00:03Hello 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
01:02with what the manufacturers are saying about what's on offer from their putter. If you can get it right
01:07then you should find a putter that you just click with that offers you that exact feel that you're
01:11looking for. Often in our equipment videos we talk about the importance of finding clubs that you
01:16really like the look of and I think nowhere in the bag is that more important than on the greens
01:21with
01:21your putter. Finding a putter that offers you as much confidence as possible is absolutely essential.
01:26Now the manufacturers understand that and that's why you've got a whole host of different shapes to
01:31choose from so narrowing down your search is absolutely essential. On the one end of the
01:36spectrum you'll have really large mallets with very very strong alignment aids for those players that do
01:40want some assistance at address and then at the other end of the spectrum you'll have those ultra slim
01:45line traditional 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
02:12really good
02:12idea about the spectrum of different models there are on the market and they range from £425 on the one
02:18hand
02:18through to £69 on the other so it tells you a bit about the disparity in terms of price there
02:23is out on there on the market.
02:25Now why is there a disparity? Well some of it will come down to technology. You might not think there's
02:29a huge amount of
02:30technology at work within putters but actually it is an area that the manufacturers have done a lot of research
02:35into and
02:36for a lot of the time the technology at work will help the ball get rolling quickly off the face
02:41to deliver that kind of really smooth
02:43roll on the greens the feel that you're looking for and the sort of stroke that you're after and then
02:49on
02:49the other hand part of the price is down to the craftsmanship so as you jump up
02:53through the price brackets you'll often find that the craftsmanship the general
02:56aesthetic just gets that little bit more refined. The good news is that there are
03:01plenty of different choices so no matter what your budget you should find
03:04something that really suits your game. The next question to ask yourself is how
03:08strong 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
03:17square to in and that would be a stronger arc so figuring out how strong the arc of
03:22your stroke is is really important because there will be a model out there
03:25that suits your stroke. Now let me explain how that works so in the putter that I
03:29have here is more of a what you describe as a face balanced putter so if I hold it
03:34like this you can see the face points pretty much straight up what right this is
03:37really more for those players who have more of a straight back and through
03:40stroke whereas this model here has more of a toe hang to it so again if I hold it
03:46like that you'll notice the toe hangs a little bit more down towards the
03:50ground and that's for those players with a stronger arc so again do a little bit
03:53of research find the putter that's designed to match your stroke and the
03:57arc of your stroke it could really help. Okay so the last factor to consider is
04:01the length of the putter and finding the right length of putter will help you set
04:06your posture over the ball correctly so that your eyes are nicely positioned
04:10over the ball at address it can make a big difference the way in which your
04:13stroke works but also the way in which you're able to pick the line as you stand
04:17over the ball at address and now obviously this is the sort of thing that a PGA
04:20Pro can really help you with if you go for a putter fitting but I appreciate not
04:23everybody's going to go through the process of getting a putter fitting so it
04:26might just be one of those things that you need to sort of figure out for
04:29yourself now the most common putter lengths are 35 inches which is this one
04:34here which is what I use 34 inches and down to 33 inches work out which you
04:39think might be right for you and then order the correct putter that you think
04:43might help you set your posture over the ball correctly at address. Okay so there
04:47you have it that's our look at how to find the right putter as I said right at
04:51the beginning of this video finding the right putter is so important if you can
04:55hole a few more putts then there's no two ways about it your handicap will move
04:59in the correct direction so if you are looking to invest before you do so have
05:03a think about some of those factors it could help you make a smarter choice
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