Advice on downhill breaks

I am getting killed on the greens by downhill breaks and becoming like a scared little girl putting when facing a large downhill putt that breaks. Any advice please on how conquer this and improve?

thanks Steve

Steven

The best 2 bits of advice I can give having struggled with this myself is....

1. Try not to 'jab' at the ball. This can more often than not send the ball flying.

2. Get over to that particular one afternoon/evening when its quiet drop 3 or 4 ball and practice practice practice.

Putting is all about 'touch' and 'feel' and that's way way forward.

Steven, I would suggest that perhaps you: (a) choose a line upon which to putt rather than try to steer the ball into the hole. (b) stay down on the stroke and commit to it, without looking at the hole too quickly.

I only forward these points as I also struggle when visiting other courses with severely sloping greens. My home course has mainly flat putting surfaces and there it is all about getting the pace right. Good luck......

Steven, I know its hard but if downhill putts are that bad, make an effort to get your approach to stay below the hole, otherwise, really focus on tempo, a good strike will go 10% further than a poor strike, make sure you take that into account before sending the ball on its way and make it stop 10%short

Tricky to describe but I'll have a go. Start from behind the hole and try and find the line where if you dropped a ball it would naturally roll straight down the hill. Walk along that line until you find a point where you would need to putt the ball to intersect with that line, and that gives you a point on the break to aim for. When you putt just aim for that point dead weight, and as long as you hit that point gravity will take it in. Simple....

Well said Tim. That clarifies my thinking in point (a). Wish I'd been that clear!

Pretty much the same as Tim,I imagine the line I think ball should take and the point where the break comes in. I then aim for that point. be confident with your stroke and don't think about anything other than holing it before hand.

I also find that my mind-set helps. As far as I'm concerned I'm the best putter in the world, every time I line one up it's going in. Now obviously this is not actually the case in practice, but nothing will ever stop me thinking it...

On a more practical note there are reasons why some people are better than others at reading putts. A few years ago I helped with some research for the Institute of Engineering Designers about spacial awareness, and it appears that only about 5% of all people can actually truly visualise in 3 dimensions, the majority can only see in what became known as 2 1/2 D. In effect they can see the line on a flat plane that is needed but can't compute the effect of another plane on that line. I did come up with a simple test to assess whether or not an individual can see in 3D in golf, but it's a bit complicated to explain. Basically it involves a green with a steep bank behind the hole and the trick is to putt the ball away from the hole to make the slope work for you.

Many thanks for all the detailed replies! Will put this knowledge into practice at the weekend.

Cheers Steve

Tim, you got any more information on those tests, sounds right up my geek street. interesting stuff and the dropping the ball is a great tip ill be trying out that one too!

Once you have picked your line then you need to make a smooth stroke at the ball.

Try hitting the ball off the toe of you putter. This is supposed to deaden the ball and stop it racing away from you.

One thing I do notice is that the vast majority of golfers will never read enough break into their putts. So the ball always goes beneath the hole, and therefore has a 100% chance of never going in the hole! Try it the next time you are on the course.

Russ

I'm one of the few that "see" the line, especially when I am putting well. It's difficult to describe, but my mind sees a hole wide dark stripe from my marker to the hole which follows the line of the putt. I line up for this stripe and play along it. Pace-wise, I tend to pick a spot short or long of the hole and putt to that rather than try ing to stroke it hard or soft at the hole