December 1, 2014 – Every season, the AimPoint Golf green reading system developed by Mark Sweeney makes a difference to more and more golfers. Not only among the many professionals who already using AimPoint Express on the Tour, every time we see them raise their hands and measure with their fingers where to aim towards the hole, but also among amateur golfers, who have discovered a fantastic tool to improve their putting and reduce the scorecard holing more putts.

Here we already have a good series of certificate golf instructors, who are contributing to the strong introduction of AimPoint in Spain. In 2014, along with the addition of two new specialist coaches, the annual European AimPoint Congress has been held here. On his recent visit to our country we had the chance to meet and personally interview Mark Sweeney, who attentively answered the questions by MyGolfway.com.

MYGOLFWAY: What is AimPoint, and why is it so exciting?

MARK SWEENEY: AimPoint started off as a system to read the putting break, but the reason it’s been so exciting this year is because we’ve made it simple enough for any golfer to use. So, junior golfers as young as 7 or 8 years old all the way up to Tour players are using our Aimpoint Express system.

MGW: How did this Green Reading System start?

MS: It started as a computer programme for predicting breaks for the Golf Channel on TV, and we were on the TV for six years. Then that developed into a Green Reading System, which started about six years ago. And now the AimPoint Express is the latest one, which actually just came out at the end of last year.

MGW: Is this a more scientific than intuitive way of putting?

MS: Well, it kind of mixes the two, because it’s scientific in that the read is based on science. The ball has to break a certain amount depending on the slope. But the Express read is what we call a ‘soft read’, where we can get you a very accurate read, very quickly, and then leave some room for intuition or athleticism to make fine adjustments.

MGW: What’s the difference between AimPoint and Aimpoint Express?

MS: The original Aimpoint used a chart, the AimChart, to get a very exact read – very precise but more technical. The Express read is almost exactly for the same breaks as the AimChart, but it is much, much easier to use for people.

MGW: Then, the AimChart is not used as frequently as before?

MS: No, not anymore, because the Express gives you almost exactly the same read. So, most of my players have the chart maybe for practice, but they don’t use it when they play anymore. They use the Express when they play.

MGW: And the coaches, do they have to understand the AimChart?

MS: Yes, the coaches have to understand the chart, because the chart gives us the true read, the exact read of a break. As coaches, we have to know how to get the exact read for any put, and then we see if the Express read matches it.

MGW: A lot of professionals are using AimPoint on Tour. Do they use it for every green, or only for difficult greens?

MS: I find with Express that they use it with every putt. Adam Scott and Hunter Mahan use it for every single putt. Stacy Lewis has been using AimPoint for about 4 or 5 years, so she uses a mix, sometimes Express, sometimes the Chart Depending on the situation she might use a different read. But all the people who learned Express first tend to use it for every single putt. Lydia Ko looks like she uses it for every single putt now.

MGW: How do they come to use the system? Do they have problems in their putting?

MS: Yes. Most of them were not happy with their putting, and they learned that this was a way that they could get better very quickly and very easily.

MGW: Using AimPoint, what percentage of amateurs will improve their putting?

MS: A 100%, ha, ha. For amateurs? 100% will improve. In putting its not just the read. You have to be able to start your putt on line to make a good stroke, and you have to control speed. Just having the right read will improve your putting dramatically. Your misses will be much smaller, and you’ll make more putts.

MGW: And how much do you think an amateur can improve his putting?

MS: Well, it depends on the person. A lot of players say they improve 4 or 5 putts per round. Others will say 1 putt a round. But they all say they improve some amount.

MGW: Has AimPoint any influence on the putting technique of the player, or the kind of putter he uses?

MS: Sometimes, because when you use AimPoint you learn very quickly if you can aim correctly. Some players don’t aim correctly and they don’t know that. So, as soon as you start with AimPoint, you say ‘that’s the correct break, but I’m not hitting that break’. Then they’ll start changing their equipment, changing their putter to a putter that helps them hit the line better.

MGW: Do you recommend any technique or putter that can help?

MS: No, I don’t recommend any specific type of putter. I like to watch the player, just to see how they are doing. I mean, if a player has a technical problem, we’ll talk about it, or if someone has a putter that doesn’t suit, then we’ll talk about changing it, but there isn’t one putter that works for everyone, or just one technique.

MGW: Do you recommend a lot of practice?

MS: Yes, you have to practice slope, you have to practice rolling the ball along the right line. Yes, for sure.

MGW: Do you think that, in the future, the next generations of golfers will use AimPoint as a normal tool for the game?

MS: No question. I think in the next couple of years everybody will have exposure to it. Like in the U.S. right now, lots and lots of juniors are using it very successfully, and winning lot of tournaments. So I think its something we’ll see everywhere in the next couple of years. There will be people who might chose not to use it, but I think everybody will have an introduction to it and at least understand what it is. And I think most of the top players will be using it.

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