The Most Common Green Reading Mistake

Hi, Robin here with part three of hitting the left to right putt.  The putt which we all seem to find so difficult. In part one, I talked a little bit about the common setup mistake I see. In part two, I talked about how you use your eyes and how you look at the target. And in this last part, I’m going to talk about a common green reading mistake I see.

Yes, this will affect your ability to read the putt on a left to right putt, but you can apply this rule to really every putt you’ve got.

Now, what I’ve done to help you pick up a visual of this and get the concept, is I’ve highlighted the path of this putt with some tee pegs. I’ve actually slightly exaggerated it just so it’s easier for you to see. But the common mistake we see, time after time, is players will look at the apex of the putt, the highest part of the putt, align at the apex, thinking the ball will start breaking from the apex.

But you can see, if I was to draw a straight line between the ball and the apex, if I was to aim there, the ball will actually be starting on the low side of this curve. So by the time the ball reached the apex, it’ll already be on the low side. And that’s why you’ll under-read the putt, and you’ll miss it on the low side of the hole cup.

If you were to start the ball on this curve, between the ball and the first tee, you can see, if you were actually aligning correctly and reading this putt correctly, you need to be aiming on the high side of the apex. How much will depend on the severity of the slope. But it’s a huge green reading mistake to think you need to aim at the apex, and the ball will break from there. Your alignment always needs to be on the high side of the apex. And I think if you can understand this rule, you’ll miss less balls on the low side of the hole cup. And as I’ve said before, if you can have the ball coming in on the high side of the cup, there’s a much greater chance the ball’s going to drop in.

So next time you’re reading the putt, going through your green reading process, don’t choose your apex as the starting point. Your starting point must be on the high side of the apex.