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How to Read Putting Greens
Your practice at a glance
PuttingCategory
Judge the breakBenefit
About 35 minutesPractice time
18 per drillPractice putts
Putter, balls + teesEquipment
These golf drills are from the Golf Practice Made Fun App.
A clearer read helps you choose a starting line and putt with more confidence.
These three drills build your green-reading skills from the straight uphill reference in Find the Straight Putt to putts around the hole with Clockface Putting, then the slope-reading and aiming routine in AimPoint Express. Work through them in order, taking time to notice how the slope and your pace affect the ball’s roll.
Drill 1. Find the Straight Putt: Build Your Reference
| Step | What to do |
|---|---|
| 1 | Choose a gentle, fairly even slope. From four to six feet away, use a few controlled test rolls to find a short, straight uphill putt. Check your starting line as well as the roll before deciding that a miss came from the slope. |
| 2 | Place three balls at roughly the same distance: one on your straight reference and one to either side. Predict each ball’s break before putting. Use the reference to compare the side putts, while allowing for the actual contours and your intended pace. |
| 3 | Complete three sets of three putts, then find a fresh straight uphill reference on another gentle slope and repeat. That makes six sets of three: eighteen putts. Notice how a change in pace can change the break. |
Explore the full Find the Straight Putt drill and reference-line checks →
Drill 2. Clockface Putting: Read Every Side of the Hole
| Step | What to do |
|---|---|
| 1 | Find a straight uphill putt and call that starting position six o’clock. The opposite downhill position is twelve o’clock. Place six balls around the hole at twelve, two, four, six, eight and ten o’clock, each six feet from the hole. |
| 2 | Begin at the uphill six-o’clock position and work around the clock in one direction. Read the slope and choose a starting line before every putt. Match the pace to the slope: uphill putts need more stroke than equivalent downhill putts. |
| 3 | Complete three circuits of the six positions: eighteen putts. Give each ball a fresh read. Compare how the same distance plays from different sides, and use the roll to refine your next read. |
See the full Clockface Putting Drill and its slope-and-pace guidance →
Drill 3. AimPoint Express: Feel the Slope and Choose a Line
| Step | What to do |
|---|---|
| 1 | Start with a putt of around twenty feet on a simple, steady slope. Use your feet to feel which side is lower, checking along the putt as needed. Identify whether the slope feels flat, gentle or stronger before choosing your line. |
| 2 | Use the calibrated finger read you have learned to choose an aim point on the high side. Your arm position, green speed and intended pace matter. If you are new to AimPoint, use the full lesson linked below to learn the method while practising how to recognise slopes. |
| 3 | Aim the putter face along your chosen starting line and roll the ball at your planned pace. Review the start, break and finish, then reset from a new position. Complete eighteen putts in two sets of nine, making a fresh read each time. |
Read the full AimPoint Express Putting Drill and watch the lesson →
