woody69
Journeyman Pro
I'm going to have a putter fitting this weekend and I found this interesting article. Accurate or a load of old rubbish?
The putter is the club that puts the ball into the hole. And what’s the object of this beautiful game?
“But putting is very personalâ€, I hear you say. “How is it possible to custom fit a putter?†Well, it is precisely because putting is so very personal that custom fitting and custom building a putter to suit each golfer is….ahem…. the only way to get it right.
The alternative is “trial and error.†And when it comes to putting, flirting with “error†is very dangerous.
Make no mistake about it, there is a lot of art and skill in putting well. Yet just as you wouldn’t want to hone your driving skills in a car whose unbalanced wheels veer you into the ditch all the time, it is best to hone your putting skills with a putter that is set up to provide you with maximal directional and distance control.
In my own putter fitting procedure, I focus on fitting five major putter specifications to each golfer. Each specification contributes to a greater or lesser extent to DIRECTION CONTROL and DISTANCE CONTROL.
Putter length is the specification that sets everything else up and equally important for direction and distance control. Fitting for correct putter length allows for the correct posture with the player’s eyes directly over the ball, arms hanging comfortably so that the putting stroke is controlled by the big muscles around the shoulders (not the small ones around the wrists and hands).
Many manufacturers’ standard lengths are 35†for men and 34†for women. Yet fitting putter length properly results in shorter lengths for most golfers. Phil Mickelson’s putter is 311/2†long. Many tour players use 33†putters. Don’t ask me how many major brand putters I have shortened!
Lie angle contributes more to directional control than any other specification. A putter that is set too upright for you will have the toe sticking up off the ground at address and will cause you to miss left. A putter that is set too flat for you will have the heel sticking up of the ground at address and will cause you to miss right. A putter that has the lie angle set correctly for you will sit flat on the ground and send the ball along your target line.
Many golfers do not fit the standard lie of a putter. My putter loft and lie machine is in constant use for custom bending operations. Another nifty skill under my belt is the art of bending double bend putter shafts. Most people will tell you it can’t be done. Yes it can!
Loft contributes more to distance control than any other specification. Yet how many golfers know the loft of their putters? There are actually 3 loft measurements to take into consideration. Ideally they should all come out to the same number; usually they don’t.
What am I talking about? Well, putters are manufactured to be a certain “putter head loftâ€; most are between 2o and 5o. When the putter head and shaft are assembled, the “assembled loftâ€, when the shaft is held vertical to the ground, should be the same as the putter head loft. This is not always the case in massed produced putters.
And then there is “effective loft at impactâ€, i.e. the loft that results from the position of the golfers hands at impact (e.g. if you impact the ball with a forward press, your effective loft will be reduced). For a putter of 4o, the effective loft at impact should also be 4o. Commonly this is not the case. However, the loft angle of a putter can be adjusted in a bending machine to suit your putting stroke. 4o is the optimum loft for consistent distance control over a wide range of distance putts.
Swing weight is a measure of the weight of the putter head compared to the putter’s total weight, and contributes largely to distance control. A certain optimum balance is required for the golfer to feel the putter head and control the length of the backswing, which in turn influences the distance the ball travels.
If a putter is shortened, it’s swing weight should be restored by adding weight back to the head. One of the big benefits of having a putter custom built is that the head weight can be selected to produce the optimum swing weight for the length of putter that fits you best. One of the disadvantages of buying an off the rack putter is that manufacturers rarely make different weight putter heads for different length putters. So if you are lucky enough to find one shorter that standard, chances are the swing weight will be on the low side.
continued in next post...
The putter is the club that puts the ball into the hole. And what’s the object of this beautiful game?
- Putting is the most practiced part of the game amongst the pros.
- Putting is the most neglected part of the game amongst amateurs.
- Putting is the most important part of the game for both.
- In a regulation round of golf, 36 strokes are made with all the other clubs in the bag, and 36 strokes are made with the putter.
- You better believe it……….the putter is the most important club in the bag.
“But putting is very personalâ€, I hear you say. “How is it possible to custom fit a putter?†Well, it is precisely because putting is so very personal that custom fitting and custom building a putter to suit each golfer is….ahem…. the only way to get it right.
The alternative is “trial and error.†And when it comes to putting, flirting with “error†is very dangerous.
Make no mistake about it, there is a lot of art and skill in putting well. Yet just as you wouldn’t want to hone your driving skills in a car whose unbalanced wheels veer you into the ditch all the time, it is best to hone your putting skills with a putter that is set up to provide you with maximal directional and distance control.
In my own putter fitting procedure, I focus on fitting five major putter specifications to each golfer. Each specification contributes to a greater or lesser extent to DIRECTION CONTROL and DISTANCE CONTROL.
| DISTANCE CONTROL | DIRECTION CONTROL | |
| Length | 50% | 50% |
| Loft | 90% | 10% |
| Lie | 5% | 95% |
| Swing Weight | 85% | 15% |
| Putter Design (MOI) | 50% | 50% |
Putter length is the specification that sets everything else up and equally important for direction and distance control. Fitting for correct putter length allows for the correct posture with the player’s eyes directly over the ball, arms hanging comfortably so that the putting stroke is controlled by the big muscles around the shoulders (not the small ones around the wrists and hands).
Many manufacturers’ standard lengths are 35†for men and 34†for women. Yet fitting putter length properly results in shorter lengths for most golfers. Phil Mickelson’s putter is 311/2†long. Many tour players use 33†putters. Don’t ask me how many major brand putters I have shortened!
Lie angle contributes more to directional control than any other specification. A putter that is set too upright for you will have the toe sticking up off the ground at address and will cause you to miss left. A putter that is set too flat for you will have the heel sticking up of the ground at address and will cause you to miss right. A putter that has the lie angle set correctly for you will sit flat on the ground and send the ball along your target line.
Many golfers do not fit the standard lie of a putter. My putter loft and lie machine is in constant use for custom bending operations. Another nifty skill under my belt is the art of bending double bend putter shafts. Most people will tell you it can’t be done. Yes it can!
Loft contributes more to distance control than any other specification. Yet how many golfers know the loft of their putters? There are actually 3 loft measurements to take into consideration. Ideally they should all come out to the same number; usually they don’t.
What am I talking about? Well, putters are manufactured to be a certain “putter head loftâ€; most are between 2o and 5o. When the putter head and shaft are assembled, the “assembled loftâ€, when the shaft is held vertical to the ground, should be the same as the putter head loft. This is not always the case in massed produced putters.
And then there is “effective loft at impactâ€, i.e. the loft that results from the position of the golfers hands at impact (e.g. if you impact the ball with a forward press, your effective loft will be reduced). For a putter of 4o, the effective loft at impact should also be 4o. Commonly this is not the case. However, the loft angle of a putter can be adjusted in a bending machine to suit your putting stroke. 4o is the optimum loft for consistent distance control over a wide range of distance putts.
Swing weight is a measure of the weight of the putter head compared to the putter’s total weight, and contributes largely to distance control. A certain optimum balance is required for the golfer to feel the putter head and control the length of the backswing, which in turn influences the distance the ball travels.
If a putter is shortened, it’s swing weight should be restored by adding weight back to the head. One of the big benefits of having a putter custom built is that the head weight can be selected to produce the optimum swing weight for the length of putter that fits you best. One of the disadvantages of buying an off the rack putter is that manufacturers rarely make different weight putter heads for different length putters. So if you are lucky enough to find one shorter that standard, chances are the swing weight will be on the low side.
continued in next post...
