Putter Information

PUTTERS

The putter is one of the least understood clubs in the bag and yet this club accounts for approximately 40% of your golf score.

Almost every golf club company places great importance on their drivers as we constantly see in TV ads, each company claiming to have the best driver.  But think for a second, most 18 hole golf courses have at least 6 par threes, that means the driver is used 12 times.  The putter on the other hand is used on every green (unless a chip in) resulting in at least two or three puts per green.  No other club in the bag sees this much use through out the round of golf.

Now I am certainly not saying the driver is not important, it is.  A good drive sets up the hole and certainly contributes to a positive can do attitude. . But, the putter saves pars and creates birdies, the scoring club.

One of the first things we do when building a custom putter is to determine the type of putter you are - Arc or Linear.  You are either an arc or linear putter, but you are not both.  So the question is what are you?  And what does it mean?

There are many definitions for both putting styles too numerous to mention, however here are a few differences I have noticed over the years of putter fittings.

ARC PUTTERS

I believe arc putter tends to do or be the following—

1. Move the putter head in a curved path, arc, taking the club head back and inside of the site line (line the ball will roll) moving the putter forward to square at impact and following thru to the inside again of the site line.
2. There is wrist rotation during the putter stroke.
3. They tend to see straight lines and rectangular shapes
4. Their back stroke is longer then their follow thru stroke.
5. They tend to putt to a spot on the green, always in a straight line and then let gravity pull the ball into the hole.
6. They tend to like rectangular putter heads.
7. They tend to be very good on long lag putts, but suffer accuracy on putts six foot or less.
8. They tend to stand with their eyes over the ball or just inside the ball by two inches or less.
9. They tend to like shorter putts and more weight.
10. They tend to set the putter head on line and then set their feet.

LINEAR PUTTERS

1. They move the putter head in a straight line back and forward,
2. There is no wrist rotation in the putting stroke, their left hand (for a right handed golfer) can be below the right hand pulling the putter across the body, both fore arms are parallel, one arm not above the other.
3. They tend to see curves, not straight lines, and put the curve focusing on a point on the cup, they putt the balls rolling on a curve.
4. The back stroke is shorter then the follow thru stroke
5. They pick a spot in the edge of the cup and put to it.  An example is to envision a clock face with the putter putting to a number on the clock or cup.
6. They tend to like mallet or round shaped putters.
7. They tend to struggle on long lag putts, and are more accurate on putts under six feet.
8. They tend to stand behind the ball with their eyes in line with the target line.
9. They tend to like longer putters, belly and full length putters with less weight.
10. They align their feet with the ball path and then place the putter head.

The above is by no means a complete list of difference, and you many find that in fact you do some of each, but you should be able to see more of yourself in one list or the other.

If you are still wondering which type of putter you are – here’s a simple and interesting test you can perform at home.  Take two golf balls and place the balls side by side one above the other both parallel to the putter head.  You will not be putting to a target, so putting six feet or less will be fine.  Now take your putting stance as if to putt the balls, the idea is to putt both golf balls at the same time, one ball hits the heel, and one ball hits the toe of the putter.  Be very careful to make every effort to hit both golf balls at once!  Run this test ten times, keep track of which golf ball, heel or toe went the farthest, or did they go the same distance.  If the toe golf ball rolled the furthest, you are an arc putter, rotating your wrists, if the heel golf ball or both golf balls rolled the same distance your are a linear putter. Now knowing this re-read the lists above and see if you can find yourself in one group of tendencies or the other.

Understand there is no right or wrong way to putt the ball, if your ball goes in the hole – keep using the same technique!  Knowing the putting style you have can improve your putting game allowing you to concentrate on your strong points; it can also help in choosing a putter style and weight that is more comfortable for you.

With this information, I wish all your putts are short and below the cup in a straight line.

WHY A CUSTOM FIT PUTTER?

I have made a large number of custom fit putters that cost less than an off the shelf putter and that’s even after the fitting!  Most putter fittings center around having you putt several putters and then bending the shaft in the hopes of getting a close fit.  This method of fitting is better then nothing, but along way from correct.  The putter is a complicated piece of equipment involving length, grip style and size, shaft flex (yes - putter shafts flex), head weight and distribution, launch angle and face loft, lie angle calibrated to your stance style (affecting force field percussion area).  The alignment of the putter shaft to the face angle is very important as it affects ball jog and skid during the roll.

PUTTER PARTS

1. Lie angle - the angle the club face sets on the ground or angle the shaft is to the ground.  If the face angle is incorrect and the putter toe is up, the putts tend to go left of the target and the percussion zone (not necessarily the sweet spot) will move to the club heal, the opposite is true if the putter toe is down. A sweet spot by definition is a point on the face of the putter where the putter head mass is equal all around.  If you take the shaft off the putter, the putter head should balance on the end of a sharp point. The percussion area is the impact area of the ball to the club face.  Shifting the percussion zone shafts the ball path.
2. Head weight - putters come in a number of weights, light or heavy, generally speaking a heavy putter is used on a fast green and a light putter on a slow green. Some individuals call the head weight the feel, I disagree because I think the entire putter is the feel weight, if there is such a thing. There are a number of putters on the market that allow you to adjust head weight.  My experience is that a properly fitted putter doesn’t need adjustable weights, most weight are too light to have any notable impact.
3. Total weight—total weight is just that, it’s like putting your putter on a scale and weighing it, head, shaft, grips.  Most putter fitters never talk about swing weighting when it comes to fitting putters, I feel that swing weighting is very important and must correspond to your golf set swing weight, not the same swing weight number but a correlation that allows your body the same feel.
4. Balance point - balance point can be part of the feel, all golf clubs must have a certain feel to them in order for you to control the club head path, the putter is no different.  Linear mallet type putters tend to have a balance point about a third up the shaft from the head and set with the face pointing skyward when balanced on your finger.  Arc putters tend to have the putter toe hang down about 45 degrees from face pointing skyward.  The shaft balance point is something that has to be adjusted as to the individual precise club feel.
5. Size of grip—there is a difference when griping a putter, the grip sets deep in your hand, not in your fingers as the rest of the golf clubs do.  I tend to like a larger grip filling the hand for linear putters and a slightly smaller grip for arc putters. You should not feel as if the putter grip (shaft) moved in your hand during the stroke.  Just a note on putter grips, because larger grips weighting considerably more then small grips, changing from one grip to another can affect club balance and feel. Heavy large grips tend to make the putter head feel lighter and smaller lighter grips tend to make the putter head feel heavy.  The lighter or heavier feel will affect your swing speed – be careful.
6. Shaft flex—some putter shafts are more flexible than others, this can be noticeable on a long lag putt causing the shaft to flex forward driving the ball past the cub.  A heavy soft shafted putter can lead to control problems for most linear putters, arc putters tend to handle the problem better.  If you struggle with distance control go for a stiff shafted putter.
7. Shaft forward of putter face - The more the shaft is forward of putter face the more your putts tend to go left of the cup (right handed putter).  The reason for this is that by the time the club face arrives at the ball, the shaft has pasted center and is turning the putter toe inward.  Most putters that are linear will benefit from a shaft placed equal to the face or slightly behind the face.

Get out and enjoy the game!!!