I ran this article several months ago. But with all the questions I've gotten lately, both from the site and on the lesson tee, concerning big breaking putts, I think this will help a lot of folks.
Let's look at some ways to increase your success at putting those big breaking putts. I consider a putt to have a big break if you have to play more than 2 to 3 feet of break, never mind one with 10 or more feet.
There are two keys to successfully getting these putts close: speed and direction. Is one more important then the other? No. They both are part of the equation.
Let's start by looking at speed, or pace, as many players and TV commentators now call it. Great line but wrong speed means way short or long. So judging the speed is critical for getting the putt close. Usually a big breaking putt will have a part of it uphill and slow. Once it reaches the crown, it is all downhill from there. This makes judging the speed difficult, and thus needs a lot of practice to acquire and maintain your touch.
The second part of the equation is the direction or line of the putt. This is reading the green and comes through experience, trial and error. Misreading big breakers usually means that even with good speed, you will likely not end up close for that tap in putt. Some players are good putters but do not make enough putts because of not reading the line correctly. They come close, but don't fall. If you hit a good putt on the line you read, and with good speed at the hole, and it does not go in, the only conclusion you can draw is you misread the line. Close is OK for two-putting, but it does not get you the cigar.
Let's look at a few things that can help you get it close for two-putting those super breakers. First, if you make a mistake on the line, always get it wrong by playing for too much break. Missing on the high side versus the low side will always have the ball ending up closer to the hole. Missing low means the ball never reached the hole and is running away from the hole sooner and thus will end up farther away. Missing low also means the ball never had a chance of going in. More putts go in from the high side, as compared to almost none from the low side as gravity works better from the high side.
The second thing you can do is change your ball position. On the right to left putt, put the ball a little more back in your stance so you hit it sooner in your stroke. That improves keeping the ball up high on the line, avoiding a pull due to the slope. On the left to right putts, the big problem for right handed players, where they mostly miss it to the low side on the right, is to move the ball forward in your stance. More forward lets you hit the ball later than normal, and thus helps keep it up higher on the line. So, in both of these ball changes, the adjustment in ball position helps keep the ball high on the line, to be approaching the hole on the high side. You will make more putts from the high side, and misses will stop closer.
There is one last thing you can do to make better right to left putts. I hope I don't regret telling you this. It involves changing your club face address position, stroke and contact on the ball. This will take practice to acquire the touch and feel, so if you don't have the time to put in the practice, then please disregard this tip.
Here's what I do and have done for forty years on real big and real fast right to left breakers. I open the face and cut across the ball at impact. This causes the ball to spin left to right (slice spin) into or against the hill. The ball is working or digging into the hill, fighting the slope, and will stay on the line better and not run away if it gets to the hole. As I said, this cut stroke takes practice to learn the touch and feel. But, if you master this anti-breaking stroke, it really works well on those difficult super fast, super breaking right to lefters.
So, for those big breaker putts, distance and direction are important. Erring on the side of more break, and changing ball position forward or back, can really help in making more of these putts and certainly in lagging up close for a two-putt tap in.
The Surge!