Post by Richie3Jack on Feb 12, 2015 11:48:07 GMT -5
Back in 2013 I had purchased a YAR Putter.
The YAR putter was clouded in mystery as the creator, Essay Ann Vanderbilt, was virtually unknown. Vanderbilt claimed to have worked for the Department of Defense in designing airplanes and used her knowledge to create the YAR Putter which featured similar aerodynamics to planes.
Granted, the putter looked incredibly goofy, but anybody that had experimented with the putter raved about the feel it provides when you stroke the putter. The putter almost swings itself and you cannot use a cut across stroke with it or you'll feel a noticeable 'tug' during the stroke.
The putter was also designed to have the golfer look at the hole while making the stroke which is something that appealed to me.
When I first got the putter, I was using the looking at the hole while making my putting stroke and was putting lights out. But eventually my putting regressed into a mess.
The YAR putters were designed very long (mine was at 38" long) and with a very flat lie angle.
Eventually, Vanderbilt was part of a ESPN Grantland investigative article that exposed that Vanderbilt was not an aerospace engineer and was actually a (former) man. And that Vanderbilt was considered something of a con artist, but even those that knew Vanderbilt and were victims of Vanderbilt acknowledged that Vanderbilt was extremely intelligent.
Unfortunately, Vanderbilt ended up committing suicide, something that Vanderbilt had attempted in the past.
The ESPN Grantland article tried to leave the YAR putter as another one of Vanderbilt's schemes and that it didn't work, but more or less was part of the 'placebo effect.'
But, anybody who has swung the putter and doesn't begrudge Vanderbilt or YAR (unlike the ESPN author) will tell you that Vanderbilt was certainly onto something. Even those, like myself, that no longer use the YAR will tell you that. It feels different and produces a different type of stroke.
As I pointed out, Vanderbilt's design was different in a couple of distinct ways. For example, the hole in the middle of the putter. The other was the shaft that was used. It was a center shafted putter, but the bottom end of the shaft that connects to the head is shaped perpendicular to the ground, unlike all other center shafted putters:
This was dismissed by a few people although the explanation that ericpaul2, an engineer, used to explain what was possibly going on was never refuted by those that doubted that Vanderbilt was onto something.
Recently, at the PGA Merchandise show there was a new putter that came out from a new company called the BioMech Sports Acculock Ace:
Currently, Heath Slocum and Bo Van Pelt are using the putter.
We see one obvious similarity, there is a hole in the middle of the putter head.
Vanderbilt claimed that the hole in the middle of the head was there to help those with disabilities to pick up the ball. I actually tried to pick up the ball with the BioMech Acculock Ace and was able to do so, just like the YAR. But, my feeling is that the hole is designed for another purpose dealing with the stroke.
Furthermore, this is on their Web site:
Using the core muscles and a stance that facilitates the simultaneous viewing of the target line and golf ball
Of course, the difference here is that you're looking at the target line while making the stroke whereas the YAR was about looking at the hole while making the stroke.
BioMech's founder is Dr. Frank Fornari who created the putter designed to alleviate back stress and shaky hands that make putting a strain based off of 6 years of research.
I can't help but think that either YAR influenced this putter or BioMech came up with the same answers that Vanderbilt came up with. And that's not a bad thing. As I said earlier, I think Vanderbilt was onto *something*. We just needed somebody to come along and further develop it.
3JACK
The YAR putter was clouded in mystery as the creator, Essay Ann Vanderbilt, was virtually unknown. Vanderbilt claimed to have worked for the Department of Defense in designing airplanes and used her knowledge to create the YAR Putter which featured similar aerodynamics to planes.
Granted, the putter looked incredibly goofy, but anybody that had experimented with the putter raved about the feel it provides when you stroke the putter. The putter almost swings itself and you cannot use a cut across stroke with it or you'll feel a noticeable 'tug' during the stroke.
The putter was also designed to have the golfer look at the hole while making the stroke which is something that appealed to me.
When I first got the putter, I was using the looking at the hole while making my putting stroke and was putting lights out. But eventually my putting regressed into a mess.
The YAR putters were designed very long (mine was at 38" long) and with a very flat lie angle.
Eventually, Vanderbilt was part of a ESPN Grantland investigative article that exposed that Vanderbilt was not an aerospace engineer and was actually a (former) man. And that Vanderbilt was considered something of a con artist, but even those that knew Vanderbilt and were victims of Vanderbilt acknowledged that Vanderbilt was extremely intelligent.
Unfortunately, Vanderbilt ended up committing suicide, something that Vanderbilt had attempted in the past.
The ESPN Grantland article tried to leave the YAR putter as another one of Vanderbilt's schemes and that it didn't work, but more or less was part of the 'placebo effect.'
But, anybody who has swung the putter and doesn't begrudge Vanderbilt or YAR (unlike the ESPN author) will tell you that Vanderbilt was certainly onto something. Even those, like myself, that no longer use the YAR will tell you that. It feels different and produces a different type of stroke.
As I pointed out, Vanderbilt's design was different in a couple of distinct ways. For example, the hole in the middle of the putter. The other was the shaft that was used. It was a center shafted putter, but the bottom end of the shaft that connects to the head is shaped perpendicular to the ground, unlike all other center shafted putters:
This was dismissed by a few people although the explanation that ericpaul2, an engineer, used to explain what was possibly going on was never refuted by those that doubted that Vanderbilt was onto something.
Recently, at the PGA Merchandise show there was a new putter that came out from a new company called the BioMech Sports Acculock Ace:
Currently, Heath Slocum and Bo Van Pelt are using the putter.
We see one obvious similarity, there is a hole in the middle of the putter head.
Vanderbilt claimed that the hole in the middle of the head was there to help those with disabilities to pick up the ball. I actually tried to pick up the ball with the BioMech Acculock Ace and was able to do so, just like the YAR. But, my feeling is that the hole is designed for another purpose dealing with the stroke.
Furthermore, this is on their Web site:
Using the core muscles and a stance that facilitates the simultaneous viewing of the target line and golf ball
Of course, the difference here is that you're looking at the target line while making the stroke whereas the YAR was about looking at the hole while making the stroke.
BioMech's founder is Dr. Frank Fornari who created the putter designed to alleviate back stress and shaky hands that make putting a strain based off of 6 years of research.
I can't help but think that either YAR influenced this putter or BioMech came up with the same answers that Vanderbilt came up with. And that's not a bad thing. As I said earlier, I think Vanderbilt was onto *something*. We just needed somebody to come along and further develop it.
3JACK