John Barnes of Houston, Texas recently sent in this question:
"Don, can you explain what is meant by the term 'fall line'? I hear it a lot on the TV broadcasts while putting."
Well, John, I checked with Dave Seeman, who is probably the best putter we have on the PPGS Staff, and he confirmed that the Fall Line, as it applies to putting, can best be described as "the true uphill-downhill slope of the green from its high point, or apex, to the cup". A ball that travels along this line will have no break--it's a true straight putt. However, unless the green is totally flat you don't always have a zero-break putt. So we first need to learn to find the fall line. You do this by carefully examining the green, beginning when you are still yards away from it as you walk up the fairway. From this vantage point you can begin to get a sense of where the apex of the green is in relation to the cup. This is a skill that takes longer to teach than the time I have in a daily video but I am pleased to say that Dave and I recently filmed a short instructional video on reading greens that is about to come out of editing. I expect that it will go on sale in the next 7-10 days, just in time for the new golf season in the Northern Hemisphere and still in time to catch the last part of the season for our friends Down Under. We'll be sure to let everyone know when it goes into Surge's Shop.
Once you have figured out the true fall line, then you need to visualize an aiming point between your ball and the fall line to which you will putt, recognizing that this imaginary point will be determined by several factors including the distance to the line and to the cup, the steepness of the slope and the resulting speed of the putt. Once Dave picks his spot, he likes to visualize it as an imaginary cup, knowing full well that the slope of the fall line will cause his ball to break toward the real hole before it ever reaches this visual aiming point. The object of the putt, then, is to get the ball on a trajectory that will intercept the uphill-downhill line at the correct speed and then follow it all the way into the hole.
Keep it vertical!
The Surge
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