure to feel the ground below your feet. Are you walking downhill, uphill, or is it flat terrain?   When you get to the hole walk entirely around the cup and observe the breaking point where you need to ‘play the ball to’ in order for it to break and move towards the cup.

Without making a final decision on anything, continue your walk back to your ball down the ‘high-side’ of the putt (clockwise circle from the starting point).  

Step 3 – Rewind the Hole

Stand back over your ball and identify that area above the cup on the high where the break begins. Now, get the read of the putt from the hole back to you, in rewind.  Once you’ve determined your spot, line up the marker on your ball and take your stroke.

It may take some practice to craft a quick version of this and create a ‘pre-putt routine’.   The whole process should take about 10 seconds and if consistent, you could see some serious strokes come off the score card.