Natalie Adams – PGA Teaching Pro

In this Swing Tip we’re going to have a look at how to handle really big breaking putts on the green. So this is where you’re facing a really big slope on the green. And the main thing to look for here is that you need to aim the putter face along the target line which isn’t necessarily at the hole. If you’ve got a really big slope an the green you’re going to have to aim away from the hole so the ball curves out of the slope reaches the top point or the apex of that curve and then starts to travel back down towards the hole. So the best way to do that is first of all crouch down behind the ball and have a look of what’s happening on the slope. How much do you think the ball if you hit it straight to the hole, how much would it miss on the right or on the left? So you’ve got an idea of the curve and the shape that the ball is going to travel along.

Now what we want to do is we don’t what to hit straight to the hole, so the ball travels along that shape and misses, we want the ball to travel along that shape, but so that it finishes in the hole. So that now means we are going to be aiming to the left or to the right to allow the ball to travel along that curve. And we really need to focus on getting it to the top point of that curve on the apex of that curve. So as we come in rather than aiming the putter face at the hole we want to be thinking about the shape and the curve and the target line that the ball is going to travel along.

Now good drills are practiced when you are working on this bigger breaking putts is to put or cling down where feel the maximum curve point is on the green, or a tee peg. Work on that aiming the putter Face, so that’s its going to hit the ball to that point that you’ve selected and get the ball around the outside of that coin or that tee peg. So that once is gone round the outside and past it the ball drops back down the slope and goes into the hole. That will really encourage you to get the ball onto the high side of the hole where it’s got a chance to drop in.

Another good way to work on those breaking putts as well is before you actually hit the putts and when you trying to workout where to put your coin or your tee peg to show you the shape that you want to hit the ball on that target line would be just to have an extra ball in your hands. And when you’ve decided how much break you think there’s on the slope then just roll the ball out where you feel the ball needs to go and then watch what happens. And you will get an idea of the shape for the ball moving at that speed. You can then put your disk, your coin, your tee peg in position and the work on hitting the ball at that point. And that will really get you able to read the green a lot better and you should be able to handle those bigger breaking putts.