Thursday, February 12, 2015

Answer to Finding the Right Putter..

The answer to our last post.


By a wide margin, heel no offset.

We think we know why. If you built a mechanical model of most players strokes you would find the arc to be bigger than the player perceives. Much bigger. The proof for the player comes when we ask them to hit putts with their eyes closed on PuttLab. Almost always, there is a change in arc shape. I have never seen a player reduce the arc with their eyes closed. Not once.

So by using the heel shaft it frees up their stroke, by eliminating the steer. No putter design flows easier than heel shafted no offset. That design also gives the player the best "feel" or awareness of the club position. Even though the heel shaft is an exaggerated example, it helps. We can then show them how the proper fit can be used most efficiently.

You might find it interesting that when they putt with their eyes closed, we ask if they can feel the increased rotation.

The answer is always no. Why? Because the movement of the putter better matches the movement of the arms /shoulders/body. without the illusion created by vision, it reduces the feel to back and through and not open and closed. More fun, is to manipulate the putter to eliminate rotation while their eyes are closed and listen to them complain about how their normal stroke feels.

Once they understand why they chose the heel shaft, we can discuss which model is appropriate for their mechanics, while factoring in player tendencies. The more I do this the more I am sympathetic to the player tendencies.

No comments: