After spending nearly three decades in this wonderful game and training for 16 years as a PGA professional, I have seen my right share of players who digest their way to disappointment in slow greens.
We all stood on what should be a 15-legged simple just to leave it with short misery, then ramming another six feet. Slow greens may be absolute killers of the moment, but they should not be.
The truth is that most amateurs fight more on slower surfaces than the fastest ones. Why? Because they never fix their approach. They are still deciding as they are in Augusta National when they are actually playing in greens that roll about half of this speed.
Let me share a wisdom with difficulty that helped my students invade those slow surfaces and begin to make more strokes when the green are not exactly lightning.
Four tips for occupying slow greens
1. Hit him, do not tap
The biggest mistake I see players make in slow greens is to be very proven. Those babies, slowing through influence, which causes unstable contacts and unpredictable results.
In slow greens, you have to be affirmative.
I tell my students to make a positive blow with good acceleration through the ball. THINK gorgeous Drinking than simply nudicate it ahead.
Your follow -up should be longer than turn your back into slowest greens. This promotes the acceleration you need to get the ball into the hole.
Remember the old brain: “A stroke that never reaches the hole never enters.”
It sounds clear, but you would be amazed at how many players’ players forget this fundamental truth when facing slow greens.
2. Adjust your reading, not just your pace
Slow greens do not only affect distance control – they change dramatically as the knife breaks. A slower ball traveling will take more rest than the one that moves quickly over the same line.
When I am reading a stroke in slow greens, I will usually play about 20-30 percent more rest than I would make the surface faster.
The slower the ball travels, the more gravity affects its way. This is where I see so many amateurs go wrong. They adjust their rhythm, but climb the same line they will use in faster greens.
Make comfortable playing more rest than you feel natural. Believe me, it will save you.
3. Back for a better check
Here is something that is not talking enough of learning: the grip length Affects your feeling in slow greens.
When laying slow surfaces, I recommend stuck around an inch in your Putin.
This simple adjustment gives you more control and helps promote that movement similar to the pendulum you need. Delicately increases the weight of the putter’s head compared to your hands, which helps you provide more durable ball energy.
I have seen this small change make immediate improvements in controlling my students’ distance in slow greens.
4. Mental game: hug the aggression
Placing slow greens requires another mentality. You need to be more aggressive, both in your reading and in your blow. I tell my students to “think of the speed of the past cork in the hole” than “to die in the hole”.
This aggressive mentality prevents slowing down and helps overcome the natural tendency to leave short strokes on the slower surfaces. Most amateur players lose on the lower side (not sufficient rest) and short (not sufficient rhythm). Being more aggressive solves both problems.
Try this exercise
Here is my favorite training to adapt to slow down the greens. I call it “clock face workout” and it has transformed many of my students by placing slower surfaces.
Place five balls in a circle about a hole, each about five meters away. Think of them as sitting in positions 12, 2, 4, 8 and 10 of the hour. Your goal is to do all five in a row, but here’s the key: each blow should go at least 18 inches passing the hole if it is missing.
This forces you to hit your strokes at the right pace for slow greens. If you are missing but the ball does not exceed the required distance, you start again. Once you can fill this exercise continuously, you will have developed the positive blow needed for slow greens.
Final thoughts
Slow greens should not be your nemesis. With these adjustments – a more positive blow, playing more rest, caught and adopting an aggressive mentality – you will begin to see immediate improvements.
Remember that good placement in slow greens is often more about adaptation than technique. The bases remain the same but your application changes. The players who fix faster are the ones who walk away with the least wells.
The next time you face the greens that feel like you are deciding through the molasses, embrace the challenge than to fight it. Make these adjustments, engage on your line and rhythm and see more strokes find the bottom of the cup.
After all, they don’t ask how on the result card – they just ask how much.
office By Sluggish to the end: Best tips to put slow greens first appeared in MygolfSSS.
