Grooved golf Swing Series: How Grain Factors On A Green Can Affect Your Put And How To Read Them


by Bill Maitland - Date: 2007-02-12 - Word Count: 396 Share This!

This is something that was a bit of a mystery to me in my early days. I would hear people talking about the grain on the green and how the ball would go fast if the grain was leaning towards the hole and how the ball would not reach the hole if one was putting against the grain unless this factor was taken into account.

Well here is a bit about grain in case you, like I did, find this subject a bit of a mystery.

When the grass grows, it grows in a particular direction. The grass on greens is a special type of grass and lies flat on the surface.

There are bent grasses that lie flat because it is the nature of the grass to bend at ground level and grow horizontally, hence the name. There are other types of grass are cut very short and tend to grow a bit horizontally. Luckily all the grass grows in the same direction.

If you can imagine the grass a little longer but still lying horizontally, you can see that if it is lying towards the direction of the put, that there will be very little resistance to the roll of the ball.

However, if it is growing towards you and away from the direction of the put, every blade of grass acts as a prod as it were to stop the ball rolling. Hence the ball will be held up a bit and will not roll as far. This prodding effect is called the grain.

It represents the direction in which the grass is growing.

One way to determine which way it is growing is to look at the grass. If it has a slight sheen, or looks light then it is growing away from you. If you hit a ball along this path it is called hitting with the grain.

If it is dark, then this is because you are looking at the tips of the grass and the dark part between the blades of grass and the ground.

This means the grass is growing towards you.

Hitting a put along this path is called hitting against the grain.

Certain things determine in which direction the grass will grow, and these can be taken into account if you are in doubt.

Most grasses will grow towards the nearest water. They will also grow in the direction of drainage, Often they grow towards the setting sun.


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Bill Maitland is a thinking, inventive golf guru. He thought out and developed simple techniques and tips which enabled him to lower his handicap from 25 to 18, then from 18 to 15, and finally from 15 to 12. He is a passionate golfer, and delights in helping others with their game should they want his help. To receive a valuable weekly golf tip go to his web site http://www.onlinegolfershandbook.com and subscribe to his free Hole In One News Letter. You will be so glad that you did.

Author of On Line Golfers' Hand Book. An e-Book that takes you step by step to being the best golfer that you can possibly be. The basics in great detail. To learn about his tips and simple techniques and order his book, visit =>Online Golfers Handbook

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