How to Lag a Breaking Putt

To lag a putt is to approach it not from a desire to make it, but just leave it where the next putt stands a reasonable chance of being made. When a putt breaks because of hills and valleys in a green, that is often a difficult task. Knowing where to hit a putt is probably two-thirds of that task. Then, it becomes a matter of good old fashioned "Touch."

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Divide the putt into two tasks--a "left-sided" exercise that involves determining the direction and amount of a putt's break, and a "right sided" exercise that involves visualizing the putt's course and then applying your "touch" to realize that visualization.

2. Use one of the tools available for figuring out how a putt will break: local knowledge, "plumb bobbing the putt," watching the course of putts struck before yours, visually inspecting the green's contours and "feeling" the green with your feet as you walk it.

3. Play a course prior to competition. Roll putts from various positions on every green and take notes of the direction and amount of break.

4. Hire a caddy who knows the course if you don't have a chance to learn the greens yourself.

5. Settle on a sense of what the putt is going to do using whatever information you have. In truth, your commitment to the putt is more crucial than whether you have an exact reading.

6. Other than what you have visualized, wipe the "left sided" exercise out of your mind as you go through your final preshot routine. Pick your line and visualize the putt.

7. Trust your line, trust your stroke and "feel" the correct execution of the putt.

Tips & Warnings

• Local knowledge is the most dependable way of reading a putt. Plumb bobbing is the least.

Resources

• Description of aggressive long putting style
• General discussion of lag putting
• Golf

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