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How do you "see" the line?

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SaffaClint

SaffaClint

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For me, I look at the green and after looking for a few markers I start to "see" a line appear on the green. The easiest way to describe what I see is if you imagine playing a round on a dewy morning and someone has played ahead of you. The marks/tracks the ball makes in the dew, that's what I "see", even though they're not there. I've spoken with a lot of friends who are low single figure cappers and oddly enough we all see a very similar thing. I guess it comes from years of playing, I don't know.
It'd be interesting to hear how anyone else sees the line.
Cheers.
 
I am the same and once I have it in my head which way it breaks and where I need to start putt on I line up the markings on my ball with this and then step back away and start my putting routine.
 
Playing at St Clair though you don't always have to imagine wet lines on the green thanks to the greenkeeper. I remember playing a comp there a few years back and he had mowed all the greens without realising there was a hydraulic fluid leak, lol. Took ages for those greens to come right.
 
SaffaClint said:
Playing at St Clair though you don't always have to imagine wet lines on the green thanks to the greenkeeper. I remember playing a comp there a few years back and he had mowed all the greens without realising there was a hydraulic fluid leak, lol. Took ages for those greens to come right.
Click to expand...

I remember that !!! Greens are not that good at moment but are slowly improving - early this year greens got taken over by a weed 'liverwort' and they have been terrible to putt on through winter but about 75% of greens are nearly back to normal but the 4 worse one's are still bumpy and hard to putt on.
 
I know, I was up there a few weeks ago talking to the pro, who by the way has ZERO stock. I went and looked at some of the greens and they're definitely not in the best shape.
 
I used to see that line but really didn't make many putts. Now my reads come from the overall green complex and how it may or may not affect the roll of my putt. Once I have my spot I go through the same routine while looking at that spot. Line it up and go. There is a lot of SPI in setup but my reads are based on the speed of the greens that day.
 
I have days on the course where I see the line but sadly it is not every day that I play. I have no idea why some days are better than others, but on those days when I see the line I just know that my putt is going in or be very close.
 
Once in a great while a line sort of appears and I sort of know its just the perfect line to follow, but thats very seldom. I just read the slope and guess the speed, wish there were more to it that made things easier.
 
I would add a bit to Tadashi. Unless the guy who designed the course/greens intentionally tried to mess the the golfer then topography around the green is key to start. Usually, when playing a new course or one I haven't played much. I start looking for the high point(s) on the green as I walk up from the fairway. Front to back, left to right...In most cases you can see this pretty well. This should give you a general idea as to the break of thr green overall.
Now, what if the green is generall flat? Then I start looking for the water drain(s) positions off of the green. Most course have them, and thats where the water goes, so at least you have a basic low spot.
It's always good to see a putt from two sides, and if you can see the putt from the opposite side as you first walk onto the green, then from behind to line up the logo to your choose line you'll save some time.
Trust what you see from behind with two eyes. Once you get ovee the ball and turn your head looking with your left eye, so to speak, the tilt in your head may make the line appear incorrect. Trust what you saw behind, after that, it's about speed, feel and making a good roll.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk
 
While I don't consider myself a great putter (yet), I do consider myself a decent putter.

I try to look at the putt and visualize a route the ball should roll. I look for late breaks, early breaks, slope of the green, and speed.
From there I pick a spot where I want to start the ball,I try to hit that spot with the speed desired,and that becomes my target, and let the ball head towards the hole hopefully falling in.
 
Agent Jay said:
I would add a bit to Tadashi. Unless the guy who designed the course/greens intentionally tried to mess the the golfer then topography around the green is key to start. Usually, when playing a new course or one I haven't played much. I start looking for the high point(s) on the green as I walk up from the fairway. Front to back, left to right...In most cases you can see this pretty well. This should give you a general idea as to the break of thr green overall.
Now, what if the green is generall flat? Then I start looking for the water drain(s) positions off of the green. Most course have them, and thats where the water goes, so at least you have a basic low spot.
It's always good to see a putt from two sides, and if you can see the putt from the opposite side as you first walk onto the green, then from behind to line up the logo to your choose line you'll save some time.
Trust what you see from behind with two eyes. Once you get ovee the ball and turn your head looking with your left eye, so to speak, the tilt in your head may make the line appear incorrect. Trust what you saw behind, after that, it's about speed, feel and making a good roll.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
I agree 100%, my green reading really starts after I have greened my second shot or once the ball is on the green. I'm looking at the green structure before I even pull the putter. Good points you made?
 
Agent Jay said:
I would add a bit to Tadashi. Unless the guy who designed the course/greens intentionally tried to mess the the golfer then topography around the green is key to start. Usually, when playing a new course or one I haven't played much. I start looking for the high point(s) on the green as I walk up from the fairway. Front to back, left to right...In most cases you can see this pretty well. This should give you a general idea as to the break of thr green overall.
Now, what if the green is generall flat? Then I start looking for the water drain(s) positions off of the green. Most course have them, and thats where the water goes, so at least you have a basic low spot.
It's always good to see a putt from two sides, and if you can see the putt from the opposite side as you first walk onto the green, then from behind to line up the logo to your choose line you'll save some time.
Trust what you see from behind with two eyes. Once you get ovee the ball and turn your head looking with your left eye, so to speak, the tilt in your head may make the line appear incorrect. Trust what you saw behind, after that, it's about speed, feel and making a good roll.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
God...looks like I need a lesson in green reading. I don't so any of this stuff, and my putting (specifically reading a green...and speed) has really been crap this year.
 
I am like Freddie, I start reading putts from the fairway...sometimes its much easier to see slopes from the fairway than it is on the green.

How many times have you hit a putt and then said "Wow I didn't see it breaking that way"....then as you walk off the green you see the slope.

Others have talked about looking for drains or places where water runs off, I read alot from the green with my feet...as I walk around the putt I can feel slope, once I determine my high point then I look at grain....in this part of the world you have to take that into consideration because a straight putt that is cross grain is NEVER straight. after all that I pick out my high point and mentally draw a line back to my ball....I try to find something on that line to aim at....and then try to roll it over that spot.
 
Yes I see a line. However I then pick a spot at the apex and hit a "strait" putt towards that spot. It helps me not focus on the hole and by picking a spot to roll the ball over it gives me better distance feel on big breaking putts.
For small break putts, the last mental picture is the ball going in the hole. I learned this year if you keep aiming at the right or left edge you can hit it but not drop the putt and I am really good at that most days.
 
SaffaClint said:
Playing at St Clair though you don't always have to imagine wet lines on the green thanks to the greenkeeper. I remember playing a comp there a few years back and he had mowed all the greens without realising there was a hydraulic fluid leak, lol. Took ages for those greens to come right.
Click to expand...

This happened a few months ago to 3 greens at my home course. Wow, what a mess that made of those greens. They are still rehabbing.

I wish I could see a line. I don't. I do "sense" a slope and a sort of drainage path, like a water run off path. But there's no precision to it and on big break greens my lack of knowledge shows, I suppose it will come with time and practice.
 
MM, time will definitely help. When it comes to big breaking putts it's all about finding the spot where the ball will break from and hitting the putt to it. With time you'll also learn to control speed, not just distance and that makes a huge difference. I prefer putting on greens with big breaks as I learnt to play the game on those types of greens. The course I play at now has such subtle breaks that it makes it difficult to read them at times but I am finding that the more rounds I play the more my green reading ability is coming back to me. Come to think of it I actually can't remember the last time I 3 putted?
 
SaffaClint said:
MM, time will definitely help. When it comes to big breaking putts it's all about finding the spot where the ball will break from and hitting the putt to it. With time you'll also learn to control speed, not just distance and that makes a huge difference. I prefer putting on greens with big breaks as I learnt to play the game on those types of greens. The course I play at now has such subtle breaks that it makes it difficult to read them at times but I am finding that the more rounds I play the more my green reading ability is coming back to me. Come to think of it I actually can't remember the last time I 3 putted?
Click to expand...


Most of my golf, to date (150 rounds of it), has been played on my home course. The greens don't break all that much and I've learned how to putt them.... usually 28-32 putts per round. But get me on unfamiliar greens and it's best guess with hope for feeling the pace and getting close. It does help when I'm in a group and last to putt.

Now and then I play with someone who holds their putter up like a plumb bob. I don't have a clue what they see. I try it and what I see is my putter hanging like a plumb bob. lol.
 
HAHA :laughing:
I've tried to plumb bob and don't see a damn thing other than like you say, my puttter hanginf there. From what I know it's used to try help determine which side of the putter line is higher or lower and thereby help work out a basic line. Some people swear by it and others not. Personally I don't get it?
Familiarity on your home course can be a double edged sword. You learn which way putts break etc more from habit than actually reading the green. I try and have my clubs in my car as much as possible and quite often if I'm driving past a course I've never played I'll stop in and ask the pro if I can have a go on their practice green. There are so many different grasses and some have great slopes that it works well to keep me in tune with reading greens other than my home courses.
 
Plumb bobbing works if you can't see a line. It also helps reaffirm a line, for me.


TTing
 
I usually "see" a line as well. My biggest struggle is actually trusting it. Sometimes I over-analyze and aim a bit off, and of course miss. The best way to describe the line for me is that it's your instincts acting in your subconscious. And they say to always trust your instincts first.
 
I don't always have the patience for it, but when I am putting really well, I see a line starting at the cup and coming back to my putter. If they line up, I roll it immediately. If not, I move my feet until it lines up. To me, the line is blue. I have a ton of trouble looking "2 balls outside left" or "A cup out right". I can only see the line coming directly from the hole.
 
I'm similar but I like to get a visual of the rolling ball in my mind. I'll re-visualize as many times as it takes till I feel its right. Then pick a spot on that line 12" in front an go.
 
Like you SaffaClint, when I get a good read I'll see the path of the putt as clear as day, but instead of it being like the line made by a ball in the dew it's about 3 inches wide. When that happens and I put a good stroke on it they usually go in. Other times it's not so clear or not there at all - at that point I make a best guess of the apex and fall line and roll it.
 
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