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MYTH #3: THE SINGLE BREAK MYTH

By Ron Wilkerson, President, BreakMaster

How  is the green breaking?  It’s a question most golfers want answered  before they line up their putt.   But this question assumes that greens  have only a single break or will break in only one direction.  This is a  myth: in fact, very few greens will break in only one direction.  Even  when a green does break mostly in one direction, the Break Amount (or  severity of the break) will likely change quite a bit over the entire  area of the green.  In reality, most greens will have a number of  different breaks, and each one can affect your putt differently.      

Watch Out For "Expert" Advice

I  frequently play golf as a single, merging into a foursome (by direction  of the match-making starter) with other players who may or may not know  each other.  This is especially interesting if I’m playing a golf  course for the first time.  Invariably, one of the golfers (presumably a  golfer who has played the course a number of times) is right up front  in sharing his "sage" green reading advice.  The advice they give usually  goes something like this: "on this course, all the greens break away  from the 

mountains," or "everything breaks toward the ocean," or some other general tip.


While  there may be some truth to this advice (nobody can be 100% wrong), it  is usually quite mistaken because it assumes that each green has  basically one single break.  In fact, most greens will break in several  different directions.

The Truth About Breaking Greens

So  how is a green really breaking?  Well, that depends on where you are on  the green.  Greens can break in one direction in one area, and in quite  a bit different direction in another area.  I’ve used the BreakMaster  Digital Green Reader to measure the slopes on all 18 greens on a good  number of golf courses.  This is extremely revealing in understanding  how the break (the force of gravity) will cause your putt to roll.  I’ve  observed that Break Directions and Break Amounts vary quite a bit over a  typical green.  I’ve mapped out the breaks on these courses and created  Greens Books that help golfers understand the break on any green.  The  greens map on the right is an actual green I have measured and mapped. 


 So  a better question for a golfer to ask would be “How is the green  breaking in a particular location?”  Or, more specifically, “How is the  green breaking at the hole?”  Why do we need to understand the break at  the hole?  Because for most of your putt, the stroke of your putter  determines the direction in which the ball will travel. But  as the ball slows down as it approaches the hole, the force of gravity  kicks in, and gravity (in the form of the break) has progressively more  effect on the roll of your putt as your putter stroke has progressively  less effect. That’s  why we see putts take those major turns as they slow down near the  hole.  Identifying the break at the hole location is the first concept  you must contend with.  All the other breaks on the green matter very  little compared to the break at the hole. 

How Do Golf Professionals Deal With Breaks?

Golf  professionals are increasingly coming to a better understanding of the  true break on the green.  These days, before a professional golf  tournament, someone on the tournament committee will go out on the  greens and choose the hole locations that will be used during the four  days of competition.  The tournament  directors choose these locations by measuring the Break Direction,  Break Amount and Stimp readings at various points on the green to  determine that a specific area is conforming to accepted USGA  standards.  


These approved locations are then marked on the greens by  paint dots or some other method.  Tour Pros and Caddies take note of  these hole locations, measure them and make their own notes (on greens  maps), showing how the greens will break at the hole so that they are  prepared on game days.  This chart on Conforming Hole Locations was  created in an article from the USGA magazine.  For a closer look,  click HERE 

A Case Study At Riviera Country Club

In  our study, we measured all the greens at the Riviera Country Club  (Pacific Palisades, CA) prior to that year's PGA event, the Northern  Trust Open.  We found that only 2 of the 18 greens broke generally in  the same direction over the surface of the green.  Most of the greens  broke in different directions on different parts of the green.  To help  visualize, let’s consider the green as a clock face with the 12 to 6  line pointing toward the center of the fairway.  


On the #5 green at  Riviera (seen on the right), the upper-left quadrant of the green had a  Break Direction mostly toward 6 o’clock,  the upper-right quadrant of the green broke mostly toward  8 o’clock,  while the lower-right of the green broke mostly toward 9 o’clock.   That’s three different break directions on one green!  Most golfers  trying to read the green visually would not see these three different  break directions, but would think it broke only in one direction.  

The Green at #14

What’s  more, on the #14 green at Riviera (on the left), one of the few on the  course that generally broke in one direction (in this case, toward 9  o’clock), there was a great variation in the Break Amount.  Most of the  right half of the green was a similar slope of 1.0 to 2.0 degrees.  But  on the left half of the green, the Break Amount increased significantly  to 3.5 degrees and in some places up to 4 degrees (a very severe break).  For more information on how the Break  Amount can affect the roll of the putt, see my previous essay: “The Break Direction Myth.” 

The Northern Trust Open Stats

But the proof in the pudding is that by using our BreakMaster break measurements in the Greens Book we created for Riviera, PGA Tour Pro Scott McCarron came in #1 in putting for the 2009 Northern Trust Open  tournament.  He accomplished this by using actual scientific data (the  measurements we took of the breaks on the greens) rather than by trying  to “read” the greens by eye or by guessing the break.  

How Does The Average Golfer Get This Info?

The  point is, we have to disabuse ourselves of simplistic notions that  greens only break in one direction or one amount – at least if we want  to sink more breaking putts and lower our scores.  The best way to  understand the break on a green is to measure the green at various  points (taking note of Break Direction and Break Amount), and make a  note of those breaks on greens maps.  The most understandable method is  to use arrows to indicate Break Direction and a number of degrees  (usually from 0.0 to 4.0) for Break Amounts.  This is perfectly legal to  do (as long as you’re not doing it during the competition itself), and  it is the way Tour Pros and Tour Caddies have been reading greens for  years. 


What’s  the best way to do this?  During a practice round, or after everyone in  your party is done putting, use the BreakMaster to take a measurement  of the green at the hole location and make a note of it in your Greens  Book (or a collection of index cards showing each green).  I always like  to be the one in my foursome that replaces the flag stick.  This makes  me look courteous, but actually gives me an opportunity to take a quick  measurement of the green and record it without disturbing my foursome or  the foursome following us.  Over the course of several rounds, you will  collect a significant amount of data, and become an expert on the  greens on that course.  In this  way,  you’ll know exactly the breaks you’ll encounter the next time you play  this green.  You will have far more information than the average golfer  you are playing against; in fact you will have the same information that  Tour Pros use when lining up their putts.


Once  you really know the break, you can more accurately observe how your  putt reacts to different Break Directions and Break Amounts.  Most  importantly, by understanding the true break (and how it affects your  putt), instead of guessing or relying on myths about a single break, you  will significantly lower your scores. 


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