October Golf Digest – A Must Buy!!

I have to admit that while I subscribe to a few golf magazines, I do my best to not take the instruction in them too seriously.

However, I believe that the October issue of Golf Digest is a must buy because of the feature – “Why You Can’t Putt.” Now clearly this is a grabbing title their marketing guys got this right. But there are about 20 pages in this issue that are well worth reading.

There is great information on the mental side of putting, some good tips from Dave Stockton (right now the hottest putting instructor out there), an article on how to read putts better, and a lot of information on how to have a putter correctly fit for you.

Page 68 presents a lot of good information on the basics of good putter fitting. Certainly getting the right putter length, lie anglei, and putter face loft (for most at least 4 degrees of loft) are musts. And then – at least for me – the putter needs to look good in your hands – you must believe that the head design is made for you. There are two other items that I think are sometimes overlooked but that are important to consider……

1. Putter length is a key fitting parameter. However, if say your present putter is 36 inches and you really should be playing a 34 inch putter, simply cutting the shaft to get to 34 inches is not enough. Like any golf club, when you cut the putter 2 inches you reduce the putter swingweight by about 12 swingweight points – the equivalent of adding about 24 grams of weight to the head. Good putter swingweights are typically in the range of about C6 up to about D4 – some like lighter some heavier. Consider if you are going to have your shaft cut to a shorter length getting some weight added back to the head – either with lead tape or by adding weight down the shaft.

2. Is the putter built correctly – when you sit the head on the ground does the putter face “square up” – is it square to your chosen target line? If not, then you have to adjust your stroke to compensate for this misalignment – and compensation in putting is a clear way to more strokes on the green.

Enjoy the October Golf Digest issue!!!

Tony