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Aimpoint Clinic: My Personal Odyssey to Putting Enlightenment (Part IV)

Aimpoint Golf Review: Part 4 of my Aimpoint Odyssey

AimpointApril 9, 2011

I played golf this morning. I played at my home course, and my friend had me come out early… like 2nd group off early. It’s 3 of us, and these 2 guys are intent on finishing in under 3 hours. Obviously, this is bad for me and my green reading. I want to pace off the putt, find my zero, figure out my aimpoint, aim my aimpoint, take my practice swings to dial in my speed…. and these guys are playing ultra ready golf. There were a few times where at least one guy finished while I was still not on the green. Ultimately, I didn’t mind, since I knew what I was getting into, so I just had to adjust. I’m a decent speed player… I normally spend most of my time on the greens. I don’t take long at all with my full swings. So on the greens, I did my best to quickly find zero, pace off my putt. If my putt was <2% slope and inside 10 ft, and I was close to zero, I would just estimate a 1 inch aimpoint, give or take, depending on what kind of break I SAW with my eyes. If I was further, or it was a more complicated putt, I’d work as fast as possible, which meant trusting my feet quickly, find a zero quickly, pace off quickly, look at my chart quickly, one practice swing, commit. On a few holes, I was first on, so I was able to take more time. And maybe on birdie and par putts, I was a little more deliberate, but faster than I was comfortable with.

The Bottom-line

End of story? I putted pretty well. In fact, the comment from my player partner was: “Wow, you’re pretty money on those 10 footers”. I missed a 10 footer on 18, and his comment was: “First one of those you missed all day”.

And I did make about 6 7-10 footers. I lagged really well. I misread maybe 3-5 putts. As usual, my misreads was playing a break when the putt was straight. I’m still trying to figure that out… The different green shapes complicate things, and I’m not seeing the multiple straight putts around the hole. Overall, 6 weeks into this, my putting has improved immensely, and I still don’t know what I’m doing!!!! I think most of it is my focus on speed control. I make more putts because I take advantage of the capture speed concept (see part IV). But alot of it is also committing to the line, trusting the system, so that ALL I have to worry about is speed control. My confidence is high, even though I’m not 100% confident that I know the system. Weird, I know.

About GK Member michaelko:
Our resident physical therapist from Northern California and one of the original GK Staffers. He is also one of the individuals responsible for making the GK Casual Golf Events possible. Way back when it was only an idea, michaelko, was one of those individuals that made it possible with our first outing of six members at Rio Hondo Country Club, Downey CA.

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Aimpoint Clinic: My Personal Odyssey to Putting Enlightenment (Part III)

Part 3 of our Aimpoint Odyssey

AimpointDue to weather and time issues, I have not yet played a round. I have had a 2 hour putting practice session, and I spent 2-3 hours today charting 13 greens at my home course.

The putting session consisted of walking the greens, feeling changes in slope, seeing if I can predict the zero line, see if I can predict how much each putt breaks based on how far off the zero line and using the chart. At the same time, working on speed control (12 inch past the hole).

The charting session consisted of walking the greens, feeling changes in slope, seeing if I can predict the zero lines on different pin placements, identifying high and low points of the green, recognizing different green shapes, using my digital level to chart slope % on different parts of the green. I made a notebook of these greens.

I have also read and re-read the different resources AIMPOINT has as far as examples, message boards, and videos, to understand the more complicated stuff.

So far, after all of this, here is my status:

I am pretty good at feeling where the slopes change from uphill to downhill (inflection points), which is important. I can find the straight putts most of the time(>75% accuracy), and I can tell you which way a putt will break on most greens.

The hard part is understanding how putts act and how greens behave on crowns and saddles. I am starting to understand this. I am also starting to see the more subtle green features, as there are small crowns and saddles on sections of greens and this will affect the putt.

Today, after spending about 15 minutes on a green, I was able to roll the ball and predict where it was going to go, without really ‘reading’ the green. ‘Reading’ in the traditional sense of using my eyes… I used my feet to find the inflection points and correctly predicted the putt most of the time.

I still need practice, but I am very encouraged so far.

Tuesday March 22, 2011 — Update 2:

So I finally got out yesterday… a brief respite from the rain and the kids… played 10 holes by myself twilight… course drained pretty well, and greens were running at an 8. the greens at this course are quite big… it’s a links course, wide open, with big greens.. the greens are not drastic, but have subtle features that are not easy to see. the slopes were rarely over 2%, most of the putts i putted were 1-2% grade.

The fact that I was by myself with no one behind me was helpful. I felt like I wasn’t taking long with my reads… I don’t know. It’s hard to gauge when no one is waiting for you, but here are some results:

• Made one 15 ft putt
• 3 good lags from 40+ feet (less than 5 ft leave)
• 3 bad reads, thought they broke but were straight or overread break (but did not read the wrong break)
and 3 good reads but just missed the putt (either speed or did not hit online)

The hard part was knowing when a putt was straight. On a planar green, it was easy, but when the crowns were involved, it gets tougher… you have 4 zero lines instead of 2, and the putts on top of a crown are all pretty straight, so if the crown is broad, you have more straight putts (if the crown is not tilted).

Also, when the green double breaks, or the line runs into mounds, it’s a bit more complicated, and I’m still trying to figure it out… but the positive is I can feel and see the breaks, and I can figure out the AIMPOINT. I just don’t know how exactly to figure out the zero line on longer putts that change features.

I had one long 60+ foot putt (back of green to front pin location), and I was able to find that zero line 50 feet away and putt accordingly.. left a 1 ft putt.

On the putts inside 15 ft, I was able to use my chart effectively, I think… made good reads and AIMPOINTs.

…Keep in mind, all 10 greens, I did not ‘read’ one green with my eyes. When I use the word ‘read’, I’m talking about feel. I felt the slopes with my feet, tried to find the zero line, and aimed accordingly. I did roll a few balls after I holed out to try and predict what the putts would do.

I continue to be encouraged, and am pretty excited at the idea that I can be an expert green reader. I hope to play 3 or 4 more rounds in the next 2 months, and then contact the instructor for some more advanced green reading instruction.

About GK Member michaelko:
Our resident physical therapist from Northern California and one of the original GK Staffers. He is also one of the individuals responsible for making the GK Casual Golf Events possible. Way back when it was only an idea, michaelko, was one of those individuals that made it possible with our first outing of six members at Rio Hondo Country Club, Downey CA.

Keyword:  Aimpoint Putting Clinic

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Our Mission, Culture and Gratitude

Greenskeeper.org our Culture and Mission

Greenskeeper,org LogoGratitude is what inspires me. It’s the foundation of my life and Greenskeeper.org.

I don’t start a single day without first thanking a member of GK in thought or action. It feels good and puts me in the right mindset. My favorite thing to do is appreciating Greenskeeper.org members that contribute helpful content to the site.

Gratitude is more than just a feel good thing for me, it’s an energy.

I am someone that believes what we appreciate expands and what we depreciate fades. It’s why I am grateful for just about everything in my life and why I rarely complain about things important to me.

When I launched Greenskeeper.org back in 2002, I did not appreciate nearly as much as I do now the value the site brings to golfers and the active members that make it all possible. Over the years as my gratitude grew so did the culture of GK in proportion to it.

The clarity moment for me as far as my mission with Greenskeeper.org, the moment when I realized what I loved most about GK, came when I gave a heartfelt speech at a GK Event at Monarch Dunes Golf Club in 2012.  From that point on GK was more about the site community than anything else…a culture with a sense of belonging, connectedness and being of service to each other. Basically a community that sincerely appreciates each other’s love for golf.

It was then I started looking at Greenskeeper.org as a family. A family I want to grow across the United States and eventually across the World. A family I know will ingrain itself into golf forever bringing more fun to the game we love.

JohnnyGK -- CEO and Founder of Greenskeeper.orgJohn Hakim – JohnnyGK
CEO – Founder – Leader
Greenskeeper.org
GreensKeeper iPhone App (coming 2016)

 

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Aimpoint Clinic: My Personal Odyssey to Putting Enlightenment (Part I)

Aimpoint

This is one of our original articles posted for the GK Blog by one of our members a few years back.  I always look back at that series of articles when I need to rethink my putting strategy. I think it deserves to be re-posted in our newly revamped version.  What do you think?

It all started with an article I read in Golf Digest magazine. It was about this thing called Aimpoint. It highlighted a different way to approach putting, or more accurately green reading: using science and physics to accurately predict how much and which direction putts will break. Instead of trying to read the green with your eyes and trying to figure out how much and which direction a putt MIGHT break, you use the laws of gravity and physics to accurately determine how much the ball WILL break. Hmmmm… a green READING system to help improve my putting…it made complete sense to me. A brief summary with basic principles was outlined in the article, and I headed out to the putting green to put it into practice. However, it was harder than I thought. A look at the website further intrigued me, but there were no classes close to me. So, I shelved the idea.

Aimpoint
Aimpoint — Reading the green

Fast forward a few months later, a forum topic on Greenskeeper.org was started: “Aimpoint Clinic, anyone do this?” This inspired me to check the website again for clinics. I was rewarded with a clinic being offered THAT weekend.. $125 for a 2 1/2 hour class only 30 minutes from home. I quickly signed up and was exposed to the single greatest golf concept I have ever learned. It was eye-opening, and fairly simple to implement. In the end, I just needed guidance.

After a month of reading and rereading forum topics on the subject at the Aimpoint forum, watching and rewatching different videos, and several hours of practice, I am more and more encouraged with the results and the system. What I have learned is that I have alot more to learn, but I am grasping concepts and techniques that have improved my green reading skills immensely. I am excited about how much better I am going to get at it. I guess if I had to sum it up in one sentence, it’s this: “I am no longer guessing what the putt will do; I KNOW what it’s going to do.”

The following is a de facto blog, I guess, of my Aimpoint experience. I plan to update it as I go through the experience over time. You can get more info at www.aimpointgolf.com, as well as clinic dates. There is a forum as well, where people talk about all things Aimpoint. I highly recommend this clinic for everyone.


Wednesday March 2, 2011 — First Impressions and Initial Feedback:

First of all, my general feeling is I am really excited about this. At worst, I’ll be able to tell which way a putt will break 90% of the time, and I’ll come close to knowing how much. At best, I will be a putting fiend!

First a little background:
You know when you watch a tourney on television; they show you the putting line, and how accurate that line is? That’s AIMPOINT technology. The inventor of Aimpoint developed a system based on physics and gravity that can accurately predict the putting line. He turned that into a green reading system and has several touring pros on his system.

The class is a green reading class, not a putting class; however, it is very important that you practice hitting the ball straight and work on speed control.

The basic premise: The ball will give in to gravity. It will break downhill — always. This guy figured out, based on the length of the putt, speed of the green, and severity of the slope, exactly how much that ball will break, as long as you always hit the ball 12 inches past the hole.

AimchartBasic Implementation:
You have to find the zero line, which is the point on the green that is a completely straight putt. From there, you plug in the data: length, degrees off of zero, uphill or downhill, right or left of zero, severity of slope, and speed of green. It then tells you how far away from the hole to start your putt.

For example: I have a 10 ft putt. It is uphill 60 degrees from zero line. Slope is steep (as oppossed to flat, average, or severe). The greens are running at a 8 stimp. Once I figure this out, I look at my chart, and it takes a second to see I have to aim say, 4 inches away from the hole. if I start my ball on the right line aimed 4 inches left of the hole (for a L to R putt), and hit it at a speed where the ball will go 12 inches past the hole, the ball will break accordingly.

After 3 hours of clinic, I was thoroughly sold. After reading the Golf Digest article I was sold on the concept, my stumbling block — I couldn’t figure it out in practice. After the clinic though, I see how easy it is All I needed was someone to walk me through it. Plus, with the chart they give you at the clinic, the information is all accurate. They say up until now, you were guessing on how the putt will break. Now, no more guessing.

A few things I learned:
1. There were many putts that I read with a completely different break than what actually happened, and the system was able to get it right every time.
2. I need to really learn what 12 inches is, what 10 feet is.. I need to calibrate my distances. I realize I’m way off. What I think versus what actually is are two completely different animals.
3. My speed control sucks.
4. The hardest part is finding the zero line, but over the 2-3 hours, I was better at it. I know with practice I’ll be able to do it.
5. Long putts (greater than 30ft), are really not that hard to read with this system.
6. You never have to read a green again; just find zero line and pace out your putts.

From my perspective, I highly recommend this clinic. I know I can master this in 2-3 months.

Look for my next article as I analyze both the practicality of the Aimpoint system and how it has helped and/or hindered me.

About GK Member michaelko:
Our resident physical therapist from Northern California and one of the original GK Staffers. He is also one of the individuals responsible for making the GK Casual Golf Events possible. Way back when it was only an idea, michaelko, was one of those individuals that made it possible with our first outing of six members at Rio Hondo Country Club, Downey CA.