By Kim Jeong-kyoo
Korea Times Golf Columnist

For successful putts you need to read break correctly to find the right line to roll the ball on. When reading the break, draw the putting line from the ball to the hole a couple of times. When picturing the line in your head, make it thicker and clearer with every visualization.

Then, keep your head steady and roll the ball on that line. This helps you avoid becoming too stroke-conscious. Don't lift your head to see the result before the ball drops in the hole. Otherwise, you'll come out of your posture and throw the putter off line, missing the putt to the right.

Recreational golfers tend to slice their putts, just as they slice their full-swing shots. They cut across the ball from the outside to in through the ball, thus failing to get their ball to roll along the required putting line.

Swinging the golf club across the ball on a path that is from outside to in is not totally your fault -- it's just normal. It may sound strange but most golfers have their shoulders that are open. The club tends to work along the shoulder line; with your shoulders that are open, you are likely to swing the club outside the ball-target line going back, swinging down on a steep plane on an outside-to-in path. When that happens, you will slice the ball, be it a putting stroke or a full-shot.

Golfers with open shoulders tend to play the ball too far forward, causing a swipe across the ball.

To check if your shoulders are open, closed or square, take your putting stance, let your hands hang naturally from the shoulders, then pull your arms together until your hands meet. If your right hand is outside your left that means you are built with open shoulders.

The putting grip that best suits your body type is a cross-handed grip that features the left hand that is lower than the right. Setting the left hand below the right on the handle leads your shoulders to be aligned squarely to the ball-target line without a conscious effort, thus promoting a straighter putting stroke.

Incidentally, to get the ball rolling on the proper line, you need to learn to control the putter with a combination movement of the chest, shoulders, hands and arms. Grip the putter with your palms facing each other and your elbows snug against your rib cage. Make a shorter stroke going back, feeling your arms and hands staying connected and in front of your chest as your shoulders rock up and down.

Three-putts are the worst score-wreckers. To avoid the detestable three-putts it's essential to construct a solid foundation. Keep your forearms level with each other at address. Look down at your forearms at address if they're level with each other.

Also crucial here is the position of your eyes, which should be directly over the ball and your putting line. Regardless of the level of your forearms, eyes that are too far outside or too far inside the ball causes a poor stroke as it brings about an inconsistent putterhead path.

To check if your eyes are correctly over the intended putting line at address, drop a ball from the bridge of your nose. Eyes positioned too far outside the line of the putt causes the ball to land outside the ball on the ground; eyes positioned too far inside let the dropped ball come down to a spot somewhere inside the ball on the ground.