ABSTRACT
An interesting phenomenon has been discovered to exist in golf, in that golfers consistently and substantially underestimate the amount putts break, sometimes by a factor of 3 to 5. A detailed study of 313 golfers shows that for men, women, pros and amateurs, the inability to predict the correct amount of break in putts is accompanied by sub-conscious compensations, set-up alignment and in-stroke compensations during the stroke itself. Most golfers tend to stand in what may be the wrong position to read their putts, and the method of plumb-bobbing proved to make no difference whatsoever. After repeatedly putting the poorly read putts, and watching their balls roll to the hole, golfers did not recognize either the amount of break they actually played, or the amount they should have played. The golfers learned very little from the experience of watching their own putts, which substantiates why this problem can exist today.
