It can feel frustrating to leave shots out on the golf course, especially when you have played well from tee-to-green only to be let down by your performance with the putter.
Even if you have spent valuable time the night before practicing distance control drills on a putting mat, or working with one of the best putting training aids in a bid to unlock your potential, the truth is that you also need the correct read to find the bottom of the cup when it counts...
In the video and article below, Golf Monthly Top 50 Coach Alex Elliott shares some expert putting tips and a great green reading drill that you should definitely add to your putting practice repertoire...
Green Reading Drill
Reading a putt is one of the hardest skills in golf to master, and I often get asked how to improve in this area. I find that keeping it simple is the most effective way to drive improvement, so I devised a straightforward method that can help players of all abilities.
For a right-hander, left-to-right putts tend to prove really difficult. I know they strike fear into me sometimes. I used to find it really hard to start the ball where I wanted to, and even when I did, I'd have misread the break.
If this sounds like something that happens to you, take two coins with you next time you're going to practice putting green. Look at a putt from all angles until you feel like you've got a good idea of the line and then plot the journey using the two coins.
Plotting intermediate targets will help you read putts much better
What that does is gives you two intermediate points you think the ball needs to track over in order to find the bottom of the cup and provides a great way of visualising how a putt breaks. Don't worry if you don't get it right first time. The idea is you learn from what you did and build this visualisation into your pre-shot routine.
If you can team this with a good pace putting drill, you should be able to avoid 3-putts and maybe even hole the odd tram-liner!
For me, this is the best way to read greens as it builds a strong picture of a putt when you're out on the course and will therefore improve your chances of starting the ball where you want to. All you've got to do then is match the pace and you're onto a winner.
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