Does MOI actually matter in putters?

Yellow Jacket · July 6, 2020

Whenever people talk about MOI in putters--feels more stable through impact, less twisting on off-center putts--all that happens after the ball has left the putter face. Does MOI actually help with mishits? I'm not so sure.

MattUtah · July 7, 2020

I usually try to give people the benefit of the doubt when they’re explaining a new position but he isn’t making any sense at all. He’s basically saying if torque exists then MOI doesn’t matter at all. EXCEPT, it takes very, very little hand pressure or torque to keep a face balanced putter square to the putting arc. Our hands aren’t like his metal swivel with zero tension.

I’d guess he’s trying to argue this because the Edel putters are really low MOI due to the toe up design... I think LAB and Axis1 (or even Odyssey Backstryke) do this idea better if you like the feel of no torque.

Z1ggy16 · July 7, 2020

Cure did a study on it. Granted, they would naturally need to be biased because it supports their company, I still thought the experiment made sense and they explained with good reasoning why their data supports high moi being better for most golfers.

If you do strike the middle very often though or are a very feel based player I think it can be a little bit of a down side. It masks feedback and most high moi putters are also mallets, which also changes the launch conditions and should be taken out account.

Oqvist · July 7, 2020

Depends so much on the grip. If you use oversized grip that you can hold really firm it shouldn´t matter much as if you do use a firm grip you can easilly resist any twisting motion. My old putter had a thin grip and there I could feel it twisting despite being a mallet design with some decent moi. My current I have such a great big oversize grip which is a big reason I bought it I don´t think I need it. The design don´t appear to have much perimeter weighting it has a weight straight back in the center instead to encourage a proper pendulum stroke and it seem to work well :)