00:00Hello everyone Neil Tappan here from Golf Monthly and welcome to the London Club and this video on
00:08how to find the right putter. Obviously it's a really important thing to get right if you can
00:12hold a few more putts your handicap is likely to come down so finding the right equipment is
00:17crucial and we're going to boil it down to five key areas things that you need to think about if
00:21you are on the hunt for a brand new putter. Right let's get started. Okay so the first thing to
00:27consider is the feel and this is really important because on the market right now you've got putters
00:31that offer a firm feel right through to the ones that offer an ultra soft feel so finding something
00:37on that spectrum that really fits the bill for you is really important. Now one thing to consider is
00:42the greens on the golf course that you play most regularly. Are they slower in which case you might
00:47want a firmer feel? Are they ultra fast in which case a soft feel might help you control your distance
00:52that little bit more? Now what I would do would be to do some research read the blurb about the
00:58different putters that you're interested in and try and marry up the sort of feel that you like with
01:03what the manufacturers are saying about what's on offer from their putter. If you can get it right then
01:07you should find a putter that you just click with that offers you that exact feel that you're looking
01:11for. Often in our equipment videos we talk about the importance of finding clubs that you really like
01:16the look of and I think nowhere in the bag is that more important than on the greens with your putter.
01:22Finding a putter that offers you as much confidence as possible is absolutely essential. Now the
01:27manufacturers understand that and that's why you've got a whole host of different shapes to choose from
01:32so narrowing down your search is absolutely essential. On the one end of the spectrum you'll
01:36have really large mallets with very very strong alignment aids for those players that do want some
01:41assistance at address and then at the other end of the spectrum you'll have those ultra slim line
01:46traditional models that are really designed for those players that like to control their putts
01:50through their feel of pace. Working out exactly where on that spectrum you sit where the preference
01:56is for your game is going to be a really important part of finding the right putter for your game.
02:01Okay so the next factor to consider is the price and your budget. Now on the golf monthly website we
02:07have a post a best putters post that I'll put a link into the url below that gives you a really good
02:12idea about the spectrum of different models there are on the market and they range from £425 on the
02:18one hand through to £69 on the other so it tells you a bit about the disparity in terms of price
02:23there is out on there on the market. Now why is there a disparity well some of it will come down
02:27to technology you might not think there's a huge amount of technology at work within putters but
02:32actually it is an area that the manufacturers have done a lot of research into and for a lot of the
02:37time the technology at work will help the ball get rolling quickly off the face to deliver that kind
02:43of really smooth roll on the greens the feel that you're looking for and the sort of stroke that
02:47you're after and then on the other hand part of the price is down to the craftsmanship so as you jump
02:53up through the price brackets you'll often find that the craftsmanship the general aesthetic just gets
02:57that little bit more refined the good news is that there are plenty of different choices so no matter
03:03what your budget you should find something that really suits your game the next question to ask
03:07yourself is how strong is the arc of your stroke for some players their stroke tends to be fairly
03:13straight back and through but for other players the stroke tends to go more in to square to in
03:18and that would be a stronger arc so figuring out how strong the arc of your stroke is is really
03:23important because there will be a model out there that suits your stroke now let me explain how that
03:28works so in the puzzle that i have here is more of a what you would describe as a face balanced putter
03:33so if i hold it like this you can see the face points pretty much straight up right this is really
03:38more for those players who have more of a straight back and through stroke whereas this model here
03:43has more of a toe hang to it so again if i hold it like that you'll notice the toe hangs a little bit
03:48more down towards the ground and that's for those players with a stronger arc so again do a little bit of
03:53research find the putter that's designed to match your stroke and the arc of your stroke it could
03:59really help okay so the last factor to consider is the length of the putter and finding the right
04:04length of putter will help you set your posture over the ball correctly so that your eyes are nicely
04:10positioned over the ball at address it can make a big difference the way in which your stroke works
04:14but also the way in which you're able to pick the line as you stand over the ball at address and now
04:19obviously this is the sort of thing that a pga pro can really help you with if you go for a putter
04:22fitting but i appreciate not everybody's going to go through the process of getting a putter fitting
04:26so it might just be one of those things that you need to sort of figure out for yourself now the
04:30most common putter lengths are 35 inches which is this one here which is what i use 34 inches and down
04:37to 33 inches work out which you think might be right for you and then order the correct putter
04:42that you think might help you set your posture over the ball correctly at address okay so there you
04:47have it that's our look at how to find the right putter as i said right at the beginning of this
04:52video finding the right putter is so important if you can hold a few more putts then there's no two
04:57ways about it your handicap will move in the correct direction so if you are looking to invest before
05:02you do so have a think about some of those factors it could help you make a smarter choice
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