scotchblade, on 05 May 2011 - 07:48 PM, said:
golfbum9, on 05 May 2011 - 09:20 AM, said:
The putter has to fit regardless of its design. Push, pull, inconsistent distances - all come down to lie angle and length.
Yes but most of the time it boils down to golfers that spend 90% of their practice time beating balls and putting practice amounts to a few minutes before teeing off.
IMO, too much is made of the putter. The emphasis should be on learning to read greens and judge speed. It is a sixth sense that needs to be developed through regular practice.
But being that these traits do not lend themselves to forum discussion, we focus on the putter, the stroke and the three L's...lie, length and loft.
The best putters I know simply do not think of putting in this way.
I agree in that the read, speed and line are paramount as well as the simplification of putting - roll the ball and not "hit at"... comfortably, for the best results.
However, the point of having the correct lie angle and length is moreso for increased strikes on center - resulting in consistant speed on the intended line. It really is a no brainer unless you're one of the minority that fit "standard".
Since most golfers have (at least should have) their own putting style, be it stroke, stance et al.
Those of us with our own setup/ stroke (that works) must have a putter set up to our natural position and stroke therefore a confident stroke can be put on the ball. Without it, we have to set up to the putter instead. Sometimes they go in and sometimes we wonder why they didn't. That's the reason why in my experience.
As an example, a guy 6'3" with long arms plays off a 38 1/2" 5i. But his natural setup for the putter (to where he's comfortable) requires a 33 1/2" putter that's 2° flat. Now say we went by his height alone, one would think he would be using a 35 or 36" putter. The one he can setup to comfortably and is fit to him will win out... every time.
Edited by golfbum9, 05 May 2011 - 08:20 PM.