Jim Nantz bored by this part of golf

Jim Nantz wants anyone who has played much golf to envision a 20-footer.

The green also leans right, so he says you know how to drive the putt left. Maybe the left end. Maybe a cup. Maybe a cup and a half.

At this point, Nantz then wants to tell you what he thinks about AimPoint.

“I can’t bear to look at it,” he said.

The veteran CBS anchor was speaking Australian Golf The Thing About Golf Podcast (which you can listen in full here), where part of the conversation with host John Huggan focused on the science in golf — and eventually Nantz’s thoughts on a newer way to align shots. What is AimPoint? You are likely read an article or saw the process used. In a somewhat brief description, a player usually crosses the path of the ball towards the hole about halfway to the cup to determine the amount of slope, then, while standing behind the ball, the player uses his hand to find where to hit. (For your convenience, a longer description can be found at the end of this article.)

Overall, though, it looks a little funky, or at least different, as the players aren’t crouching behind the ball, as has been typical practice. At times, the process can seem tedious. Such a moment was captured at last year’s World Golf Championship-Match Play event, where Max Homa measured a putt with AimPoint as his opponent, Mackenzie Hughes, looked impatient – which Homa replied thus after the clip circulated online:

“I was tagged in this. Work will be done to speed up this process”, wrote Homa.

On The Thing About Golf podcast, Nantz had this to say, though:

“Well, I’m going to take the science to another level, beyond what you’re talking about in terms of equipment,” he told Huggan. “The AimPoint mania we see today really drives me crazy. When you see their back to the hole and they’re trying to feel the break and they walk another five feet and do it again, they go through this process, where’s the feeling in it, you know?

“I know you’re trying to win, you’re trying to find a shot over four days that can make the difference. But you know, for me, if you play a lot of golf and you’re standing there looking at a 20-footer, you know it’s a cup out to the left, it’s on the far left, play the cup and a half. I mean, does all this really make a difference? Maybe it is. But I do know one thing – I can’t bear to watch it.”

Of course, that’s his opinion. Others believe in the benefits of AimPoint.

If you’re curious about how it works, GOLF’s Zephyr Melton wrote an article in 2020 titled “The Basics of AimPoint Green Reading, Explained in 30 Seconds,” and you can read it by clicking hereor scrolling down.

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Putting is arguably the most important skill in golf, and reading the green is a vital component of that. The problem is that reading greens is not an easily acquired skill. It takes years of practice to become a skilled green reader, and even then it can be difficult to consistently find the right line.

In recent years, there has been a remedy for these green reading problems in the form of the AimPoint method. It has been adopted by a number of professionals, including Adam Scott, Justin Rose and Stacy Lewis, and with great success. The method has become increasingly popular in recent years, as it marries physics and feel to get a consistent reading on the greens every time.

Erika Larkin recently posted a video on Instagram that explains the basics of AimPoint and does it all in a tight, 30 second time frame. Watch the video and then read below for an explanation of what it’s demonstrating.

The first step in reading the AimPoint green is to feel the slope of the green. Do this by crossing the path of your ball toward the hole about halfway to the hole. From here, you need to determine how much percent incline you feel, from one to five.

Next, you should stand behind the ball and close one eye while raising your hand so that your index finger is just outside the hole. Based on the percentage of slope you think affects your putt, put that many fingers on your hand (eg one finger for one percent, two fingers for two percent, etc.).

So let’s say you think there’s a 3 percent slope in the shot. Hold up three fingers with your index finger just outside the hole to the right (assuming your putt breaks to the left). In this case, the ring finger will be the point of aim.

Then simply line up your ball to the aiming point and roll it to that point. If you’ve judged the slope correctly, your putt should track straight to the hole.

Nick Piastowski

Editor of Golf.com

Nick Piastowski is a senior editor at Golf.com and Golf Magazine. In his role, he is responsible for editing, writing and developing stories across the golf space. And when he’s not writing about ways to hit the golf ball farther and straighter, the Milwaukee native is probably playing the game, hitting the ball left, right and short, and drinking a cold beer to wash down his score. . You can reach him about any of these topics – his stories, his game or his beers – at nick.piastowski@golf.com.