Putter technology - do we really need it?

Believing that something works is probably 90% of the battle with putting. Weight screws and moon dust go a long way toward people being able to convince themselves that they can make putts.

I like that there are options, as what "suits the eye" can be very different for some people. I plan on using by 2ball SRT (Saturn Ring Technology!) forever. I even bought a backup.

You're never moving the putter fast enough that forgiveness REALLY matters, and I can't imagine that distance is an issue for most people in putting. It's probably the space in which tech is the least relevant.

Find something you like, stick with it. You don't need distance and forgiveness. You need to like it. That's it.

There may very well be that small difference (edge) with the newer technilogy in a putter which a golfer is looking for when putting on a fast green that rolled true.
I'm gaming an old 8802 style putter right now and it worked just as well as the other soace age putters on our putting greens.

I'm good for now.

Pa-Playa said: Years ago I used to play regularly with a guy who had this really old Bullseye putter.

I used one of those for years, and received one as a gift a few months ago. Still like the feel of it, but I had to garage it in favor of my Ping Anser 2 because I need the flange to pick up the ball - getting old's a bitch.

I was checking out Evnroll putters online this week and wondering if I'd putt any better with it.

I use a Scotty Tei3 Newport 2, also have the long neck version. I have it fitted to my height etc...

I putt on the simulator which is a cool thing, 15 foot putt and you get to see launch angle so u can see how fast the ball gets rolling vs airborne.

I do wonder, the same style putter if the newer models with better moi, grooves to help with off center hits that make the distance consistant across the face would make a difference.

I used a Ping Anser 2 cadence with TR grooves this past week in my rental set. Putted ok with it, length 3" too long but really putted like I do at home. I wondered if I had my own putter would I putt better.

I'm keeping the Evnroll in mind though. Maybe sell some stuff and pick up one with my specs at some point.

A flat stick does not need to go longer, with faster ball speed.
PA-PLAYA hit it on the spot when he mentioned consistency of this golfer using the same putter for decades.
There was a rumor (joke) that Ben Crenshaw used to go to bed with Little Ben ( nick name for his putter given to him when he was 15 ).
I know golfers whom will not even change the grip on their putter.

PA-PLAYA When you own your putting stroke, it ain't about technology.

What he said........................

The school teacher was taking her first golf lesson.
"Is the word spelled p-u-t or p-u-t-t " She asked the instructor.
"P-U-T-T is correct, " he replied

" Put means to place a thing where you want it. Putt means merely a vain attempt to do the same thing" She said.

I don't know why, maybe it has something to do with eye-dominance... but the biggest tendency I've seen over the years with guys I play with is aiming the putter too far right (for righties) and too far left (for lefties).

Another tendency which might also have something to do with this is the preferred break of a putt. I know as a lefty - I will always prefer a left-to-right breaking putt over a right-to-left breaking putt, and it's fairly common for the opposite to be true for right-handed putters. And if you're like me (one who sometimes tries to read break even in the straighter putts inside 6 feet) you're just naturally going to be more prone to convince yourself that the putt breaks the way you prefer it to, because obviously that's the putt you feel that you have a higher probability of holing. I know I'm guilty of that quite often, and I don't think I'm the only one.

I consider putting the strength of my game, but despite that I still struggle occasionally with reading too much break. Most of the time my missed putts happen on the straighter ones... when maybe I should've been playing inside left or inside right versus left edge or right edge. If I have a common weakness, I just get the ball outside of the hole when I should've taken the better odds that typically come with keeping it inside the hole.

If your pace is consistently good, that 1/8 to 1/3 of an inch either way suddenly matters a awful lot. So imagine thinking you're aiming the putter right-edge, when in reality it's inside-right edge, and then account for the fact that many players who think they're aiming right-edge are actually aiming a ball or two outside right-edge!

Here's an eye-opener. If you putt with a mallet, you'll be able to do this without spending a lot of money. If you putt with a traditional blade-style putter, then you'll have to go online and pick up a gadget made exclusively for that style putter, some of the cheaper, more basic ones go for about 20 bucks. Some of the more elaborate ones go $100 or more.

I have a mallet, so I just use a basic (small) laser pointer. I position the laser precisely in the middle of the face and secure it with a piece of tape. I put down a coffee mug in the floor, and work on setting up square with the laser pointing at a black bullseye I've made in the center of the mug with a black sharpie. Keep in mind that I'm a lefty... The first time I did this, I couldn't believe it... it felt like my putter was aimed a good 2-inches right of the coffee mug! But the laser doesn't lie.

This is a good winter practice thing... something that doesn't require a lot of work or effort, but just helps reinforce the feel and the accurate perception of proper aim.

You might be shocked at what you find if you try it.

PA-PLAYA I don't know why, maybe it has something to do with eye-dominance... but the biggest tendency I've seen over the years with guys I play with is aiming the putter too far right (for righties) and too far left (for lefties).

Another tendency which might also have something to do with this is the preferred break of a putt. I know as a lefty - I will always prefer a left-to-right breaking putt over a right-to-left breaking putt, and it's fairly common for the opposite to be true for right-handed putters.

Tendency to turn the shoulders towards the target ?

I was horrible on the putting surface when I was young. Until I realized that it does not take that much to ROLL the golf ball 10' or even 30'.
Control of the speed of the roll hence the total distance traveled with the terrain and different type of grass comes with the confidence one acquired through knowing what the [articular putter would do. If you could feel the putter as an extension of your arms, you've got it half way there being a great putter.

The most difficult thing to learn for me was the feel for the club head. though decades of playing this silly game, I had been enlighten of the right "feel" for the golf club heads and thus the golf swing itself. It's not through the flex and recover of the golf shaft, but mindful of where the club head is and what it's doing through the grip, like an extension of the arms .
Learned and fully understood it too late, Now I'm chasing the strength and the stamina I had lost together with my youth.

Release

Obviously pace control is everything, determining not only the amount of break to be played on bending putts within close proximity, but much more importantly helping with 3-putt avoidance.

This is gonna sound crazy, and it typifies just how individualized putting really is, but while everyone else was going to the longer broomstick and belly putters several years ago - I actually went the opposite direction. Some would argue to an extreme.

I'd always been a reasonably good putter, my pace has never been an issue. But the short ones from 3-5 feet were a mixed bag. A huge part of the reason for that is because I've always preferred to have my hands closer to my body at setup for putting. Well, the problem with that and the traditional-length putters in the 36" range (for me and my particular putting posture) - it always found me putting with the toe up, ala Isao Aoki for those who remember him back in the day. I tried everything... I would even bend my putters 3-4º flat, but for whatever reason - I just would naturally manipulate my address position by default because I'd gotten so accustomed to putting with the toe of the putter elevated all those years.

Then one day it finally hit me... hmm... wonder what might happen if I putted with a shorter putter, which removed the need to have the lie-angle of the putter face adjusted? So I lopped a few inches off, added some weight to the putter, and the results were noticeably better with a more consistent path. But it still wasn't where I wanted it, it could be better.

So one day I bought a Ping iWi mallet putter with the interchangeable weights. Weight, to me, is very important. I want to feel like I'm stroking the putt versus having to hit the putt, and the heavier weight just made it feel much more natural versus some of the more lighter-weight traditional putters I used over the years. So I bought the Ping iWi Craz-E putter... inserted the heaviest weights in the kit, and then lopped another couple inches off the length. Wow! Now we're talking. Man, this thing felt great. Nice weight, nice feel, the putting stroke just seemed to flow. Another huge improvement. But....

I was still missing a few shorter ones that I really shouldn't be missing. Worked on my short stroke for about a year, and finally one day a friend says to me, "have you thought about the role that your wrists play in your putting stroke? I've noticed a few times that you have a tendency to get wristy in some of the shorter putts."

Okay. Makes sense. Might be time to consider getting the wrists out of the equation. I've got everything else going for me - the putter is short, which means my eyes are directly over the ball and my hands are relatively close to my body... the putter is lying perfectly, no toe-up action going on at setup. The weight feels great, distance control has never been better.

So I switched from a standard grip to a medium-thickness Tiger Shark putting grip.

That was roughly 5-6 years ago. To say that it has been a successful marriage would be an enormous understatement... I went from being above average to being one of maybe three guys at my club who enjoy the reputation of being the best on the greens.

So four things, for me:

• A reasonably reliable putting stroke resulting from a comfortable setup that enables me to feel like I don't have to focus on anything other than the line and the pace, which the shorter-length putter encourages. Hands remain comfortably close to my body, the lie of the putter is perfect flat to the ground.

• An ideal weight as far as stroke energy into the ball, which facilitates ideal putting pace on most normal putts I face each round. I feel like I make the same pace of stroke, the only thing that might change is the length of the backstroke/thru-stroke on the longer putts. The shorter putts are at the same pace, but with a more compact stroke, again back and through. Weight is hugely important as far as my personal feel and overall pace control.

• Negating the manipulative nature of my wrists in the stroke, which the mid-size putting grip helped accomplish, taking the wrists out of play.

• Learning to read putts more efficiently, and learning to aim properly. Above and beyond everything else, this last aspect was probably the most difficult for me personally. Although each course is different, requiring a different standard as far as what is needed in reading putts (which is largely impacted by the potential difference in the pace of different greens), I've learned that at my current club - a majority of my putt reading comes from looking at the contour from the midway point of the putting line, from both sides. Our greens have subtle breaks that occasionally intersect with other contours... so while you might look at the hole from behind the ball and assume that the putt is breaking a particular way, standing aside the line and taking in both directions might reveal something completely different. Some courses - I don't need to do this so much. At my current club - it's almost a requirement, especially since our greens are very large and seldom in the same locations much of the time.

Like I said - very personalized, very unique as far as my own process goes.

But here's the deal - I'm a huge believer in practice. I still 3-putt on occasion, but even the great Tom Brady throws an interception or two every now and then. I really feel confident in my approach to putting, and that confidence usually transfers on the golf course.

I just wish the rest of my game was as good.

Only adding - sometimes it doesn't hurt to try something different! If it works - stick with it. Once you become a decent green reader, once you develop a consistently good putting pace, it just comes down to your aim and how confident you are.

Not saying technology can't help. But it will not help a lack of confidence on the greens, long term.

PA-PLAYA

I don't believe I'll have anything to add to that. :-)

I've been making my own putters for years,they are different from anything I've ever seen,
due mainly to the material I use.
Also the head weight can be anything from 200 grms to over 500 grms.