How to Read the Golf Green

Series Summary

Although it is a popular game amongst people of all ages, the game of golf can be challenging. Whether you are an absolute beginner, or someone who has been playing for a while, golf lessons can help you improve your game at any stage. Golf, like most sports, is one where practice makes perfect. Unfortunately though, it is a sport where practice can often be expensive. Since you can’t practice your game in the backyard, it is necessary to be able to maximize your time at the range or on the course so you can see the most improvement.

In this free video series, our expert Jay Golden will teach you how to putt and improve your short game. Having a great drive like Happy Gilmore doesn't mean you know how to get that ball in the hole. Jay will show you what to do when stuck in the sand, when your ball rolls down the green to the rough, or when your ball is just inches from the green and you can't decide what's next. He offers imagery to help you visualize your shot and tips for many of the situations that leave a golfer wasting strokes. Watch these tips and learn Jay's original cartoon shot or how to dig a buried ball from the sand. It is all here, and you are just minutes from dropping ten strokes off your next game!

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm PGA member Jay Golden, and on behalf of ATAP and Expert Village, the short game. Putting. Reading greens. This is reading greens. You could line up perfectly, have a perfect stroke, but if you don't read the break correctly, you're not going to make the putt. The easiest way to read greens is with your feet. I've always had trouble looking and the plumb bob, everything has to be just right, but you could read them with your feet, and this is how. If I'm putting in that direction, I'll get right behind my ball, face the hole, and feel which foot is higher. Obviously, if this foot is higher than this foot, the ball is going to break that way. If this foot is higher than that foot, it's going to break that way. I'm going to stand behind the ball and read this with my feet. It feels like this foot is higher. Therefore, the putt is going to break that way. If it feels much higher it's going to break a lot, if it feels a little higher, it's going to break a little. That comes with experience. But here we go. Let's see if that's correct. Okay, it curved that way. It curved that way. It curved that way. The easiest way to read greens is with your feet, and we all know how important it is to read the green correctly. Read the green with your feet. We'll be back with more tips right here on Expert Village."