Tour To Ban Green Reading Books

[Tommy Williamsen]

Is there any evidence (data) showing that the books improve putting?

Absolutely none.

That is probably because there hasn't been a study. It would be hard to convince Bryson that it doesn't help.

[Bernie Bell]

I took a very cursory look through the Tour statistics, and it does not appear to me that the best putters on Tour are averaging any fewer putts per round in 2020-2021 than they did 5, 10, 15, 20 years ago.  Then again, maybe it's not the best putters who might benefit the most from the additional technical detail.

[Tom Bacsanyi]

I took a very cursory look through the Tour statistics, and it does not appear to me that the best putters on Tour are averaging any fewer putts per round in 2020-2021 than they did 5, 10, 15, 20 years ago.  Then again, maybe it's not the best putters who might benefit the most from the additional technical detail.

Interesting. I would have thought PPR would have declined as the quest for agronomic perfection has advanced. I'd love to see aggregate tour make percentages from various lengths decade by decade. I would assume that make percentages have increased the closer you move to the hole, due to more consistent and smooth surfaces. But perhaps this is offset by increased 3 putting? I don't know.


Bravo on the green reading books, but doesn't the book guy have a basis for litigation now?


Next up please: No straight lines anywhere on golf balls to get rid of the endless aiming of them, and no straddling of the line of a putt by either player or caddie to get rid of the Aim Point nonsense.

[Steve Lang]

I would love to have a green reading book for my home course. I wouldn't plan on using it all the time, but I'd study it before playing. They say reading a green is a skill, but spare a thought for us poor souls that have less than perfect eyesight. I now wear progressive glasses and I can't even find a level spot to place my tee peg on the tee. I need to tee up my ball and walk 8-10 feet behind and check if it's in a slight depression on the tee area.


I'm hopeless at reading long putts where the slope is not so obvious. Sometimes I aim 3-feet left when I should be aiming 3-feet right. I was able to read greens up to my early 40's, but now it's getting very frustrating. I now 3-putt about 35% of the time; usually the pace is OK, but I can miss by up to 10-feet left or right. The other day, I went into my garage and took out a small spirit level. I'm going to use it on some greens at my home course when I play late in the evenings. I'm thinking of making my own Green Reading book.

I do empathize D'OC and if it helps, go for it or do it on your own, and literally own it... As I implied in reply #13 i don't see a lot of techniques working, but personal study a priori does help..

I'd use the published book as a base and improve upon it with more lines or shading the high areas... I've studied some greens at length for competitions and when you spend some time, i.e., from different angles and in different light...you can see a lot more things than when you simply play through.  I've used gesture drawing techniques to capture main features when pressed for time...

good luck


Tom B I definitely concur with what you said:


"Next up please: No straight lines anywhere on golf balls to get rid of th"e endless aiming of them, and no straddling of the line of a putt by either player or caddie to get rid of the Aim Point nonsense."

[Erik J. Barzeski]

That is probably because there hasn't been a study. It would be hard to convince Bryson that it doesn't help.

You don't need a study. PGA Tour putting hasn't really improved non-negligibly from the time before green books to now.

[Sean_A]

So, if you want to ban green reading books in order to bring back the skill factor then presumably everyone will want to ban caddies or at least ban them from reading the greens for the players ? After all, in competition the object is to identify the best player, not the best caddy.

Niall

great point.
saves another 15 minutes
we're getting there

You can save yourself countless hours by not bothering to watch golf. Jeepers.

Ciao