Green Reading Overview

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Welcome back golfers.

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So we're going to attack the third of the putting skills which is green reading

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.

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So hopefully at this point you're able to start the ball online and roll the

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ball end

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over end and you're able to control the distance to some degree.

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So that sets you up for being able to make putts if you can read the green.

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The picture that we've been using throughout this course shows three different

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putts on

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three different speeds that all finish within the hole.

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So the number one thing you have to figure out before you're going to choose

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your read

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is how fast is this ball going to be rolling.

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But in this class we're going to cover how you're going to assess the space

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between your

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golf ball and the hole to figure out where to aim it so that you can roll it

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end over

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end and it finishes up at the target.

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Okay so when it comes to green reading there are really two major factors for

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determining

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how much a ball is going to break or how much the ball is going to come down

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the hill.

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Basically the slope which is the amount as well as the direction that the

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ground is tilted

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and then the speed or how fast the green is, the slower the green the less time

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that the

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ball is going to spend rolling so it doesn't break as much.

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The faster the green the more time the ball is going to spend rolling so it

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breaks more.

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But with those two big factors of slope and speed you can pretty much determine

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where you

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would need to aim.

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So in order to determine slope you can either use your eyes or you can use your

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body, your

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feet.

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So there are systems in place like Aimpoint that teach a really high level of

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how to control

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or how to read the slope with your feet and then there are the classic ways of

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using different

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views and factoring in kind of the big picture and breaking the put down into

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chunks where

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you can use your eyes to get a sense.

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I've got videos on the right that will teach you some basics of how to read the

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putt with

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either your feet or with your eyes and I think that most good putters do some

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combination

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of the two to get to this kind of, to have a baseline of where I think it might

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be and

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then use some of my intuition to fine tune or fine adjust it.

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So there are videos in the section that go through it in a little bit bigger, a

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little

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bit more detail but basically with your eyes you want to look at the general

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surroundings

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of, so I call it big hill of small hills, you're going to look at the general

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topography

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around the green to see the kind of the overall shape and then you're going to

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look at more

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the small mounding around my putt or between my ball and the hole.

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So looking at bunkers and how drainage might happen, how water would flow off

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the green,

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those can give you indications for where the ground is going to be lowest and

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where it's

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going to be highest and that's going to help you determine your slope.

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We want to break the putt down into chunks so that we can kind of see the

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different sections.

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Both the way, I think of a diamond carver being able to take a rounded surface

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and kind of

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break it up into chunks, it's also the way they teach shaving is to kind of

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break it

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into these planes, I like to do that when you're using your eyes to look at the

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putt.

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So at minimum you want at least two reads but probably three is more optimal

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where you

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have behind the ball from the low spot and then from behind the hole.

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You want to, if you're going to use this method, it does take a little bit more

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time so you

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want to get quick at being able to move from one spot to the other and then

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really zeroing

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in on the space around the hole so I'll teach you how to work the putt

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backwards for a lot

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of visual readers that can be pretty good.

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Now I do find that more people who are bad at reading greens become good to

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average to

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good much quicker by using the feet rather than learning the eyes.

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That said, I think that if you know how to read with your feet, using your eyes

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can help

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kind of take you to that next level and allow you to make some intuitive

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adjustments that

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you might not get with just your feels.

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So when it comes to reading the green with the feet, you're basically trying to

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essentially

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feel as my weight more on one foot or the other.

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So you're going to learn to calibrate how much if my weight is, if I'm standing

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on a

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slope that let's say is three percent, how do I feel what three percent feels

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like and

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then if I do, how do I factor that into where I need to aim.

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So there are a couple different ways to take that number.

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So let's say I figured out that I'm standing on about a two slope, then there's

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a couple

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different ways we can either use finger guides like they do in other systems

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and in astronomy

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or we can use math.

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There's a great putting coach named Jeff Magnum who has a formula for how to

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take that slope

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and convert it into how far to play out.

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Again, both of those options really only work if you're putting on a truly flat

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surface.

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So if you're putting on a tilted pool table, that would work perfectly.

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But unfortunately we're putting on a tilted potato chip.

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So I think this is a good starting point and then you still have to use a

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little bit of

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your intuition.

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The other thing you have to then know is how to adjust if the slope is

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significantly uphill

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downhill left, right?

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So if the slope is greater than kind of your average slopes of one, two, three,

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four, then

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you're going to have to adjust your program just a little bit.

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So reading with your eyes is basically taking in the big picture and getting

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down to details

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and looking at chunks, reading with your feet.

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The only main skill you need is to be able to feel the slope and then you have

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to run

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the systems on how you can pick an aim point or an aim spot, I should say,

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based on what

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slope you feel.

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Now in this section I also have some of my favorite ways to work on the

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intuitive part

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of green reading which takes a lot of experience and calibration.

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My two main favorite drills for working on green reading are clocks and ladders

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.

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So not shoots and ladders but clocks and ladders.

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So clocks is where you do the same distance around the hole.

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So let's say you're doing a four foot putt or a six foot putt and you do them

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at different

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spots around the hole, your brain will start to see the general trend of as you

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go more

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towards the nine o'clock putt, it has more break, as it goes more towards the

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twelve o'clock

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or six o'clock it has less break so it helps you become a little bit more

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intuitive with

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being able to see and feel that general breaking trend.

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And then ladders are when you're basically on the same line but hitting

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different distances.

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So let's say we go to the nine o'clock slope and we've got a three foot putt, a

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six foot

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putt, a nine foot putt, a twelve foot putt and we start to see as we get

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further away how

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much higher up the hill we have to aim.

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So that's going to help you kind of make some of this math a little bit more

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intuitive.

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Lastly, I like to use some type of feedback so whether it's a string or a ruler

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forcing

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yourself to commit to a specific line.

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I find that a lot of porter putters just kind of have a vague direction of

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where they think

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it's going to break and so vague design gets vague results.

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We're going to use either a ruler or a string or a chalk line to force you to

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commit.

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And then we can do some kind of goldy locks type drills focusing on making put

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ts at different

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speeds or above or below specific tees.

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Gates can help commit to the path and visualize the entirety of the putt not

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just where it's

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going to go in on the hole and then doing green reading without actually

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hitting putts

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so using the alignment sticks or the perfect putter or something like that can

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help you

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start to get better with your pure green reading.

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And then lastly, sometimes I'll use coins or ball markers to help you kind of

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get more

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creative with your green reading.

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If you've done a lot of the beginning stuff, the clocks, the ladders, the

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strings, then

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sometimes you just want to change a pace and rolling over the coins can be a

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fun green

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reading challenge to kind of really test yourself when you think you're in a

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good spot.

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So quick summary, we've got videos helping you figure out how to read the green

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whether

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using your eyes or your feet, but basically you are trying to figure out the

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slope roughly

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the speed and you can factor in the green.

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We talk about that in the green reading and then in order to train it you have

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to calibrate

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your eyes or your feet or whatever you're using to read the green and then you

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can practice

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it with my two favorite green or break putting practice techniques which is

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clocks or ladders.

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So in the last section we'll go over troubleshooting as well as dialing in your

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practice plan.