Depending on the green speed … and not withstanding every green / every putt is different … but if it’s really fast my instructor said use your highest reading.
The beauty of the AimPoint is that you don’t have to learn how to read the green, at all. You feel it, you measure it, you aim it, you putt it. The rest is gravity and science. I am so amazed at the ease of the program and the results in just a short time.
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My AimPoint Express Clinic
So thx to a PG article about AimPoint …
https://practical-golf.com/aimpoint-express-golf-putting
… I decided to contact the instructor mentioned (I’m also in the NY Metro area; his contact details at bottom) and arranged a clinic for myself and a friend … and it was well worth it!!
FYI, re: my friend … he’s a better than scratch golfer in all areas of the game except putting … where his Arccos hcp is 4… He says he could shoot lower if he could putt … well, the day after the clinic he “…had 8 birds for a 66 and would have been lower if I drove it half decent.” Wow!
Which is to say even the best golfers can benefit from learning AimPoint; and pretty much all levels of golfers can … but … IMO, I’d suggest anyone interested should be confident in their ability to start their putt on their intended line plus be reasonably competent with their putt speed / distance control.
My reason for saying that is with all putts - especially the ones that don’t drop - I feel it’s important to honestly evaluate which factor(s) were off; was it …
- missing your intended start line?
…and/or… - speed control on fast/slow greens?
… vs … - guaging slope / green reading?
OK, so on to the clinic…
The instructor, John Hobbins (Level III certified and been teaching this for years) started off with a brief intro into the development of the method, and then moved right into learning to “read” the slope. This was done with the help of a series of numbered discs - 0 (flat) to 6 (steepest) - lying along the hill on the side of the practice green we were on.
Note that the numbers correlate to %tge of slope readings … for example, as in a “3% slope” … and not in degrees (or angle).
There are definitely subtleties to be learned in “feeling” the slope so that you can get consistent readings as you go from green to green; it’s recommended to buy a digital level that displays % slope to use for practice - mine is already ordered and I plan on taking it back to that same practice green and to others!
Getting the slope reading right is really the heart of the method; so we spent time walking around to different parts of the practice green, taking readings, telling John what our number was and then he would come over and confirm or correct. Then we talked about different length putts, how to aim - ie. holding up N number of fingers - and how to adjust for faster or slower greens.
The next learning exercise was looking at some 6 - 8 ft putts - using our old green reading method; eg. eyeball it, plumb bob, whatever - calling out the break and then walking in and taking our reading in AimPoint slope … with the point being to see how much the two readings varied, and by how much on different types of putts.
I should point out that along the way, John was happy and willing to fully answer any and all questions.
So after working on those practice reading comparisons we rolled some (more, actually … it was not just all talk up to this point) putts – and I cannot over-emphasize how valuable this part of the lesson was for me! It’s kind of like “here’s where the rubber meets the road” in that now you’re looking to “marry” (as John termed it) the right speed onto your chosen line.
Then we moved around and looked at different longer putts, plus a few more severe situations - eg. the hit and hope kind of thing where you’re just looking to leave the ball anywhere near to the hole.
Having all this guided practice … plus leaving the clinic feeling as though ok now I have a solid method of figuring out breaks … was waaay way worth the price of admission. I highly recommend to anyone interested/intrigued about AimPoint to find an in-person clinic if you can!!
AimPoint Level 3 Certified Instructor
NY Metro area
John Hobbins
Greenside Golf Academy
[email protected]
914-646-5882
www.greensidegolfacademy.com
Oh, PS:
Funny coincidence - John is good friends with PG forum member “JuanTheGolfer” 
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This is great, thanks for sharing! John is a great instructor and anyone in the NY Metro area should definitely consider him for learning AimPoint.
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Thank you!
I’d heard … and been interested in learning … AimPoint for a while … super happy I finally got around to it!
Cannot recommend it enough for anyone even remotely interested… 
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Here’s two examples from my last 9 hole round (with 14 putts … zero 3-putts) … one good, one uhhhh a good example 
…
- approx 12 1/2 foot putt (I pace more of them off now) … green looks fairly flat and smooth but sky is overcast and lighting is “flat” so you cannot see any contours nor break … do the AimPoint thing and decide it’s about a “1” right-to-left and slightly downhill from where I’m standing towards the hole … [expletive deleted] nail it!!
(…to make par on a typical bogey hole for me)
…and… - small, very sloped and fast green… I’m about 9 feet above the hole, so it’s going downhill and with a lotta break left-to-right … take the reading at a “4” … but … don’t commit to it … yep, ball slides by the low side of the cup…
So yeah if you learn and practice this stuff, it can really work! 
It’s a little scary at first (in a good way) when you get the slope exactly right and the putts go in. Anyone who learns it should still expect to miss plenty of putts still (that’s just putting), but I believe if you embrace the system you’re going to see better results. A lot of golfers are just guessing on the greens when it comes to determining the slope so it’s a great skill to have.
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I was teaching my coach this yesterday. It’s funny because he’s an expert green reader and he couldn’t understand it’s simplicity. I would
Show him the AimPoint and he would say well you still have to hit it the right speed. I don’t think it has 6 feet of break. But I think he must see a line to the cup and not an AimPoint which can be six feet from the cup. I tried to explain to him, that’s just the line you start it on I’m not tying to hit it to there. Finally I would put a tee in the ground where the AimPoint was and then show him, I’m just starting it at that point. It’s going to move off of that line. He started to accept it. He wasn’t convinced though. I said well it’s very linear and one dimensional and it works for me. Keeps me in a routine and takes any guessing or doubt out of the putt. He said i am definitely putting better and if it works, use it.
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I just finished the video last night and I’m looking forward to trying it. I don’t think it’s the final say on how to green read, but I do think your eyes can easily be deceived and AP does a good job making it simple and easy to get a general read on a putt. It’s got me intrigued enough to buy a digital level, but I also spent a little too much time dusting off the cobwebs on my high school geometry to see if there were other ways besides your feet to calculate % grade using your putter as a pendulum as an alternative.
It’s clear to me that I lose strokes by being deceived by the break so if it helps approximate the break, it’s a skill well worth learning.
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I think that sums it up pretty nicely
I haven’t done the videos or classes, but I want to. I think I have a pretty good idea of what it entails based on what you all have said and other places where I’ve read about it. I also haven’t practiced determining percentage slope with my feet. I have, however, tried to straddle my line on putt that confuses me (i.e. I can’t tell with my eyes whether it’s flat or tilted right or tilted left). And so far my feet have not been any more sensitive or reliable than my eyes. Can you guys, with practice, be able to tell a flat putt vs. a 1% either way with reliability? Is the idea that if it’s less than 1% you just play it straight because it’s too hard to tell with eyes or feet?
I’d say yes, I certainly feel a 1% slope, and even on nearly flat putts can often feel a hint of something. That hint may lead to aiming at the edge of a hole from 20 feet, when 1 finger might be 6 inches or more. I will often think that I’m between 1% and 2%, etc. The more you use the system, the more you compare your initial read with what you see the putt actually do, the better you get at making that initial read.
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Interesting. I’ll have to give it a try! I’d ask more questions but I don’t want to circumvent their proprietary system. I’ll sign up for it and get to work! I really think green reading is the final frontier of putting. As others have said, you can have the best stroke in the world, one that starts exactly where you are aiming every time and with perfect speed, but that matters not if the read is wrong!
I try to do a little post-shot routine after each putt, thinking to myself what was wrong: line (push or pull), speed, or read. Of course that’s not possible to do if you never know the slope for sure!
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This is exactly one of the cases where … imho … AimPoint really stands out!
In my post above where I listed two examples from my last 9 hole round, example #1 was just this situation - and getting an AimPoint slope and speed read gave me what I needed to nail that putt!
To your other question - flat vs 1% - as @davep043 mentioned… with some practice, absolutely yes!
Similarly 1% vs 2%, 2% vs 3%, etc etc. I have not seen the video, but in my clinic the instructor showed us his preferred method for getting a reading (and sorry but really cannot describe it well in words … it’s really one of those “show me” kinda things).
I agree with @davep043 - I think over time it becomes fairly clear what a 1% or 2% putt is, and that’s going to be the majority of your slopes. I think if you just got those two values locked in, you’re going to become a better green reader.
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Excellent point!
Forgot to mention in my post about my experience in the clinic, but the instructor had suggested to really get one slope value nailed down in your head - and your feet 
- so you have a baseline calibration and can gauge other slopes relative to that.
I’ve had so many “discussions” with people about reading putts. I think there are basically two of types of people. Those who see a start line and those who see an apex. If you’re a start line putter and you’re talking to an apex putter you’ll never agree on the line (unless it’s dead straight). I think Aimpoint needs you to be a start line putter.
That’s also why I hate having a caddie tell me putting lines. I never know if they mean start line or apex and if I ask I always get blank stares. Nothing worse than looking at a six foot putt. Thinking it’s two inches outside and having a caddie tell you it’s on the edge. You’re both right but you’ve now got doubts in your mind.
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Aimpoint absolutely reads a start line, not an apex. I honestly don’t quite understand how to be an “apex putter”. The apex most people refer to is a point on a curve, but is not on the initial start line required to roll the ball over the apex. If you aim at the apex and start the ball at the apex, the ball will start to curve downhill immediately, and will roll somewhere below the apex.
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100% with you on that. I don’t understand it either, but they seem to manage it. I think they picture the line on the ground that the ball will track. Then the highest point of that line is the apex and that’s what they’d say the line is. They still see the line in their minds though so that would incorporate where they actually need to start it to hit the apex point.
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You just gave me a great idea for the practice green! My feet don’t really have a feel for the degree of slope. Will try to find a time when nobody else is on the practice green, LOL. When it opens again.
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