You have a 10-foot putt. Sensing it will break a little right-to-left, you aim just outside the hole, and it misses on the right. Did you push it, misread it, or simply have too much speed? Or was it all three?
Without understanding why we’re missing putts, we often misdiagnose our putting struggles as technical ones. We work on our strokes, but we might not get any better. Why? That was never the issue—we simply don’t read the greens well enough.
Scroll down for our key takeaways and a complete recording of the webinar.
Ralph Bauer, a Canada-based putting coach who works with multiple PGA Tour players, has long studied the art and science of green reading because he sees it as an often-overlooked variable that when improved can quickly lower our scores.
We chatted with Bauer on all things green reading during the Golf Digest Happy Hour: The art and science of green reading—what you’re doing wrong and how to fix it.
Throughout the hour-long webinar offered exclusively for Golf Digest+ members, Bauer explained the fundamentals of green reading, beginning with the various factors that affect break. He explained how to properly read a putt, why you shouldn’t ever read a putt from the high side of the hole and other common green-reading misconceptions.
Scroll down for our key takeaways and a complete recording of the webinar.
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