At this point, we are going to help you create a process for reading – and then hitting – a double breaking putt. You are welcome to adapt this method in any way that you choose so that it winds up working for you on the course. While it might seem like this is a long and complicated process, you should be able to master it relatively quickly. As you continue to practice this process of handling a double breaking putt, you will be able to move through it faster and faster.
The step-by-step process below begins at the point you walk onto the green and find that you will be dealing with a double breaking putt.
To get started, you should mark and clean your golf ball before going on to get your read. You don’t want to forget to clean off your ball before hitting your putt, so you might as well do this right away. When you are done cleaning your ball, replace it on the green but leave your mark behind it for now. This will make it easier to see the location of your ball from behind the hole, as it can be difficult to see ball markers from long distances.
Next, take a walk up toward the hole, off to the side of your expected putting line. Your job right now is to find the point at which the putt is going to switch from one break to the other. For instance, if the putt starts out by turning from right to left, where is it going to switch course and head back to the right? Once you have found that spot, continue to walk up and find a position behind the hole where you can get a good read.
While standing – or crouching – behind the hole, read the putt from the point where you have decided that it is going to switch directions. Where would the ball need to be at that point in order to wind up perfectly at the hole when all is said and done? Basically, you are trying to identify a mid-point target that you can use to guide the rest of your read.
Now that you have a mid-point target picked out, walk back to stand behind the ball and complete your read. The goal of this read is to get the ball from its current position to the mid-point target. If you can do that, and if your read for the second half of the putt was correct, you should be in great shape. Settle on a target line based on your completed read and then get ready to hit the putt.
As you walk up to the ball to take your stance, do your best to think about just two things – your final target line, and the speed of the putt. You don’t need to think about the two breaks, your mid-point target, or anything else. Think about how hard you are going to hit the ball, and what line you are going to use to get the putt started. It will be hard at first to teach yourself to think in those simple terms, but stick with it until that kind of thinking becomes natural.
When you are all set, take one last look up at the hole – this is good for helping you ‘feel’ the right speed – and then make the stroke. Don’t stand over the ball too long before starting the stroke, or your body may begin to tighten up.
Yes, there are six steps in the process above, and yes it could take a bit to work through this process at first. That’s why you need to use it on the practice green before ever giving it a try on the course. You will get comfortable with the process as you practice, and you will soon find that you don’t have to think about it consciously as you go. With the proper amount of work put in during practice, your process for reading double breaking putts will come naturally on the course.
