The four-step read that tells you which shot to play, from any lie.
The V.E.R.T. Method for every shot inside 100 yards: read the lie, see how the ball will come out, check it can deliver the shot you want, and if it can’t, choose the option that leaves your best next shot.
Read It Before You Hit ItChris Brook
Read It Before You Hit It
How to Read the Lie, Predict the Landing and Roll, and Choose the Right Shot Inside 100 Yards
By Chris Brook, short-game and putting coach for three decades, to tour professionals and international players.
Your ball
“I have no idea how to play this shot.” This book was written for that moment. See the read ↓
How the read works
Four questions to ask before every short shot.
Most golfers pick the shot they want, then hope the lie lets them play it. The V.E.R.T. read works the other way round, and once you know it, it takes seconds.
1
Read the lie
How will the ball come out? Launch, speed and spin.
2
Rate the shot
What does this shot need? Height and carry, landing, release, and what a miss will cost.
3
Compare
Can the way the ball comes out deliver what the shot needs? If it can, play it.
4
If not, choose
What are the other options, and which one leaves you the best next shot?
It works at every level, because it’s a decision, not a swing change. You choose a shot the lie will let you play.
Worked example: the lie in the photo
The read, step by step
The ball is sitting down in long grass, with sand to carry and the flag cut just beyond it. Here’s how the four steps play out.
1
Read the lie
Grass will get between the face and the ball. Expect less spin, a launch that’s harder to control, and more release than normal. The grass will also slow the club.
2
Rate the shot
To finish by the flag, the ball must carry the sand (high V), land softly just over it (precise E) and stop quickly (low R). Short is in the bunker (severe T).
3
Compare
You can get the height with a committed swing. You can’t get the stop: without spin, the ball will release. The shot the flag asks for isn’t on from this lie.
4
Choose
Weigh the options below by where each one leaves your next shot.
Shaded areas show where each option is likely to finish. Red marks the miss that costs you.
A
Lob it at the flag
The shot the flag asks for. With no spin it won’t stop, and a slightly heavy strike leaves it in the sand.
Next shot: a bunker shot, or a long putt back.
B
Carry the sand, land on the front, let it release
Uses the release the lie will give you, instead of fighting it. Needs a committed swing through the grass.
Next shot: a putt from around the hole, even with a mishit.
C
Play to the middle of the green
More green to land on, so the landing and the release matter less. Still needs to carry the sand.
Next shot: a long putt.
Your shot
B. It doesn’t need the lie to do something it can’t, and its miss still leaves a putt, not a bunker shot.
Under pressure
“Commit, and swing through the grass.”
The book teaches this read for 156 lies and conditions, and works through 20 complete scenarios like this one, each with plan and side views of every option.
What you’ll be able to do
Stand over every short shot with a decision you trust
Read a lie and know how the ball will come out: launch, speed and spin.
Rate what the shot needs: the height and carry, the landing, the release and what a miss will cost.
Judge whether the lie can deliver it, before you commit to a shot it won’t let you play.
Weigh the alternatives and choose the one that leaves you the best next shot.
Recognise the miss a lie invites, and the cue that holds your decision together when the score matters.
Practise the lies you actually face, not perfect ones off a mat.
The Lie Difficulty Scale rates how the ball will come out. The four V.E.R.T. ratings describe what the shot needs. Put them side by side and you can see whether the lie can deliver the shot, and, if it can’t, which option leaves the best next one. Once you know it, the read takes seconds.
V
Vertical Demand
What flight and carry the shot needs to reach the landing area, and what it has to clear.
E
Entry Demand
How the ball must land, and what the first bounce will do.
R
Release Behaviour
How it will check, bounce, break and roll out to its finish.
T
Tolerance Severity
How much room there is for error, and what a miss will cost you.
The Lie Difficulty Scale, L1 to L10
Rate the lie before you choose the shot
L1–L2 Straightforward
L3–L4 Manageable
L5–L6 Demanding
L7–L8 Very demanding
L9–L10 Extreme
What’s Inside
A method, a reference and a practice plan in one book
You don’t read it cover to cover. Learn the read once in Part One, then look up the lies you meet in Part Two, like a field guide. Part Three builds your stock shots and Part Four tests your judgement on complete situations.
156Lies and conditions
Tight turf, wet rough, plugged bunker lies, grain, slopes and wind, each with a flight diagram.
20Worked scenarios
From simple chips to 90-yard pitches, with plan and side views of every option.
L1–10Lie Difficulty Scale
One shared language for how hard a lie really is.
4Practice sessions
A plan that turns your predictions into stock shots you can trust.
Part One
Learning the V.E.R.T. system
Reading the lie, the four ratings, comparing options and an on-course routine you can complete at playing speed.
Part Two
The complete lies and conditions reference
Every entry shows how the ball comes out: launch, speed, spin, flight, landing and release, set against your V.E.R.T. read.
Part Three
Practising the V.E.R.T. process
Build stock shots, read slopes with your feet, learn the day’s surface and record what your ball really does.
Part Four
The twenty scenarios
Complete situations read, scored and decided, so you can check your judgement against a worked answer.
Look Inside
One entry from the reference: uphill lies
Every one of the 156 entries follows the same pattern, so you always know where to find the answer.
Sample entry · 4.1 Uphill lie
Your ball has stopped on the upslope of a mound 30 yards short of the green, with the ground rising towards the target. The flag is cut 6 yards on from the front edge of a firm green.
From entry 4.1: how the ball comes out of an uphill lie (gold) compared with your stock shot (white dashes). Every one of the 156 entries shows this for its lie.
How the ball comes out
Launch: Higher than stock. The slope adds loft, and the ball tends to start left of where you aim.
Speed: Slightly slower. The same swing carries shorter.
Flight: Higher peak, shorter carry and a steep descent.
Landing and release: A soft first bounce. It stops sooner, with little release.
Against your V.E.R.T. read: Helps when V calls for height and R needs a quick stop. Works against you when the read calls for a low, running shot.
From Part Four: every scenario shows each option’s landing spot, roll and spread of finishes, so you can see which option leaves the best next shot.
Most short-game books teach you how to hit the shots. This one teaches you which shot to play.
It works alongside whatever technique you already use.
A typical short-game book
Read It Before You Hit It
Teaches the swing for a few stock shots
Teaches you to read 156 lies and conditions before you choose
Assumes a clean lie and a flat green
Shows how the ball comes out of each lie, and how it lands and releases
Tells you what to do
Gives you a scale and four ratings so you can decide for yourself
Leaves pressure for another book
Names how pressure causes each miss, with a cue to bring your read back
Judges every shot by getting it close
Chooses the option that leaves the best next shot, even when that isn’t the one at the flag
Is It For You?
Written for golfers who want to stop guessing around the green
This book is for you if
You can make contact, but often choose the wrong shot
You take on shots the lie won’t let you play, and pay for it
You misjudge how far the ball will run or check
Unusual lies, slopes and wind leave you unsure
Your short game falls apart when the score matters
You coach, and want a shared language for decisions
It is not
A swing manual or a set of quick tips
A promise that every chip will finish close
A replacement for practice, though it makes your practice count
About the Author
Chris Brook
Chris Brook is a specialist short-game and putting coach and the creator of the V.E.R.T. method, who also specialises in golf biomechanics and performance psychology. He teaches golfers to read the shot in front of them — the lie, the slope, the green — and to choose the right strategy, not just the right technique.
Three decades of coaching
Coach to tour professionals and international players
Learn the read on real turf, then build the shots it asks for
Short-game and putting coaching is Chris’s speciality. The book teaches you to choose the right shot. Coaching makes sure you can play it, from the lies you actually face, and that it holds up when the score matters.
Chipping and pitching
Strike, low point, face and loft delivery measured rather than guessed, so your stock shots carry and release the way your read predicts.
Bunker play
From clean sand to plugged and downslope lies, reading how the ball will come out before choosing what to play.
Putting
Putting analysis shows how your stroke and start line really behave, alongside reading slope and speed on the green.
Decisions under pressure
The “Under pressure” cues from the book, built into your routine so the decision you made holds when consequence rises.
Go Further
Pair the book with the work it builds on
Every “Under pressure” cue in this book draws on Chris’s golf psychology work.
Book · Pressure and scoring
Quiet the Mind, Lower the Score
For golfers whose perception, confidence or decision-making changes when the scorecard becomes meaningful.
Yes. Pre-order before the November 2026 release and use code NHXBRIHYAT at checkout to save £5, bringing the price from £25 to £20.
Do I need to change my technique?
No. This is not a swing-change book. It teaches the read and the decision that sit on top of whatever technique you, or your coach, already use, and it shows you which shots are worth practising.
Isn’t 421 pages a lot?
You don’t read it all at once. Part One teaches the method in an evening or two. Part Two is a reference of 156 lies you dip into when you meet them, on the practice ground or before a round.
What handicap is it for?
Any golfer who can make reasonable contact around the green. Higher handicappers learn to choose the shot that keeps a mistake small; low handicappers learn to read lies and releases more precisely.
Can I use the Lie Scale during a round?
The scale and ratings are for learning in practice and pre-round study, so the read becomes your own judgement on the course.
How does it connect to Quiet the Mind, Lower the Score?
Every reference entry ends with an “Under pressure” cue built on the Feel, Breathe, Name, Direct loop from that book.
Can I have short-game coaching with Chris?
Yes. Short-game and putting coaching is Chris’s speciality. Sessions take place near Bournemouth in Dorset, online in real time, or at tournaments and your own base, and use the same V.E.R.T. read taught in the book. Book a session.
Which format is best?
The book comes in hardback, paperback and Kindle eBook. The print editions show the diagrams largest; on Kindle they’re best on a tablet. The pre-order offer is available through Chris’s own shop, and the book is also listed on Amazon UK and Amazon US.
Read It Before You Hit It
Read the lie before you hit it
Know how the ball will come out, whether it can deliver the shot you want, and which option leaves your best next shot. Pre-order now and save £5 before the November release.
Your ball
