Phil’s New Putter Loft!

Using the right putter loft will help you to roll your putts better and make more putts.

by makelessnoise under CC BY  with WPSEOPix

 

 

Most weeks Golf World includes a little writeup titled "Equipment" that often has information that can truly help golfers play better golf.  The January 28 issue was one such article.

This article discussed the new putter that Phil Michelson is playing.  The loft of this putter is 2 degrees – much less than the loft of about 6 to 7 degrees that he was playing in the past.

Why? – well in the past he had a lot of forward press in his stroke.  I am sure he is getting information that tells him that to get good topspin roll at the start of his putts he needs to ensure that:

              Putting Stroke Rise Angle > Effective Putter Loft at Impact    

              for initial topspin roll.

In his case, now that he does not have a lot of forward press in his stroke, he needs less putter loft to get good roll – no hopping – at the start of his stroke.  

The article also notes that Phil knows that he needs about 3 to 4 degrees of rise angle in his stroke – with the 2 degrees of loft in his putter – to get topspin.

The "old" idea on putter loft was that optimum putter loft should be about 4 degrees.  However, almost no one believes this any more.  I suspect very few putters are being sold that have more than 2 to 3 degrees of loft.

So – make sure you know YOUR putter loft – is it right for your stroke to help you roll that rock in the hole?  If not, have it adjusted to help you make more putts.

How about you – has a change in putter loft helped you to roll your putts better – let us know!

The Fit Is IT!!

Tony