Golf Putters- What’s the Best Putter for Me?

Part 2

Part 1 of Golf Putters article

Other Considerations- Putter Size, Grips, Center or Heel Shafted Putters, Face Inserts

Dave Pelz feels that most players use golf putters that are a bit too long for them. He thinks the arms should hang down naturally and be directly beneath the shoulders, and the head should be directly over the intended putter target line. If the putter is too long, the golfer will be forced to bend his elbows and wrists more, and this will encourage more wrist and hand action, which he thinks will alter the putting stroke. Interestingly

Tom Wishon, well known custom club maker and author of “The Search for the Perfect Golf Club”, is also of the opinion that most golfers use clubs that are too long for them. He is talking about all the clubs in the bag, not just putters.

There are many grip options available these days. Pelz recommends larger rather than smaller grips because they will keep the palms more open, and as such there is less tendency to use the small muscles of the hands in the stroke. He personally uses a large grip that is square. This allows him to have both palms parallel to the putter face and both thumbs on top of the grip. He believes that this helps eliminate excessive use of the small muscles in the hands and leads to a more consistent putting stroke.

Another consideration is whether the golfer tends to hit putts toward the heel or the toe of the putter face. If the tendency is toward the heel, a putter with the shaft on the heel of the club would be preferable. If the opposite is true and the golfer tends to miss-hit putts more toward the toe, then a putter with the shaft in the middle of the putter head will give better results.

Some face inserts have been proven to get golf balls rolling on the grass more quickly and reduce skidding prior to the roll of the ball. This can certainly be beneficial since the sooner the ball gets rolling properly, the better chance it has to hold its intended line.

An A-B Test- Which Golf Putter Lets You Make the Most Putts

Dave Pelz has a process he puts his professional clients through when they are thinking about changing putters. It is fairly elaborate and takes some time, but it is also great practice. It would be best to get a copy of his book to see the illustrations, but here is a short description.

The golfer sets up 10 putts ranging from 3 to 30 feet at three foot increments. That is, the first putt is 3 feet, the second 6, the third 9 feet, etc. The putts should not be directly behind each other but each successively longer putt should be to the right of the previous one (for right handed putters) so the golfer is not continuously walking over the line of each putt, as that alone can cause putts to be missed. The golfer attempts all the putts with Putter A and records how many he makes. He or she then repeats the process with putter B. The process is again repeated, this time starting with Putter B and then switching to putter A once more. All of the above should be done on a flat portion of a practice green where the putts should roll straight. So far the golfer has hit 40 putts and recorded the results. The entire process is repeated four more times, once for downhill putts, one more time for uphill putts, once for putts that break to the right, and once for left-breaking putts. The golfer now has hit 200 putts, and his results in terms of how many putts he made with each golf putter will tell him which one to use. This procedure takes a fair amount of time and should be done over a period of at least two days. Pelz also proposes another similar process using half as many putts. The above is obviously a rather scientific way of determining which of the two golf putters being tested should be in the bag.

Conclusion

Most pros can hit shots on the sweet spot, whether it be putts or other golf shots, far more consistently than can recreational golfers. In general for players in the later category, it would seem advantageous to consider golf putters with a relatively high MOI and good aiming aids. Most of the top golf companies offer mallet style putters with high MOI, especially the more modern looking ones with a lot of weight around the perimeter of the putter head. It would seem that these clubs would offer recreational players the best chance of success, unless they are simply sold on the more traditional styles or have always used them and don’t want to change. More and more pros are using the new styles, however, so that says they must have a lot to offer.

Part 1 of Golf Putters Article