THE BASIC SURVEYING PRINCIPLE We've all seen players crouch behind their golf balls or the flag to read a putt. Some even go as far as to stare at the putt from the low side of the hole. I've known players who, when faced with a putt to win a meager Nassau three ways, will flop down on their bellies in a desperate attempt to get the read right. While these techniques have been used ever since a greens keeper decided to cut a hole on the most severely sloped portion of a green, they fail to eliminate optical illusions. The only way to accurately gauge the slope of a given putt is to apply the rules of the Basic Surveying Principle (BSP). All professional land surveyors use the BSP to determine the lay of the land. Recreating the BSP on the portion of the green over which your putt will travel is the key to expert green reading. It involves three steps: 1) standing in the right spot; 2) standing correctly; and 3) holding the putter in such a manner that it becomes a true plumb. All three steps must be performed correctly or you won't eliminate optical illusions—there's no partial credit when it comes to green reading. Standing in the right spot. It's possible to determine slope only on the ground area on which you're standing, with an approximate radius of 12 feet. The bottom line is that you need to stand where you want to know the break. Standing correctly. The BSP dictates that your spine act like a range pole, an axis that lies perpendicular to the ground. Many golfers instinctually adjust to the slope of the ground on which they're standing by tilting their spines. This is one of the biggest causes of optical illusions. Instead, spread both feet to about shoulder width and lock both knees (see photo at top, right). Hold your torso straight, being careful not to make any bend or tilt corrections for obvious slopes. 1 wrong stance Golfers assume a variety of positions when reading greens. Two popular theories are that you have to crouch near to the ground and/or use your dominant eye to get the read right. Wrong. Creating the BSP is the only way to accurately judge the slope over which your putt will travel. 2 plumb right & wrongSure, you've used your putter as a plumb to read greens, but did you use it correctly? Most putters are weighted in such a way that they act as a true plumb only when held in a certain position. The heel-toe-weighted model pictured above creates a true plumb only when it's held with the face angled slightly away from the golfer (above, right). If the putter is held in any other position, it won't create a true plumbline, a must to eliminate optical illusions. 3 creating the BSPThe key to expert green reading is to eliminate optical illusions, which run rampant on sloping surfaces. The only way to erase false impressions is to apply the rules of the BSP. Stand with both legs apart, lock your knees and allow your spine to tilt naturally in relation to the slope. Hold the putter away from your body with very light finger pressure to create a true plumbline. Creating a plumb. In the BSP, your putter serves as a plumb that will soon parent any tilt to the ground. To do so, you must hold your putter in such a way that it becomes a true vertical. Sounds easy, but it's not. Modern putters are designed with different degrees of face balancing, with varying hosel connections and unique shaft bends that can move the putter shaft off its vertical plane if it's not held correctly. To find your putter's plumb line position, hold it against a doorjamb and rotate it until the shaft and the jamb lines run parallel. Given: A=angle of the ground slope; your spine is perpendicular (90°) to the ground; your putter is a true vertical. Prove: Angle (distance) you see between your putter shaft and the cup (C) is the same as the angle of the slope of the ground, or that A=C.Solution: Per congruent triangles, A=B; per supplementary angles, B=C; therefore, A=C. READING THE GREEN Once you perfect the requirements of the BSP, you're ready to read your putt. To do so correctly, you'll need to concentrate on two objects. The first object is the hole. While in your BSP stance, visually run a straight ground line from the hole to your spine. As you do so, locate a point on the ground line that's approximatly half the distance from your spine to the cup—a spike mark, a blade of grass, a discoloration, etc. Once you've pinpointed this second object, position the lower part of your putter shaft so that it crosses that point. Now, simply run your eyes up the shaft and analyze the position of the cup. If part or the entire cup lies to the left of the shaft, then you know the putt is going to break to the left. If any or the entire cup lies to the right of the shaft, then the putt will turn to the right. Easy! If the shaft bisects the cup, then you've got a straight no-brainer. Obviously, the distance between the shaft and the cup dictates how much the putt will break. As more of the cup appears to the left or right of the shaft, the more the putt will break in that direction. But how much? Unfortunately, due to different types of grasses, the condition of the green and the absence or presence of grain, there's no telltale way to gauge exactly how much a putt will break. The BSP reveals only the direction in which the putt will travel. Knowing how much a putt will break to the left or right can only be determined through calibration, a difficult-sounding task that's actually quite easy and takes but a few minutes before each round. THE MATH The key to my expert green reading is believing that the angle created between your puttershaft and the straight line between your ball and the cup is the angle of the slope on which you're putting. Luckily, this isn't the leap of faith it appears to be. Proving that the angle of the slope is the same as what you see when you plumb with the BSP can be explained by 10th-grade geometry. CALIBRATION On the practice putting green, size up a putt using the BSP. If the cup lies two inches to the left of the shaft, then the putt will break to the left. However, in order to know whether the putt will break 10 inches to the left, one inch to the left or 20 inches to the left, you'll have to experiment with different targets. Putt the ball and see how much it breaks. If the greens are slow and shaggy, the putt may break only an inch or so. But if you're playing on slick bent grass, the putt may break three feet! After a few attempts, you'll soon dial in how far out to the left or right you should play a breaking putt on that day. Also, be aware that the harder you stroke a putt, the less it will be affected by slope. Conversely, putts that are struck with less force tend to be affected more by slope. SLOW PLAY When people learn about my green-reading technique, they often assume that it will add to the problem of slow play. On the contrary, green reading using my technique will actually speed up play. Compare the time it takes for a golfer to crouch down behind the ball, get a read, confirm the read from either behind the hole or from the low point of the green, then go back to behind the ball for a final look. No one can read a putt in this manner in less than 60 seconds. fact vs. fiction Fiction: You must use your dominant eye to judge slope.Fact: It makes no difference whether one eye or both eyes are used. What you see is what you get. Fiction: Crouch and get close to the ground to get the best read.Fact: There's only one stance that works when reading greens, and that's one where the golfer is standing erect with both legs spread to shoulder width. Fiction: Observe how the green slopes as you approach it from the fairway.Fact: Optical illusions can occur no matter how or from where you study a green. Using the BSP is the only way to eliminate these false impressions. Fiction: Grain causes a putt to break.Fact: Grain is a speed factor. Only gravity will cause a putt to break. With the expert green-reading method, you only need one read, and after a few practice sessions, you'll find that creating the BSP and observing to which side of your puttershaft the hole sits takes but a few seconds. Better yet, it provides you with the confidence of knowing exactly how the putt will break. Standard green reading fails to completely erase any doubt concening how your putt will react once it gets rolling, and that can only add to the amount of time you spend over the ball and, worse yet, can invite tension into your stroke.
