00:00Right, we all know that putting is one of the most important parts of the game for your
00:03score, but I still see so many avoidable mistakes when people are buying new putters.
00:08For this video we've teamed up with Odyssey and they've provided us with some gorgeous
00:11models from their AI1 range, so let's take a look and see if we can help you make some
00:15better choices.
00:20First mistake I often see happens long before we even think about the putter we're going
00:25to use, it's to do with the golf ball.
00:27Take this for example, I found a beautiful model that I love the look of here, it's
00:31the AI1 No.7, sits great, feels great and I've been holding putts all over the place with
00:36it.
00:37But I've just noticed I've been using the Chrome Tour golf ball and my game would be the Chrome
00:41Tour X golf ball, so I've had all these great results and I'm going to order this putter,
00:46but when it arrives I might get a significantly different feel because those are two very different
00:51feeling golf balls.
00:53Different golf balls will come off the putter face at different speeds which can affect
00:56your distance control.
00:57So it's not just a feel thing, it can actually be a performance thing.
01:01So the remedy for this is make sure when you're trying a putter, either just knocking it around
01:05in the pro shop or even in a custom fitting, use your game of golf ball so you can marry
01:09up the feel and the distance control and you don't have to make an adjustment further down
01:13the line.
01:18One mistake I see a lot is people buying their putter purely on looks, not really understanding
01:23the functionality.
01:24For example, these two putters here at first glance look identical but they're actually
01:29designed for very different stroke types and I'll show you why.
01:33The putter I've got here is actually a face balance putter but what does that mean?
01:37Well, if I hold it unaided and I just hold it at its balance point there, you'll see how
01:40the putter face is pointing pretty much straight up at the sky.
01:46Now this face balance style of putter doesn't want to rotate too much during the stroke so
01:50it tends to suit people with a very square to square path who don't want to see too much
01:54opening and closing.
01:57However on the same head I've got a slightly different shorter slant neck here which gives
02:01us what is essentially a toe hang putter.
02:03So again, I'm holding it unaided there when I can find the balance point and the toe is pointing
02:09more down at the ground.
02:10Now putters can have different degrees of this toe hang and what that does is encourage
02:14a bit more face rotation through the stroke and that tends to suit people with a bit more
02:20of a pronounced arc.
02:21So it's really important you match that up with your stroke type but how do you find out
02:25what stroke type you've got?
02:28Now the smart and precise way of doing this is to head to your local PGA professional who
02:32will get you on some technology like Samputlab, Quintet Ball Roll, Capto, those types of things
02:37and give you an exact quantifiable number for your face rotation and your arc and they'll
02:41be able to make a really good recommendation of what style is going to work best for your
02:45stroke.
02:46But if for any reason that's out of your reach either financially or geographically there
02:49is another way you can begin to get a good starting point for what style of putter might
02:53work for you.
02:54Simply get a friend to video your stroke in slow motion from a vertical position.
02:59Ideally you'd put something like an alignment stick down here and just make a nice uninhibited
03:04stroke and you'll begin to see when you look at it back in slow motion how far your putter
03:10is coming away from that line and how much the face is rotating.
03:13Now it's not an exact science by any measure this but it might just give you a better idea
03:18of your stroke and where to begin your putter search.
03:24Another mistake that I see a lot of times is people not considering the grip that they've
03:28got on their putter.
03:29Now it's the only point of contact you've got with this putter so it's absolutely crucial to
03:34get right.
03:35Nowadays there's so many different shapes, textures and sizes of grip it can be very difficult
03:39to know where to start and it's not just feel that it affects it can actually influence
03:44performance.
03:45For example a lot of people using thicker grips have found that really useful to minimise
03:50the effect of the hands controlling the club face and particularly useful on those shorter
03:55putts.
03:56However some people also feel that the thicker grips can impede feel a little bit and lose
04:01a bit of distance control on those longer putts.
04:04So there can be a little bit of a trade off.
04:06Another thing that people don't think about is grip weight.
04:09There's such a variety.
04:10You can get grips from 50 grams to well over 100 grams and that can have a dramatic effect
04:15on the feel of the club through swing weight.
04:18Essentially if you put a lighter grip on the club the swing weight of the club will increase
04:22because the bulk of the mass is distributed down the head end then.
04:27Conversely if you get a very heavy grip you can start to lose the feel of the putter head
04:32because it feels lighter from a swing weight point of view because there's more mass at
04:36the butt end.
04:37It's really important you get this right for the feel that you want and again a good custom
04:41fitter will be able to guide you through that process.
04:44Before we get on to the next mistake if I can ask you if you're enjoying this video please
04:47hit the like button, subscribe to the channel so you can see all of the upcoming videos and comment
04:52down below if you ever made any big mistakes when buying a putter.
04:59One of the most under thought about areas of the putter is the shaft.
05:02We've all spent ages procrastinating over which style, flex, weight, bend point of driver shaft
05:08we need but I'd wager that many of you out there have never even considered the shaft in
05:12your putter.
05:13Well companies over the last few years have put a lot more research into this area particularly
05:18someone like Odyssey with their Stroke Lab 90 shaft.
05:21This is a very lightweight steel shaft that features 20 to 30 grams of counter weighting
05:26depending on what weight of head it's going into.
05:29There's graphite shafts available, there's different flexes and different profiles all
05:33the way through putting and as the vessel that carries the impact feel all the way up here
05:38to your hands it's one of the biggest influences on feel and it's a real opportunity to fine tune
05:44that so make sure you have a real think about what shaft is going to work best in the putter
05:48that you select.
05:53Another thing that people overlook when selecting a putter is the multitude of styles available
05:59now and I don't just mean the different types of heads I mean styles of putting.
06:03Switch on any PGA Tour golf and for everyone you see putting with a normal length putter right
06:08below left you'll see at least as many people using some more unconventional methods such
06:13as broom handle, arm lock or even this cruiser model here that I've got from Odyssey so this
06:18is the cruiser number seven and what's different about this well for starters it's longer so
06:24standard putters tend to come in around the 34 inch mark this is 38 inches and this introduces
06:29a bit of counterbalance.
06:31It's heavier than a standard putter in all places the grip's heavier the head's heavier and the
06:36shaft heavier here so most of the Odyssey range has the Stroke Lab 90 this has 140 gram version
06:42and the idea with this cruiser putter is the weight distribution where it's put around
06:47the putter it helps the putter swing really freely and uninhibited it's almost like it's
06:52swinging itself and it's done a really good job for the likes of Ricky Fowler and Wyndham
06:56Clark over the last couple of years and when I think of the effect the broom handle and things
07:01like that have had on the careers of people like Will Zalatoris and Lucas Glover I think if
07:05you're not considering one of these more unconventional styles you might be doing
07:09yourself a disservice and finally the biggest thing I see that people don't pay enough attention
07:16to is alignment you can have the most glorious putting stroke owned over hours of practice
07:22but if you can't point your putter at the intended target then you're not going to hold many putts
07:27and the important part about getting your putter aligned correctly is selecting the correct alignment
07:32cue and what do I mean by alignment cue or alignment aid well take this odyssey two ball for example
07:39this is one of the most blatantly clear alignment aids you can get in golf and it's really stood the
07:44test of times we've got these two balls here that you simply line the third ball up with to show you
07:50the intended start direction and get your face square on this model they've gone a step further and
07:55they put the tall line through as well for those you see a little bit more in straight lines
08:00now odyssey offer a multitude of alignment cues from small lines in the flange of a putter to
08:06lines on the leading edge and some models with no alignment aids whatsoever and it's important they
08:11do that because we all see square very differently what I can line up well you might really struggle
08:16with and vice versa but how do you figure out what alignment cue is going to work best for you
08:22well the most accurate way and this is the answer to a lot of the problems the most avoidable problems
08:27that we've mentioned in this video is to go for a putter fitting now a good fitter will try you out
08:32with a number of different models with all sorts of different alignment cues and use a laser to
08:37accurately figure out what you're aiming the best and what you're aiming most consistently but once
08:42again if that's out of your reach you can use your friends to help you with that simply just getting
08:46someone to crouch down behind you you're telling them where you think you're aiming the putter blade and
08:50they can give you the feedback as to where you actually are aiming it or if you don't trust them make sure they
08:55use a phone so you can prove it that's another really good way to make sure you've got an alignment aid
09:00that is accurately aiming that putter blade for you right I hope that's helped avoid those mistakes
09:06and go and hold some putts
Comments