When Do I Need A New Putter?
What Comfort to know that you will never need a new putter!
Mike Fay, a PGA teaching professional, runs an interesting Twitter session each Sunday night at 9 pm Eastern – "Ask The Pro." On this session, golfers can tweet in questions to PGA pros and fitting experts and get answers to their questions.
One of the questions last night was "When do you know when it's time to get a new putter?" An excellent and important question for many golfers.
It has to be frustrating when you lose confidence in your putting. Maybe the questions that should be asked are two – Why Would You, and Why Wouldn't You?
Why Would You? Just like with any club, the putter needs to fit the way you putt – a putter that you can aim correctly, and a putter weighting that allows you to have great speed control. If you fit yourself for a putter and it is not right for you in these two areas, it is easy to see that you could become frustrated with the results from your putting.
In addition to having a putter that fits you, it is very important – if you want to be a confident, great putter – to understand your stroke. Do you have a stroke that you allows you to confidently and consistently hit your putts on line, with good roll, and with good speed control? If you do not understand your stroke, you might be blaming things on your putter that are not being caused by it.
This past weekend, I worked with a great ball striker to help him improve his putting. He was putting with a well known brand putter, that had been cut down 2 inches to fit him correctly for length – making the putter very light. When we tested him on the Science and Motion Sports (SAM) PuttLab, he could aim that putter very well. But he had a stroke that was about 9 degrees outside-to-inside – meaning he had to manipulate the putter face with his hands to get it close to square to the line at impact.
We worked to help him improve his stroke, and to get him into a putter that fits him well for aim and speed control. He is most likely going to start to make LOTS of putts, and so be excited about his putting. More importantly, he will have the knowledge to know when he misses putts what is likely to be the cause – and to fix this.
Why Wouldn't You? This golfer has been fit for a putter and totally trusts – based on past results – that it fits his game and that he is a good putter. He also knows his personal putting stroke, and can make adjustments to it when he is missing putts he believes he should make. He like many of us does not putt great all of the time, but he knows when he does the right things that he can trust his putter and his stroke to produce good results.
It is amazing to me that Tiger – as good a putter as he was for years – would change putters and be in the Why Would You? category. We ALL deserve – and it is achieveable and can be comforting – to be in the Why Wouldn't You? category.
The Fit Is IT!!
Tony
