Field Notes
How To Read Greens: A Simple System for Weekend Golfers
A practical green reading system for amateur golfers — how to walk the putt, identify slope, factor for speed, and stop guessing at the break.
Walk the Low Side
Read putts from the low side of the hole, not behind the ball. From the low side, you see the full slope between your ball and the cup. From directly behind, the ground is misleading. Most amateur golfers read from the wrong position.
AimPoint Basics
Stand at the midpoint of your putt and feel the slope with your feet. Lean slightly — that lean tells you the percentage of break. On a 2% slope, aim 2 ball-widths outside the edge. It takes 30 minutes to learn and stays with you.
Speed Governs Break
A hard-hit putt breaks less than a dying putt. Every read you have is relative to a specific speed. Pick your speed first — die at the hole or roll past it 12 inches — then read the break for that speed. Changing speed after the read changes everything.
WYX Practice Pick
The WYX Putting Alignment Mirror builds consistent eye position and path — the setup prerequisites for any green-reading system to work. Fix the setup first, then the read.
Continue with WYX golf essentials or read The Long Game.