Reading the break of a green is an art and a gift. It all seems so simple — you look at the ground and decide which way the surface of the green tilts, and then you adjust the line of your putt accordingly.
Sometimes, however, the break and slope can be tricky to see. Sometimes you may face more than one break in a putt. Sometimes a nearby hill affects the break. Sometimes the green naturally breaks toward water. It takes patience and imagination to envision the path the ball may naturally take as it rolls along. There are, however, a few ways that you can help yourself read the break — clues that help you forecast the way the ball will roll.
Examining all angles
Don't hold up play, but do look at the putt from all angles. As you walk up to the green or while the other players putt, move discreetly around and look at your putt from behind the ball and from behind the hole back toward the ball. Look at the putt from the side. If you can, get down low and look at the ball from a worm's-eye view. (You can do this easily on raised greens or from bunkers.) The more information you can process, the better the result.
Closing your eyes
If you have trouble seeing the break, stand with your hands at your sides and close your eyes. You can stand at the hole and do this or stand behind your ball and do it. Closing your eyes causes your other senses to come alive to maintain your sense of balance. You feel yourself being pulled by gravity one way or another and your body naturally corrects that pull. Take these clues to heart.
Spilling a bucket of water
To help yourself read the break of a green, you can stand at the hole and imagine that you've spilled a huge bucket of water on top of the hole. Which way would all that water run after you fill up the hole and it overflows? Would it run off the front of the green? Would it stream to the back or off the side? Adjust your line accordingly. If you have trouble imagining, don't go for realism and dump water in . . . unless you think you can outrun the greenskeeper and the cops.
Looking into the hole
Looking down into the hole can provide a sloping clue. Because a plastic cup lines the actual hole after the greenskeeper cuts it, you can see the discrepancy in the earth that rings around the top of the cup if the hole sits on a rise or a hill. The side with more dirt is the lower side of the hole, and the side with less dirt is higher. Therefore, if you putt the ball toward the higher side, it rolls and slides down toward the lower side.
Watching other players' putts
The break of another player's putt isn't proprietary information. Pay attention to your playing partners and competitors when they putt and watch how their putts react to the break of the green. Sometimes you get lucky and someone has the exact same line as you. In the 2004 Masters, Phil Mickelson caught a break when Chris DiMarco's bunker shot rolled behind his ball, giving him a great view of the break of his winning putt. But even putts stroked from another angle can tell you something about the beak of the green.
 | Although it isn't against the rules of golf to stand directly behind or directly in front of another player (beyond the hole) on the line of his putt, players consider it bad form and inappropriate. The player may ask you to move so that you don't distract him. You should, if you want to look from directly on the line, wait until the ball leaves his putterhead to step into the line. |
| 
