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How Long To Lineup A Putt?

How Long To Lineup A Putt?

  • As long as I need

    Votes: 16 10.6%

  • 2 Minutes to walk around from all angles

    Votes: 2 1.3%

  • About a minute to get it read from 2 sides

    Votes: 55 36.4%

  • I take a quick glance and then fire away

    Votes: 78 51.7%
  • Total voters
    151
JB

JB

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Let me preface this by saying that this is not a right or wrong type of question. Genuinely curious how long people feel they take to lineup a putt. The scenario

15 feet
Playing competitively but its early in the round and its all for fun
Green are running at a decent speed of 10
Putting on a fairly flat surface

Take the poll above and let us know your thoughts.
 
I get a look at it from behind my ball, judge my line from there, and then walk to my ball, one, maybe 2 practice swings, and swing away... if I'm first to act it takes about 30 seconds..... if I'm waiting on others to putt, I'll read my line a few times until it's my turn
 
my answer is somewhere between the last two options. I will try to get looks at it from three angles but will do so while others are putting so when its my turn im not taking a ton of time to line up my putt
 
^what philly V said. I'm actively looking at my putt and getting and ideas of what i want to do while others are reading and putting.
 
In between the last 2 options, maybe 30 seconds?
 
I try to be ready to go when its my turn. If others are putting I will look then so not to take a lot of time.
 
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  • #7
PhillyV said:
my answer is somewhere between the last two options. I will try to get looks at it from three angles but will do so while others are putting so when its my turn im not taking a ton of time to line up my putt
Click to expand...

vFLASHv said:
^what philly V said. I'm actively looking at my putt and getting and ideas of what i want to do while others are reading and putting.
Click to expand...

What happens if you are first to putt?
 
As little time as I possibly can. The longer I look at it, the more I second guess, and usually my initial thought on it is the right one (not saying they go in, but if I change my mind on what I am doing, I am usually wrong on line).
 
I look at my line while others are putting and then do a couple practice strokes. If I have time I will go to the opposite side to look at a different angle but I always feel like I am holding people up when I do that. My group I play with isn't a traditional golf crew so when I decide to take a couple minutes for a birdie putt I usually hear some banter, however I usually make that birdie when I take the time. They shut up after the ball hits the bottom of the cup lol.
 
Likely 60-90 seconds total. Read from both sides then line up line on ball to intended target start. Do my best to do this while others are putting/chipping, etc as I hate people having to wait on me.
 
I don't think it's a quick glance for me and it's not a minute when it is my turn.

I will get a read as I walk up and, if others are putting since I am 15 feet away, I will do additional surveying.

Once it is my turn I get behind the ball, line up the alignment mark on the ball, take 3-4 sneds-like practice strokes, and hit it. Probably totals about 30 seconds. If I'm first to putt, then my answer is correct.
 
My answer was "As long as I need" but for me that never is more than a minute. Most times I read it pretty quick and I do a lot of my reads while waiting for others. My feeling on the matter as a whole is that if someone is uncomfortable over a putt they shouldn't feel pressured to hit it anyways because of some arbitrary measure of time.
 
15-20 seconds? It's really not long at all. If I don't see an initial read, I'm most likely not going to see one without taking up a ton of time, and I HATE taking a ton of time around greens.
 
I would say somewhere around 30-45 seconds. I usually take a look from behind, line up the ball, take a couple of practice strokes and go. I feel like usually my first read is the correct one and if I keep thinking about it I usually screw it up.
 
It's rare for me to look at a putt from more than just behind the ball. Unless it has some serious break or fast downhill I'm less than 30 seconds easily every time.
 
I usually do my looking around at the green as I'm walking to the ball from the previous shot, or the cart if riding. Spend a few seconds behind the ball taking into account what I saw while I was walking up, put it down on the line I want to start, pick up my mark, spin the putter in my left hand, set it down behind the ball, hit the putt.
 
Putting first, take a look from both sides checking for grain and slope, 2 practice strokes looking at the hole to get a feel for speed and go.
waiting my turn, survey while other people are putting, 2 practice strokes looking at the hole to get a feel for speed and go.
 
JB said:
What happens if you are first to putt?
Click to expand...
Thats why i always (if not always, as often as i can) walk up the front of the green and try to get a feel for how the green is laid out and the breaks in it before i even get to my ball. I try to see it from both sides if the first look isnt clear
 
I'm extremely quick. Its rare that I take long at all on a putt, or read from the other side.
 
I took option 4 although that's not actually true. It's more true than #3 though and I am in between the two.

When I am getting to the hole and the ball is on the other side I will look at both sides. Why not, I am already there. Seems like I am more often short of the hole though, or on one side (left or right) than beyond. Usually though I will look from behind my ball, and if I am not sure I will walk up the line to see how the grass is growing. That doesn't work on Bermuda for me though (where I can see one thing but it could be that, or it could break the other!). In that case I hope I am not first and that I can see what others do.
 
What I've learned is that getting the speed is more of an issue than getting the alignment right. Whether I look at a putt for a second or a minute, my big miss is always either long or short, not right or left. So, I take a glance and putt with the intention of getting the speed more-so correct than worrying about reading the break correctly.
 
I voted that I read it from 2 sides, but really I don't. I will take maybe a few seconds to read it from behind, then I'll walk up and eye it from over the ball. Take a couple practice strokes then I step up and hit it. So I guess I'm more of the last option.
 
Took the take a minute option. But the key to helping with pace of play is to start getting the read as you walk up to the green. Survey the green as you walk up. Then once close to your ball start refining your read.
 
I don't take very long to line up a putt, in general. I'm already trying to figure out high points that I can as I'm walking up to the green. So, I'd say I'm in the "About a minute to get it from two sides?
 
I took take a quick glance and go. I am always looking at my putt as others are playing which helps. If I'm first to play, I might take a little extra time, but I usually like to just stick with what my gut tells me right away.
 
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