How To Read Breaking Putts And Adjusting Your Putting Stroke For Maximum Putting Success!

With Brian Gallant CPGA Associate Professional

By Mark Grove


This is a repost of an important putting subject, that being dealing with your breaking putts and knowing how to read the break and make adjustments in your putting stroke, to counter these tough breaking putts. You can become a master of reading breaks and then developing the mental and physical side of putting to get on the green and become the putter you always wanted by following a few simple tips from my expert who I ask point blank, how to deal with breaking putts the right way and win. Or at least become a better putter
when dealing with tricky breaking putts.

Breaking putts are one of the toughest shots to keep on the right path without ending up in a sand trap or water hazard. It is easier than you think to know where your putt will break, but another thing to keep it aligned after the break point. Canadian Golf Pro Brian Gallant from The Fire Rock Club in London, Ontario tells all the golfers out there how to set up and keep your putts following the right path even after the break.

The top putters in the game have issues with breaking putts as well, so lets get a little knowledge on how to get a handle on putts that have a nasty break or round off, as I like to call it.

MG: How do you figure out where the break in a putt is?

BG: The break in a putt depends on the slope of the green, the green speed, the length of the putt, the speed the ball is rolled and a few other things. Most important is the slope of the green as gravity affects the roll of the ball. At any given speed, the greater the slope of the green, the more the putt will break down hill. Most often, golfers identify the break of the putt by identifying the 'break point' - a point approximately halfway between the ball and the hole in which the ball will roll and break to the hole. Golfers often do not read the area from the ball and the break point, leading to missing the ball on the low side of the hole. To read the break more accurately, golfers need to identify the break for the area from the ball to the break point. With this break, you will identify the initial starting line, called the Aimline.

MG: When you're setting up for a breaking putt, should you be aiming for the hole or the break point?

BG: When setting up for a breaking putt it is important to aim your putter so that the ball will start rolling over the initial starting line and not the break point. This allows the ball to take the entire break of the putt and have the best chance to enter the hole. As noted above, every putt has an optimum speed and break that must match in order to increase the chances of holing the putt.

MG: Should you focus as well on where the ball will break left or right, and adjust your putting stroke for that?

BG: Your focus should be on the ball rolling over the starting point initially, which is the aim line. This will allow you to make your normal putting stroke without compensating and over doing it, and veering off the aimline. Amateur golfers often aim for the break point and compensate during the stroke to get the ball to start on the proper path which again, is the aim-line. Remember, to aim the putter along the aim line, thereby allowing you to make a consistent stroke without stroke compensation.

Mark Grove—

Brian Gallant---Associate Professional Golfer—CPGA (Fire Rock Golf Club London, Ontario Canada)