You're Correct!

Reading greens is a skill that some golfers believe they have and others believe they never will have. The truth is that everybody who plays golf can read greens.

The trick is that you just need to start using your imagination to see a mental picture of how your ball will travel towards the hole. This is an easier task for some more than others but if you understand the reasons why the ball behaves the way it does on the green then youre well on your way to reading them better than ever.

The most important thing to remember when reading a green is that gravity will pull your ball to the lowest point. This will happen as soon as you hit the ball so you must allow for this when you select the line you think your putt needs to start on. The pros and their caddies will start looking at the green as they walk up towards the green. From around 50 yards away they will get a very good perspective of the slopes. They pay attention to areas around the edge of the green where there are bunkers and water hazards and run off areas.

As they get closer, their focus is more around the area of the ball and they will be imagining how water would run along their line if it was thrown from a bucket, looking to see if it would run to the left or right. They are now ready to confirm their initial thoughts and instincts gained from their walk up observations.

In their mind is now an idea of the way the putt will break. Some of them walk half way between the ball and the hole, taking care not to stand on either their own line or that of their playing partners. Walking along the low side and then just standing still for a few seconds, feeling their body weight and how it is distributed between the feet. For example, is the weight a little on the right side or a lot? Is it more towards the heels or the toes? This confirmation will help them commit to the aim line selected and increase the chance of them holing their putt.

Although the caddy has a very important job, including advice on club selection and in putting some recommendations about what may happen, the ultimate read and decision is all down to the player. If the player doesnt make the final decision then they will be less committed to the stroke and probably miss the putt. Out on tour, that can prove to be very expensive.

You will see may of the pros crouch down behind the ball looking along the line between the ball and the hole. This is not to see if the cup is on an angle. This is to see if they can find any subtle break that may occur as they cant see much on the approach or feel anything change through their feet.

As much as they can see the direction that their playing partners ball has travelled in, if they are either not on the same line or hit their putt with the exact same speed then they will not get a true read this way. It can be of some help but they will always go through the same routine to get their read as they know they can trust what they see and feel.