AimPoint Fingers Drill: Read Greens Like A Pro

AimPoint Fingers Drill: Unlock Slope Percentage

This AimPoint Fingers Drill is from the Golf Practice Planner.

Name
AimPoint Fingers Drill

Category
Putting Practice Drills

Difficulty
4 out of 10

Time
5 minutes

Props
Fingers, putter, hole, putting green.

Overview
AimPoint is an amazing green reading system. You can find out more about AimPoint green-reading by reading (forgive the pun) my AimPoint Express Putting Drill and AimPoint Probability Of Reads Drill.

Steps

Step 1: Watch
Watch the video.

Step 2: Slope % Formula
Slope percentage = rise over run. That sounds a bit technical, but it’s not really. For example, a one-foot rise over 100 feet = 1% (see slope % formula below).

0 Foot Rise Over 100 Feet = 0% (level/flat)
1 Foot Rise Over 100 Feet = 1% (mild slope)
2 Foot Rise Over 100 Feet = 2% (average/default slope)
3 Foot Rise Over 100 Feet = 3% (steep slope)
4 Foot Rise Over 100 Feet = 4% (severe slope)
5 Foot Rise Over 100 Feet = 5% (diabolically severe slope)

Step 3: Fingers = Slope %
When you see a Pro raise an arm towards to target and extend their fingers, they are using their “fingers” to gauge the slope percentage. When you see Adam Scott or Dustin Johnson with “one finger up”, that represents a 1% slope (1% slope represents a mild slope).

1 Finger Raised = 1% slope (mild slope)
2 Finger Raised = 2% slope (average/default slope)
3 Finger Raised = 3% slope (steep slope)
4 Finger Raised = 4% slope (severe slope)
5 Finger Raised = 5% slope (diabolically severe slope)

Knowing the slope percentage is important for two reasons: 1) The steeper the slope the more break you’ll need to play. 2) Knowing the steepness of the slope will help you gauge how hard to hit the putt. 

Step 4: Keep Score
Put a tee peg on the practice putting green (or on the course) and place a ball 30 feet away. The tee peg acts as the hole. Go through your putting routine using the “Aimpoint Fingers Drill”. Repeat 10 times from 10 different locations (place the tee in a different location each time you putt). Keep track of how good your reads were (e.g. putt number 1 missed on the low side, putt  number was good, etc). You get one point for a perfect read. Maximum score is 10.

Top Tip: A great way to keep score while practising your “slope reading” (green reading skills) is with the clockface putting drill.