Putter woes and SAM Puttlab

[carsb]

So I had another terrible day on the greens yesterday. Pulling everything left, and even putts that I thought I got everything square went straight left off the face. This meant that too much was riding on my long game, which is a WIP given my recent swing changes.

For background, I use a Scotty Cameron TeI3 Long Neck, so it is face balanced. Much to my game's detriment, I never got fitted for a putter and found the one I'm using gathering dust in my dad's garage. It is about 33-33.1/2 inches, and I'm a generous 5'3''. I've been trying to nurture an arcing stroke, but I have found with my current putter than everything goes left unless I actively hold the face square. You can imagine how nerve racking that is on short putts.

I have found a fitter in my area with SAM Puttlab, and I've resolved to get a putter fit in the next few weeks. The fitting session is supposed to go for an hour. What kind of questions should I be asking, and what kind of data should I look out for?

Would it be helpful to bring my current putter and try to explore the flaws in my current stroke/setup (as part of the fitting process)?

[Richie3Jack]

I like the SAM Puttlab, but outside of what loft you should have and how well you aim the putter, it's really not the greatest *fitting* tool for putters. It will tell your dynamic loft is (your loft of the putter at impact depending on putter loft, shaft lean, etc). So if you de-loft the putter, he may find a putter that has more loft to it or add loft to your current putter.

Aim is very important. 80% of golfers do not aim straight from 6 feet away. This is my problem with putter fittings. They almost always just measure the loft you need and how much your ball skids. But they never address how well you aim a putter and find a putter for you that you naturally aim at the target.

That's a big reason why I will be getting an Edel putter since that is what they are designed for. I also plan on getting the Vari-loft version because that will allow me to change the loft depending on how fast the greens are.




3JACK

[carsb]

Thanks for the reply 3JACK. I think aim has been a big reason I've been faltering. I can't seem to aim my putter naturally at set-up: it almost always looks slightly closed . As a consequence I either open it up (but it feels like it wants to close), I set-up with the ball and/or weight forward or back (sometimes forward works, sometimes back works), I lead aggressively with the left (trying to manipulate the putter square), or I try set my right wrist (which really puts too much pressure in my hands).

All these compensations, as you can imagine, are just impossible to perform with any consistency. That is perhaps part of the reason I'm trying to get a "fresh start" with a different putter.

[Richie3Jack]

Aim is only a small part of putting. There's a good Brad Faxon video showing that there is basically 6 ways to make most putts that break, just by changing the speed. Hit it hard and it will break very little. Die it at the cup, it will break much more.

The best putter I have ever seen in my life...a guy that both Robert Damron and Brian Henninger both said that he was hands down the greatest putter they ever saw...had the most consistent speed/touch I had ever seen. He was very aggressive, quite often his missed putts would go 2-3 feet past the cup. But his consistency of his 'leaves' was by far and away the most consistent I've ever seen and like I said...best putter I ever saw.

So speed/touch to me comes first. Then learning how to read greens, then aim and then rolling it where you are aiming it.

I don't think getting fit for a putter now is a bad idea, although I would worry about aim and skid. But you probably won't see a dramatic improvement in your putting until you noticeably improve your speed/touch.

Also, if you haven't already...I HIGHLY RECOMMEND David Orr's 'Green Reading 101' and 'Green Reading 201' videos. They can be found at www.orrgolf.com.






3JACK