7 replies to this topic

[rustyputterguy]

Somewhere, I can't recall where, either in the debates that have gone on here or comments I've seen on TV in regards to belly and long putters, someone mentioned putting side saddle may be something people try if the long/belly putters go away. I think I read Dave Pelz says side saddle is the most accurate stroke?

I got to thinking about that the other day and was curious why you couldn't putt side saddle, face on (SSFO) with a long putter. I grabbed a long putter I have lying around and tried a few putts this way. It's hard to align with the lie/loft of a standard long putter, but it still seemed like a pretty easy way to putt.  I started thinking about how you'd have to set the putter up to putt this way and about features I'd want to see, adjustable weights, adjustable lenth, lie angles, etc. I wasn't quite to the point where I was going to call someone up and have one made this morning, but was still curious so I did a quick web search. I've never seen anyone putt SSFO with a long putter and can't recall any posts here about that style of putting, so I was surprised to see there are several companies making putters for this style.

I'm not trying to sell these, so hopefully this isn't against forum rules, but here's a link to one of the sites promoting a putter/this method that has a number of videos showing how easy it looks.
http://www.face-on-p...g.com/index.php


I realize the USGA/R&A may make this question moot shortly, but does anyone have any experience putting side saddle, face on with a long putter?  Or know anyone who has?
Just out of curiosity, I'd love to hear how well it works.

[WhiteyPoo]

I play regularly with an old guy who putts side saddle with about a belly length putter. He holds it a little in front of him and just rocks it back and forth with his right hand. He says it keeps him on the line he reads and from what I've seen, he is pretty accurate with it.

Edited by WhiteyPoo, 14 August 2012 - 07:59 PM.

[dennis4190]

I've played in a few tournaments with a guy who uses a putter like that....he has good days and bad days with it, just like any other putter

[PuttingDoctor]

I've worked with a few "Face On" guys and with certain exceptions found the method to be kinesthetically correct.  To keep things legal under the rules of the USGA / R&A you can't have a putter with a 90 degree shaft angle so you'll always be putting with a toe down orientation if you hang the putter from the front of the shoulder. The less loft you have the more accurate your face aim will be.

As this position has for most their dominant eye very much in line with the target line a lot of players tend to like the targeting orientation.

The hand making the motion must be in the natural position ergonomically and this tends to be different for each of us.  The simple test is to allow your arm to hang from the shoulder without attempting to turn it in or out.  Now simply make that motion back and through on the imaginary target / ball line.  This tends to be a pencil grip for most but again in this case we're all different.

This is just another way to putt well.  It doesn't require an anchoring of the putter so in the event that a rule change pops up you may see a some guys going this direction.

[rustyputterguy]

PuttingDoctor, on 15 August 2012 - 02:27 PM, said:

I've worked with a few "Face On" guys and with certain exceptions found the method to be kinesthetically correct.  To keep things legal under the rules of the USGA / R&A you can't have a putter with a 90 degree shaft angle so you'll always be putting with a toe down orientation if you hang the putter from the front of the shoulder. The less loft you have the more accurate your face aim will be.

As this position has for most their dominant eye very much in line with the target line a lot of players tend to like the targeting orientation.

Thanks for replying, I was hoping you'd see this and chime in.

I saw a couple of different putters setup for this. On one of the sites they mentioned the shaft has to at least be at, I'll call it 80 degrees, though I think they described it as 10 degrees from vertical. That manufacturer limited the width of the putter to just over three inches so when they tilted the shaft up to 90 degrees the toe didn't force the sweet spot of the putter head above the equator of the ball. Another designed the putter so there was a notch taken out of the toe for, I'm assuming, the same reason, tilting the shaft up to 90.

Being face forward with both eyes in front does seem like targeting would be very easy. It just seems like such a simple move.

[allegrolink]

Went Side Saddle for a few years. At a golf school, two of the three best putter were SS guys. My putting got pretty bad a year or so after meeting Chuck and Dan. Then I injured my thumb and could not take a full swing. Figured I'd have six months or more to work on putting. So, I gave SS a try. Lots of indoor practice. I found I could hit the ball on line better than I had been. I could make straight 10 foots putts over and over. For about a year my putting stats improved (they had been pretty bad so up was easiest way to go). BUT, I had real problems with distance control and lagging. I changed putters three times but never got comfortable lagging the ball.

One day my buddy said to me (after a three putt), "You know, there was a time when I thought you were a really good putter. Why did you ever switch to this?"

He was right. There was a time when I was good. I thought that if I put the same effort into my conventional putting as I had into SS, maybe I could get good again. So, I abandoned the SS ways, sold the new putter I had just purchased. Bought a new 33" with a slightly firmer insert. And I have gotten better. If we played, you would not walk away thinking I was a good putter, but you wouldn't think I was bad either.

[PuttingDoctor]

allegrolink, on 15 August 2012 - 03:06 PM, said:

Went Side Saddle for a few years. At a golf school, two of the three best putter were SS guys. My putting got pretty bad a year or so after meeting Chuck and Dan. Then I injured my thumb and could not take a full swing. Figured I'd have six months or more to work on putting. So, I gave SS a try. Lots of indoor practice. I found I could hit the ball on line better than I had been. I could make straight 10 foots putts over and over. For about a year my putting stats improved (they had been pretty bad so up was easiest way to go). BUT, I had real problems with distance control and lagging. I changed putters three times but never got comfortable lagging the ball.

One day my buddy said to me (after a three putt), "You know, there was a time when I thought you were a really good putter. Why did you ever switch to this?"

He was right. There was a time when I was good. I thought that if I put the same effort into my conventional putting as I had into SS, maybe I could get good again. So, I abandoned the SS ways, sold the new putter I had just purchased. Bought a new 33" with a slightly firmer insert. And I have gotten better. If we played, you would not walk away thinking I was a good putter, but you wouldn't think I was bad either.

+1 ....sorta...

I have always thought that golfers didn't give putting the time and attention it was due with over 40% of the score being attributed to the putter.  I've been "preaching to the choir" for over 20 years and am happy to see putting gaining more and more attention.  However most golfers don't devote an appropriate amount of time to practice... of any sort, let alone putting.

I stand by my record of an average 4 stroke improvement in handicap based upon focused practice NOT method.  Pick the way you want to put, short / belly / long, makes no difference if you put the work into making the stroke the best it can be.

The putting green is the only area on the golf course where you can meet or beat the tour professional.  Get there!

[+Church]

He did it in the movie Seven Days in Utopia for his final putt.  I'm a conventional kinda guy so I think it looks funny...