Equipment
‘The Claw’ and ‘Flatso’ putter grips from SuperStroke
The ban on anchored-putting styles isn’t scheduled to go into effect until 2016, but many tour players are already preparing for the day when they can no longer lean on their long and belly putters.
It’s not even February, but we’ve already seen photos of two very successful long-putter users, Carl Pettersson and Adam Scott, practicing with non-anchored putters. If you look closely at the photos below, you’ll see that neither Pettersson nor Scott are gripping the putter in a traditional way — they’re both using a version of the “claw” grip, which places their right hand on the putter in a position that’s similar to the way they gripped a long putter.
Dean Dingman, president of SuperStroke golf, said that as the death date for anchored putters grows nearer, golfers who were successful with anchored long and belly putters will start to gravitate toward new, non-anchored putting styles. That’s why his company has released five new putter grips that will give golfers who struggle with conventional putting styles more options on the green.
SuperStroke’s new “The Claw” putter grip looks much like conventional putter grips, but it’s length has been stretched 2.5 inches, which better accommodates the claw style of putting.
The grip was inspired by Phil Mickelson’s experiment with the claw putting style last fall. Mickelson wanted more grip length to accommodate the position of his lower hand, which rests farther down the grip when using the claw style of putting. To do so, Mickelson cut down one of SuperStroke’s 21-inch belly putter grips to 13 inches, which gave him the length he needed as well as a reduced weight (The Claw weighs 93 grams) that gave his putter a better balance.
SuperStroke’s Flatso grips are designed in a non-tapered pentagonal shape that creates a wide flat section on the front of the grip, as well as a pistol-style ridge that give the grips a different feel than the company’s round-shaped putter grips. The Flato is available in four different styles — Flatso, Flatso Mid, Flatso DB and Flatso 17 — all with different constructions that target different golfers.
The standard Flatso has a front-section diameter of 1.7 inches, which some golfers will use to place their thumbs more parallel to each other on the wider flat section of the grip, which will level their shoulders at address. With the Flatso, golfers can also position their hands further away from each other, which will help some create a more shoulder-driven stroke.
“We noticed that some tour players were trying to get their hands closer together and level out their shoulders at address,” said Jon Luna, director of marketing for SuperStroke. “Others players asked us for more of a pistol-style feel on the back of the grip. We feel that the larger flat section gives golfers more versatility and more options on how they can putt.”
The Flatso weighs 100 grams, and like all of SuperStroke’s standard-length grips, measures 10.5 inches. The Flatso Mid is a smaller, lighter version of the Flatso, with a diameter of 1.4 inches and a weight of 60 grams. Because of it’s smaller front section, the Flatso Mid will help golfers square up the face slightly faster at impact than the larger Flatso grip.
The Flatso DB (or Double Barrel) has the same outer construction as the standard Flatso grip, but it has two holes on the interior of the grip that will allow golfers to either add or subtract offset from their putter. If a right-handed golfer installs the grip on their shaft through the left hole, they will subtract 0.25 inches of offset from the putter, which should delay the closing of the putter face through impact — good for players that tend to miss their putts to the left. If the grip is installed through the right hole, the grip will add 0.25 inches of offset to the putter, which should speed up the closing of the face and help players who tend to miss their putts to the right.
SuperStroke’s Flatso 17 is a 17-inch-long version of the company’s Flatso Mid grip, and was designed to add stability for golfers who anchor mid-length putters to their leading forearm. In this style of putting, which has been popularized by Matt Kuchar, the Flatso 17 is turned counter clockwise (for a right-handed golfer) so the 1.4-inch diameter of the grip rests flatly against a golfer’s upper wrist and forearm.
Click here for more photos of the grips and to see what people are saying in the putter forum.
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Whats in the Bag
Adam Scott WITB 2024 (May)
- Adam Scott what’s in the bag accurate as of the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson.
Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 6 TX
Driver: TaylorMade BRNR (13.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 7 TX
5-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (18 degrees), TaylorMade Stealth 2 (18 degrees
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 9 X, Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 9 X
7-wood: TaylorMade Stealth (21 degrees)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI Black 9 X
Irons: Srixon ZX Mk II (3), Srixon ZX5 Mk II (4), Srixon ZX7 Mk II (5), Srixon Z-Forged II (6-9)
Shafts: Graphite Design Tour AD DI Hybrid 105 X (3), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (50-12F, 54-08M), SM9 (LW), WedgeWorks (LW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (48-54), S400 (LW)
Putter: L.A.B. Golf Mezz.1 Proto
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
See the rest of Adam Scott’s WITB in the forums.
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Whats in the Bag
Pierceson Coody WITB 2024 (April)
Driver: TaylorMade Qi 10 (9 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K White 70 TX
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi 10 Tour (15 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Black 80 TX
Irons: TaylorMade P790 (3), TaylorMade P7MC (4-6), and TaylorMade P730 (7-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100
Wedges: TaylorMade MG4 (50-09SB, 54-11SB, 58-08LB)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putter: TaylorMade TP Reserve Juno
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Ball: TaylorMade TP5x
Check out more in-hand photos of Pierceson Coody’s WITB here.
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Equipment
Why Ben Griffin is making the surprising switch to a Maxfli golf ball
Ben Griffin might be a little too young to remember some of the iconic Maxfli golf balls that won on tour, but that isn’t stopping him from putting the newest Tour X ball from the brand in play. Today, Maxfli and Griffin announced an exclusive partnership that will see the PGA Tour player using the company’s four-piece golf ball.
While Griffin might be the first PGA Tour player to put a new Maxfli golf ball in play, he isn’t the first profesional golfer to do so. Lexi Thompson has been playing the Maxfli Tour golf ball on the LPGA Tour since the beginning of the 2024.
View this post on Instagram
We caught up with Ben at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson in Texas this week to ask him about the new ball switch.
“I was able to finally get my hands on some and try it and immediately I saw faster ball speed with the driver, which is always something every golfer wants to see.
“Then I had to test a lot around the greens and test irons, test spins, test everything like that. Basically, I came to the conclusion that I thought this was probably one of the best golf balls for my game.
“And so I decided to make it official and partner with them and very excited to help kind of launch this golf ball and see where it takes us.”
Griffin’s ball of choice is the Maxfli Tour X, a four-piece golf ball that is made for highly skilled players that want consistent distance off the driver and spin around the green. An updated core design helps add the ball speed that Griffin mentioned and two ionomer mantle layers separate low spin driver shots from higher spin iron and wedge shots. Maxfli uses Center Of center-of-gravity balancing to ensure each ball has consistent flight in the air and roll on the green. Like all golf balls on tour, the Tour X features a cast urethane cover for maximum performance, and it has a tetrahedron dimple pattern to enhance aerodynamics.
It is exciting to see a golf ball at a lower price point — $39.99 at Golf Galaxy — being used by a top 100 ranked player in the world like Ben Griffin, and equipment junkies will be keenly watching his performance with the new ball.
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THONG
Mar 15, 2015 at 4:45 pm
They stopped making the claw grip. Best grip Ive ever used.
shane spray
Mar 13, 2015 at 4:29 am
I have the flatso grip on my scotty cameron select newport 2. I cant wait to get my claw grip on my clevland belly putter im getting cut down it comes in tommarow!!!!! 🙂
Mack N
Jan 29, 2013 at 12:58 pm
It seems to me that the statement on offset is backwards. The more offset should be for misses to the right.
Colorado Golf Discounts
Jan 29, 2013 at 10:20 am
The grip with 2 holes in it if very innovative, allowing adjustment of the offset angle of the putter. Golf club designers should take note. With adjustable drivers like Ping already out, can adjustable putters be far behind? Seems like a simple gear mechanism near the shaft/blade junction would easily accommodate a slight angle adjustment of the putter blade.
Troy Vayanos
Jan 18, 2013 at 11:42 pm
It’s good to see golfing manufacturers coming out with some new alternatives to help out golfers.
The new grip is an interesting one that hopefully offers a good substitute for the golfers who love the longer putter.
Being an Adam Scott fan I hope he finds a way to move back to the standard length putter and retain the same touch. His putting has always been his weak point so he needs it remaining strong.
Don
Jan 18, 2013 at 10:08 am
Superstroke hasn’t put these on their website yet. I Really want to see the specs of the Claw one.