Over the past year, I have met some great golf professionals on Twitter.  I know I’ve said it before but if you use it correctly, it can be very informational and enjoyable.  For me, it has also been a great networking opportunity.  I have met and enjoyed discussing golf with many great golf pro’s from all over the world.  This summer, I will be heading over the pond to visit some of the coaches I’ve met.  While I am there, I will be giving a couple AimPoint Green Reading clinics.  See my AimPoint Golf Page for more information on AimPoint.

One clinic will be for the general public and the other for golf professionals.  I am arriving in the UK on July 19th and will be leaving on the 26th(the week after The Open).  Sometime in that week, the clinics will be happening.  I believe they will be held in Cambridge and hosted by Jamie Donaldson.

I will post further details as they become available.

Please leave a comment if you are interested in attending.

There was a thread started on Mark Sweeney’s AimPoint Golf forum that I thought would make for a great post.  The thread is talking about the difference between the Zero Line and Fall Line.  The Zero Line is what Mark Sweeney calls the line which has a net zero break.  This means you aim at the center of the hole.  It may be a straight putt or a double breaker that nets out as a straight putt.  Learning where to find these Zero Lines is one of the many things you’ll learn by coming to an AimPoint Green Reading Clinic.

Here’s a pic from the forum showing a green with a Red Zero Line and Blue Fall Line.

AimPoint Zero Line vs Fall Line

You can see from the picture how similar the zero line and fall line are when near the hole.  However, when the fall line goes up the large shoulder, the zero line doesn’t follow.  The zero line is offset from the high anchor.  It does this to create a double break over the shoulder that brings the aim back to the center of the hole.  You can see the putt would miss right if aimed at the hole from the fall line on top of the shoulder.

In previous posts, I have mentioned how to find the zero line for a planar pin position by rolling balls downhill and watching how they curve to see what the zero line would look like.  Here’s a picture to remind you of what it looks like.

Downhill Zero Line Drill

Basically, we roll golf balls downhill starting in the original direction of the 6 o’clock line until we have a picture like this.

The problem is that this system won’t work when going uphill but you can double check your work after you’ve learned how to find the uphill zero line.  It’s really not that hard but it takes time when practicing to learn how to do it so you can do it more on the fly on the course.

Here’s what you do, assuming a planar pin location and shaped green.  Once you’ve determined where the 12 o’clock line is from 5 feet away place a ball on the ground at that line.  Now go about 4 feet farther uphill and find the inflection point again.  Reminder: the inflection point is when it switches from uphill to down hill when walking the curve. Place another ball at this point.  Do this over again and again until you run out of green.  When you are done, you will have an estimation of the uphill zero line for a planar pin position on a planar green.

At this point I think it’s important to say that you will need to make a slight adjustment to this line based on the general flow of the uphill line because of the downhill putt.  The direction of the break will influence the ball sooner so you will want to be slightly on the opposite side of the line we created based on which way the ball will begin to break.  So, if you are above the hole, this is how you will create the double break to end up with a net zero break.  If you putt from the points we made, the ball will continue to break away from the high point the entire time and you won’t get the double break you need.  It’s important to remember that when you are above the hole, you can think of the ball breaking away from the zero line and toward the zero line when you’re below it.

Try it and tell me how you do.

This is going to be the first in a series of posts talking about AimPointGolf‘s green reading system.  In this post, I will cover the definitions of Zero Line and Planar Pin Location and how to find the Zero Line on a Planar Pin Location green.

Zero Line – The line that represents a putt that will go in when aimed directly at the center of the hole when hit at the correct speed.  This line can be a straight putt or it can be a putt that double breaks where each break cancels the other out so the net break turns out to be zero.

Planar Pin Location – This is a pin location where the area around the hole is such that there is only one highest side and one lowest side.  Imagine a green that is straight back to front.  This would be an example of a green where every pin location on the green would be planar.

Here’s a picture from the AimPoint Golf forum showing an example of a planar green and pin location:

AimPoint Pic of a Planar Pin Position

So, how do we find where the Zero Line is?  Within 8 feet, along with your eyes, the best way to determine where the straight uphill zero line is, is by using your feet.  Most people don’t use their feet and their ears nearly enough to help them when reading the green.  “Walking the curve” is what you need to practice to develop sensitivity in minor elevation change.  If you keep the distance between you and the hole constant, walk around the hole and you will be able to feel when you are walking downhill or uphill.  What you are searching for is the point when you switch from one to the other.  This switch in direction is where you would expect to find the Zero Line.

This takes practice but doesn’t require any special equipment.  However, while you are learning to turn on your feet, I would highly recommend using an Exelys Breakmaster to confirm your findings.

Exelys Breakmaster

The Exelys Breakmaster is a small device that will give you slope direction when you place it on the green.  While on the practice green, mark places on the green where you think the Zero Line is with a coin.  Place the breakmaster on the line between the coin and the hole and see if the direction of slope shown matches.  The breakmaster arrow would point directly at the hole or at the coin if you have correctly located the Zero Line.

If anyone is interested, I have secured a discount code from Exelys that gives anyone using it a $20us discount.  You can find information on how to use the code by following this link.

Your job is to figure out where you are in relation to Zero Lines. These are the places where the net break is zero. You aim at the center of the hole. Sometimes that will be either straight up or downhill and sometimes it will be double breaking putts. Standing behind the ball and staring at the ground does nothing to help you do this.

As you learn more about the AimPoint Green Reading method, you will learn where to expect these zero lines. The straight uphill and downhill ones are pretty self explanatory. The double breaking ones can be more of a challenge. Any time the pin is located on a part of the green that is sloping in the opposite direction than where you’re ball is, you will have a double breaking putt.

Hitting it harder does not eliminate the early break. Gravity is a very consistent force and it always applies. The ball will roll downhill. Period. You can’t just look around the hole to determine the break for the whole putt.

Depending on where you are relative to these zero lines will help you determine the expected break. This is especially accurate 20 feet and in.

So while you are waiting for your turn, use your time to determine where you are and you’ll have a better chance of making the putt.