You have a 10-foot putt. Sensing it will break a little right-to-left, you aim just outside the hole, and it misses on the right. Did you push it, misread it, or simply have too much speed? Or was it all three?
Without understanding why we’re missing putts, we often misdiagnose our putting struggles as technical ones. We work on our strokes, but we might not get any better. Why? That was never the issue—we simply don’t read the greens well enough.
Ralph Bauer, a Canada-based putting coach who works with multiple PGA Tour players, has long studied the art and science of green reading because he sees it as an often-overlooked variable that when improved can quickly lower our scores.
We’re excited to chat with Bauer on all things green reading on Thursday, June 6 at 8 p.m. ET, when he will join us for the Golf Digest Happy Hour: The art and science of green reading—what you’re doing wrong and how to fix it.
The live webinar is offered exclusively for Golf Digest+ members, who will be able to join the Happy Hour by following the Zoom link that will be posted on this page.
Have a question for Bauer or want him to analyze your putting stroke? Send us your question or a video of your stroke here.
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“So many golfers miss a putt, and they don’t know why. They don’t know if they misread it or pushed or pulled it or mis-judged the speed,” Bauer says. “My focus has been on trying to remove as many of those variables as possible.”
To help eliminate doubt and improve green-reading skill, Bauer worked with an engineer to create the Tour Read app, which is popular on the PGA Tour for teaching players how to find the perfect read of every putt. The app uses the gyroscope within the iPhone to measure the slope of the green, before telling you where to aim the putt. Though illegal to use in competition, it’s designed to teach you how to read greens better.
MORE: A new green-reading formula is catching on with pros. Here’s how it works
Throughout the hour-long Q&A, Bauer will explain how to properly read a putt, what average players and tour pros often get wrong about green reading, how you can learn to read greens better, common optical illusions and much more.
Not a Golf Digest+ member yet? Be sure to sign up here to be able to join our live webinar. And be sure to submit any questions or videos of your putting stroke right here.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com