Is Aim-Point the Future of Reading Putts?

 

Other than chipping, I’d be hard-pressed to say there is anything harder in golf than putting. There is just something about getting the ball into the hole that freaks players out and gives them the yips. More people, pros included, struggle with putting than any other aspect of the game.  And here’s the reality; putting is always going to be hard. The whole point of golf course design is to make things difficult for you, otherwise, golf would get boring. So don’t think that reading this blog, watching any video, or having any lesson will magically make a difficult thing easy. It won’t. But, those resources can give you good tools to help make the game easier and simpler and, at the end of the day, that is all you need to keep coming back to the course. 

Reading putts is typically what makes them difficult. After a few putts on the practice green or after playing a few holes you can figure out the speed, and as long as you make good strokes your putts will roll well. But, knowing where you need to putt the ball and how fast is the hard part; that’s what people struggle with. This is why aim-point putt reading, I think, is the future of reading putts for all levels of golf. Firstly, it simplifies a difficult part of the game. Instead of walking around and trying to see every contour and blade of grass to see what your putt might do, you simply use the feel of your feet and what you see from behind the ball. That’s all you need to see in my opinion. In a lot of ways, this takes the guesswork out of putting and allows you to just “see and feel” the putt. 

Here’s how it works. Set your ball however you like to on the green (line, no line, etc). Stand over it with your feet about shoulder-width apart and “feel” the slope of the green between your feet. Based on that feel, give the slope a “rating” in number of fingers (1, 2, 3, etc.). Hold up your fingers to whichever side of the hole you think the putt will break, and bang, there’s your line. Now, I’d suggest going a little higher than that line in general, but for the most part that should be basically what the putt does. Trust that read and that line, hit a good putt, and I promise you will be more pleased with the way you putt.

Like I said earlier, the appeal of the aim-point is that it simplifies something difficult, which, in turn, could take a weakness in your game and make it a strength. If you get comfortable with aim-point and learn how to read greens well and hit good putts, your whole game will improve and you will become more confident in your ability to make putts and shoot better scores. Here’s the thing to remember, though. Don’t change something you are already comfortable with. If you are a decent or a good putter, you probably don’t need to change what you are doing. Always keep that in mind with anything golf-related. It’s all about comfort and confidence. Making changes just for the sake of change is a recipe for disaster. But, if you struggle putting and aren’t confident in your ability to read putts, give aim-point a try. You might just turn that weakness into a strength and start holing putts you never dreamed you would.