Need some know-how to help my Voodoo!

[parkinni]

.....lag putts just keep coming up short

Moved from a couple of Pings (G2 B60 and Isopur2 VSL) 18 months ago to my current NC Voodoo Daddy CS mallet. I was having a little trouble pulling/pushing short ones and the CS Voodoo straightened everything out for me. However, I've always found it hard to gauge my longer length/lag putts with the Voodoo, with most of my attempts coming up well short of the hole. The end result is that I'm often left with a 4-6 footer for par, and that's when I start piling up the 3-putts.

I like the overall shape/look of the V-Daddy, but I'm left wondering if it's too light for me, or the face is too soft? On slower greens and uphill putts, I really feel like I have to whack the ball to get it to the hole. The problem is that this causes my stroke control to break down, and I either lose my line or hit it too far past the cup. Are there any other putters that you guys can recommend that might help me out with this problem?

So far, I've tried a few models out on the indoor store green:

1. SRT 3-Ball: Waaaay too big and kind of light feeling, but distance was surprisingly good. Didn't fill me with confidence, but seemed to get the ball close to the hole most of the time. Don't think I can put something this fugly in the bag though.
2. Heavy Putter: Different! Very easy to track. The weight kept the putter on line through the ball and I made almost every short putt I hit. Distance was OK, but the ball seemed to come off the face very soft.
3. GRife 2-Bar: Gauging the distance was fine. Ball came off the face of this thing the hottest of the three. Not sure what I think if this one.
   

Others that I haven't gotten to try yet, but appeal to my eye, include the Red X2 and Phantom Mallet 2. FWIW, the current Odyssey 2-balls don't do a thing for me. I could always take a putting lesson, but I'm thinking that there's more to be learned from experience than instruction in this matter!? Maybe I need to go back to a blade???

All help is warmly appreciated.

[nlacross]

Well it is a little hard to help with this because I don't know what you prefer as far as putter shape. Your talking about a Voodoo Daddy that can be compared to several other models. But if you talk about a blade those are only comparable to other blade models nothing like your Daddy. So I am going to assume that you want to stick with a bigger headed putter.

 

If you wanted to stick with a putter somewhat comparible to your Daddy try the Macgregor GT series putter or even something like a Ping Craze. But honestly if your only problem is leaving long lags short, that is something that you should be able to cure without having to switch putters, especially when you stated that the Daddy has fixed your problem with the shorters putts. If I had a flatstick that I was in love with with short putts, I would try real hard to make it work with long lags.

 

Why do you think your Daddy leaves the long lags short?? Is it the feel when you strike the ball a little harder, does the size of the head make you tentative, etc??? There is so many questions you could ask yourself but usually it has something to do with the user.

 

If you really want to keep the Daddy in the bag, maybe try to add a little weight evenly to the head and see if that cures your problem with distance control. But if your dead set on changing putters maybe look at those above models I gave. Another model I used a while back and sometimes still pull it out that I love with distance control is an Odyssey DFX 1100 model. It is a mallet and has great feel. You can pick one of those up on EBAY now for about $70.00 bucks brand new. It is about a four year old model.

 

Hope some of this helps!!

[parkinni]

Thanks nlacross. As far as form goes, I like the basic triangular shape for the larger mallets (like the Voodoo) and the smaller ones to be more of a semi-circle. The Voodoo is a nice blend of size and shape with a good square leading edge.

 

On longer putts, the ball seems to come off the face softer than I expect it to, and that leads to my efforts coming up short a lot of the time. It's not the head size or being tentative. If I had to mention something, it would be the fact that it doesn't seem to put as much of a free-flowing roll on the ball as some of the others that I've tried. It feels like I hit it and it skids, rather than rolling it.

 

I hadn't thought about increasing the head weight before, but I'll try adding some lead tape to the rear polished area of the putter. If I try to add it to the sides, I think that the adhesive from the tape will strip off the black paint upon removal. If I do this, will it effectively move the centre of gravity further away from the face and aid roll (topspin) on the ball?

 

I appreciate the input, and will see how I fare this weekend.

[nlacross]

Well I have never honestly put tape on a putter to vary my weights. I play with several guys at my club that have screwed around with different weight of their putters with tape. Anytime you place weight to the head of a putter your going to gain topsin of the ball. It is simple science, more weight the quicker the ball will shoot off of the face. I would think you will notice some difference with your lag putts. Just make sure that you place the tape directly in the middle of the putter for obvious reasons. GOOD LUCK!!!!

[snake pliskin]

I was having a similiar problem last year leaving basically all putts short but online,opened up my stance and for some reason it helped. I think what happened is I was not releasing the putter head and when I opened my stance it allowed me to release the head thru impact better.Hope this helps you.

[parkinni]

Played 36 holes today and started out with 15 grams of additional weight on the back of my Voodoo Daddy putter (3/8" wide x 2" long strips of lead tape stacked together and formed to fit the back weight, then stuck on there). I pulled the entire thing off after 3 holes, as the putter had an extremely 'dead' feeling as a result and I found it even harder to get the ball to the cup on any of the longer putts. The ball was coming off the face extremely softly.

 

I thought (like nlacross) that adding more mass to the rear of the putter would increase topspin on the ball. I think that all it did was move the centre of gravity of the putter even further back, and change the overall balance of the club.....and made it worse!

 

Interestingly, I did have an easier time putting today overall and my distance control was a little better than usual. During the second 18, one of my partners asked to try my putter after holing out and I got to use his 2-Ball White Hot CS for a bit of practice. First thing that I noticed was how much better of a roll the Odyssey put on the ball compared to mine. The ball just seems to want to turn over with this thing. Not crazy about the head shape and looks though.

 

I was in the pro shop afterwards, and picked up both the Ping Craz-E and Ug-LE for a quick knock around. I liked the feel of the new G5 insert - firmer than the Voodoo - and liked the feel of both of these clubs. Easy to keep the heads on line too, even though one was heel-shafted and the other centre. I might have to go back to the same course on April 5th., as they're having a Ping demo day then, and check them both out on the short grass.