Last Tuesday I travelled down to Woburn Golf Club near Milton Keynes to take part in an AimpPoint Technologies clinic on green reading. There has been much publicity about AimPoint with the R&A attempting to ban the system for many months but to no avail. Whilst it remains legal tour professionals and amateurs alike are holing more putts thanks to the intriguing system. Reading greens has always been a little bit of a mystery, more of an ‘art’ than an exact science. Reading a green takes experience and practice but neither of these guarantees that you will get it right each and every time.

AimPoint takes the ‘art’ out of putting, the unknown factor. For some it will be seen as technology taking over the game just like the changes to drivers and the golf ball. My thinking is that as technologies in golf develop it is imperative that I keep ahead of the curve to enable me to be the best golf coach I can. In my opinion exploring and experiencing new technologies and having a clear opinion of the use and benefits for my students is vital.

The AimPoint session started with our instructor Jamie explaining that you only need to know 3 pieces of information to find the perfect line for a putt…

1) the length of the putt
2) the slope of the putt
3) the speed of the greens
…..and armed with your AimPoint chart you cannot miss.

1) We set about learning how to judge the length of our putts the AimPoint way, this was very simple to pick up and it was amazing how accurate you could be after just a few minutes.

2) The next piece to the puzzle was judging the slope – rather than standing behind the ball, we were taught to stand in the middle of the putt and calculate the slope with your feet in 1, 2 3 or 4% gradients. This was not as easy as judging the distance but I am now armed with my AimPoint training aids so it will soon become second nature.

3) Now with the slope measurement sorted, the length of the putt and the speed of the greens (stimp 8 at Woburn) using your AimPoint chart is a doddle giving you a reading of how many inches to aim to the right or left of the hole. The next step is to simply aim at this point and hit your ball 9 inches past the hole. If you do this correct the ball will roll in.

So in conclusion if you are able to hit the ball on the AimPoint line with 9 inches of pace you will hole more putts – FACT!

I would highly recommend the course and I will be arranging a few for next year so if you are interested please CLICK HERE and contact me.

However the AimPoint system only works if you can control your golf ball on the green – if you struggle with your speed or direction then CONTACT ME and we can work on your putting mechanics before the new season and the AimPoint clinics.