Green Reading With Your Feet Overview

WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.770
In this video, we're going to outline the process for reading the green with

2
00:00:08.770 --> 00:00:09.120
your feel

3
00:00:09.120 --> 00:00:10.880
or with your feet.

4
00:00:10.880 --> 00:00:14.220
So there are two basic ways that you can read the green.

5
00:00:14.220 --> 00:00:20.350
One is using your eyes and one is using your sense of balance or using your

6
00:00:20.350 --> 00:00:21.160
feet.

7
00:00:21.160 --> 00:00:25.180
So in this video, we'll outline reading the green with your feet.

8
00:00:25.180 --> 00:00:28.640
The system that's made this the most popular is Aimpoint.

9
00:00:28.640 --> 00:00:36.450
I'm not directly going to teach their system, so if you want to learn a lot of

10
00:00:36.450 --> 00:00:37.760
the nuances

11
00:00:37.760 --> 00:00:42.040
and work with somebody on reading the green, I highly recommend you find a Aim

12
00:00:42.040 --> 00:00:43.280
point instructor

13
00:00:43.280 --> 00:00:44.280
in your area.

14
00:00:44.280 --> 00:00:48.760
If you find that even the basics of reading it with your feet helps out.

15
00:00:48.760 --> 00:00:52.640
So when it comes to reading it with a green or reading the green with your feet

16
00:00:52.640 --> 00:00:53.120
, it's a

17
00:00:53.120 --> 00:00:54.880
two-step process.

18
00:00:54.880 --> 00:00:59.580
You have to assess the slope between your ball and the hole and then you have

19
00:00:59.580 --> 00:01:00.920
to factor in

20
00:01:00.920 --> 00:01:07.360
or you have to come to an Aim spot or an Aimpoint on the high side of the hole

21
00:01:07.360 --> 00:01:08.040
based

22
00:01:08.040 --> 00:01:10.280
on the number of slope that you felt.

23
00:01:10.280 --> 00:01:14.770
So for most people, feeling the slope is going to be easier if you're feeling

24
00:01:14.770 --> 00:01:15.440
it left to

25
00:01:15.440 --> 00:01:17.960
right versus toe heel.

26
00:01:17.960 --> 00:01:22.440
But either way, you're just going to try and feel the slope.

27
00:01:22.440 --> 00:01:26.410
And in the video where I talk about how to refine that skill, we'll talk about

28
00:01:26.410 --> 00:01:26.840
using

29
00:01:26.840 --> 00:01:30.640
a level and kind of calibrating to feel.

30
00:01:30.640 --> 00:01:35.440
Is it a one, a two, a three, a four or even higher?

31
00:01:35.440 --> 00:01:39.060
But based on that number, that's going to help me determine where I'm going to

32
00:01:39.060 --> 00:01:39.520
aim.

33
00:01:39.520 --> 00:01:43.920
Now there's still a little nuance to where you're aiming.

34
00:01:43.920 --> 00:01:45.720
Aimpoint teaches using fingers.

35
00:01:45.720 --> 00:01:49.400
There's a guy Jeff Magnum who teaches using math.

36
00:01:49.400 --> 00:01:55.310
I like kind of, I'm a fan of understanding the math and using those references

37
00:01:55.310 --> 00:01:56.040
and then

38
00:01:56.040 --> 00:01:59.640
kind of letting my intuition adjust either a little bit higher, a little bit

39
00:01:59.640 --> 00:02:00.520
lower depending

40
00:02:00.520 --> 00:02:03.840
on what I'm feeling when I'm walking the putt.

41
00:02:03.840 --> 00:02:08.490
So to read the slope, remember two-step process, feel the slope and then pick

42
00:02:08.490 --> 00:02:09.480
an Aim spot.

43
00:02:09.480 --> 00:02:13.200
So to read the slope, I'm basically going to read the middle of the putt.

44
00:02:13.200 --> 00:02:18.680
So the longer the putt, the larger a section I'm going to read.

45
00:02:18.680 --> 00:02:23.680
So if I just read it where my ball is, I could miss a big chunk of it.

46
00:02:23.680 --> 00:02:27.640
And if I just read it where the hole is, I could miss a big chunk of it.

47
00:02:27.640 --> 00:02:32.940
So I'm going to do more of this kind of little walking in place, just kind of

48
00:02:32.940 --> 00:02:33.920
reading the

49
00:02:33.920 --> 00:02:35.680
middle of the putt, just like that.

50
00:02:35.680 --> 00:02:41.090
And I'm really just trying to sense how much is the downhill leg, how much of

51
00:02:41.090 --> 00:02:41.840
my weight

52
00:02:41.840 --> 00:02:45.710
or pressure is moving into that downhill leg so that I can get a number for the

53
00:02:45.710 --> 00:02:46.320
slope.

54
00:02:46.320 --> 00:02:50.710
Once I have the number, I can either use the math to pick a spot, or I can use

55
00:02:50.710 --> 00:02:51.720
my fingers

56
00:02:51.720 --> 00:02:57.400
and how far I'm standing behind the golf ball in order to get that estimate.

57
00:02:57.400 --> 00:03:01.850
So I've other videos to kind of show you how to go through that a little bit

58
00:03:01.850 --> 00:03:02.440
more.

59
00:03:02.440 --> 00:03:06.000
But if you're using the finger method, I highly recommend working with an Aim

60
00:03:06.000 --> 00:03:06.920
point instructor

61
00:03:06.920 --> 00:03:10.880
because they can help you calibrate that to a much greater sensitivity.

62
00:03:10.880 --> 00:03:17.670
But I've done this one with the math, it's about a 3% slope, so from an 18 foot

63
00:03:17.670 --> 00:03:18.080
putt,

64
00:03:18.080 --> 00:03:21.440
I've got a tee, a certain amount up the hill.

65
00:03:21.440 --> 00:03:28.680
So now, my last goal is to forget all the slope, forget all the Aim point.

66
00:03:28.680 --> 00:03:33.480
I aim my ball at the tee, and then I'm just going to trust rolling the golf

67
00:03:33.480 --> 00:03:34.080
ball.

68
00:03:34.080 --> 00:03:37.550
So I've been experimenting with playing with the claw, we'll give that a little

69
00:03:37.550 --> 00:03:37.960
try for

70
00:03:37.960 --> 00:03:39.640
this video.

71
00:03:39.640 --> 00:03:45.700
So playing around, aiming at the tee, now it's just a matter of picking the

72
00:03:45.700 --> 00:03:47.040
right speed.

73
00:03:47.040 --> 00:03:54.660
I did pull that a little bit, so it started low of the tee, but what I found is

74
00:03:54.660 --> 00:03:55.680
, or I should

75
00:03:55.680 --> 00:03:59.120
say, it wasn't a terrible read, it was just a bad stroke.

76
00:03:59.120 --> 00:04:05.020
What I found is for the majority of golfers, using your feet will take you from

77
00:04:05.020 --> 00:04:05.840
a bad green

78
00:04:05.840 --> 00:04:12.660
reader to above average or even good, quicker than using your eyes.

79
00:04:12.660 --> 00:04:17.980
But I think that there's some intuition to going from being a good green reader

80
00:04:17.980 --> 00:04:18.200
to

81
00:04:18.200 --> 00:04:22.200
a great green reader, and knowing how to use your eyes can help with that.

82
00:04:22.200 --> 00:04:27.310
Or at least knowing how to throw in the nuances of this, feeling with your feet

83
00:04:27.310 --> 00:04:27.920
and picking

84
00:04:27.920 --> 00:04:28.920
a spot.

85
00:04:28.920 --> 00:04:36.080
It's not going to be quite as simple as just one number all the time.

86
00:04:36.080 --> 00:04:43.200
Let's give it one more try, aim at the high spot there.

87
00:04:43.200 --> 00:04:47.560
So that rolled a little bit better, all just caught the edge.

88
00:04:47.560 --> 00:04:52.860
So it's pretty close, might have to double check and go back and look at my

89
00:04:52.860 --> 00:04:53.240
missing this

90
00:04:53.240 --> 00:04:56.910
because of start line, speed looked like it was pretty good, or I might pull

91
00:04:56.910 --> 00:04:57.720
out the level

92
00:04:57.720 --> 00:05:01.480
and double check the read to make sure I was reading it high enough.

93
00:05:01.480 --> 00:05:06.760
But the basic process here for any putt is you're going to feel the slope and

94
00:05:06.760 --> 00:05:06.840
then you're

95
00:05:06.840 --> 00:05:09.200
going to pick a single point to aim at.

96
00:05:09.200 --> 00:05:12.820
Once you have that you're just going to execute your stroke, trying to roll the

97
00:05:12.820 --> 00:05:13.480
ball end over

98
00:05:13.480 --> 00:05:18.280
end at that aim point.