and those of your fellow players. If, for instance, your
friend is a lagger and you're a charger, don't play as much break as he does. Finally, one hard and fast rule in putting is this: Never
hit the ball until you have a good vision of the path on which it will roll.
Sometimes the vision will come to you immediately. You'll see the perfect putt
the minute you step up to it, and more often than not, you'll sink it just as
you saw it. Other times, it will take much longer to get a picture of
the putt, and even then you won't be comfortable. But don't make your stroke
until you have the best read you can get. You have to believe in your line if
you want to have a good chance of sinking any putt. If the green is located near water, you can bet the ball is going to break
towards that body of water. I’m not sure
why this is, but it is certainly true. It’s essential that you know you shouldn’t be aiming for the hole. Good putters know that you have to pick a
spot on the green and then aim for that spot.
For example, if you think the ball will break three inches to the right,
pick a spot three inches to the left and shoot at that spot. Don’t think of a putt as a curved shot – think of every putt as being
straight on. When you have your spot,
aim to have the ball travel right over that spot. If you have read the green correctly, the
ball will naturally travel into the hole. Don’t rush reading a green. Take a
look at how your ball lies from all angles.
Walk around it; look at it from across the pin to see the trajectory
that the ball needs to travel at. But
have respect for your fellow golfers.
Don’t take forever reading a green.
It’s not rocket science and you won’t want to hold up play. Keep in mind that the line of the putt has little to do with being able to
put the ball in the hole. Good putting
depends on the speed of the ball when it leaves your putter’s face. But achieving that speed can be quite
elusive. There’s no easy way to judge
how hard you need to hit the ball to get good speed. However, there is something you can do. Go to the practice putting green. Hit several putts with about a 12-inch backswing. Do this over and over until you can get a good
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