Putter Shafts, Experimenting

[A.Princey]

I'm absolutely and completely a FEEL putter. As much as contact and ball type impact feel, everything leading up to my stroke affects me. Grip size, weighting, shaft type. What really got me thinking was my TeI3 putter, which has a repurposed shaft in it that is much softer than typical putter shafts. I cannot explain it but the small amount of flex this has added at takeaway and through the ball has improved my perceived feel so much. I will completely discount any "torque" and misalignment due to face twisting to have this feel/confidence in my stroke.

The other part of this is when I noticed a discernible change in feel between my identically spec'd Byrons. One has a stepped shaft and the other is stepless, the stepped one is softer. The softer one feels better and contact more consistent and effortless.

 

My plan is to take a 3i shaft and butt trim it to put into a putter and see if this feel gets better with the "softer" shaft. And before anyone states feel is nothing more than sound, I perceive this difference even on practice strokes, where contact is absent.

[bbarclay]

I'm absolutely and completely a FEEL putter. As much as contact and ball type impact feel, everything leading up to my stroke affects me. Grip size, weighting, shaft type. What really got me thinking was my TeI3 putter, which has a repurposed shaft in it that is much softer than typical putter shafts. I cannot explain it but the small amount of flex this has added at takeaway and through the ball has improved my perceived feel so much. I will completely discount any "torque" and misalignment due to face twisting to have this feel/confidence in my stroke.

The other part of this is when I noticed a discernible change in feel between my identically spec'd Byrons. One has a stepped shaft and the other is stepless, the stepped one is softer. The softer one feels better and contact more consistent and effortless.

 

My plan is to take a 3i shaft and butt trim it to put into a putter and see if this feel gets better with the "softer" shaft. And before anyone states feel is nothing more than sound, I perceive this difference even on practice strokes, where contact is absent.

 

Your appreciation of the difference in "feel" is real. The stepped and straight taper shafts do not have identical feels to them, although this isn't a deal breaker for many. I personally find the best feel with the .355 TT shaft that has 3-inch steps. This was a common Ping putter shaft a few years back, and both Byron and Cameron have also used it for their putter.

 

Good luck with the trials!

 

B

[A.Princey]

I've got a lot of putters and play around with them quite frequently. You begin to notice the differences after awhile, especially the ones that are supposed to be the "same" but surely feel different. Something about takeaway and transition feels harsh with the stiffer shafts, less flow and more choppy feeling if that makes sense.

[Z1ggy16]

Feel is definitely real and affects us all different. For me... I hate the feeling of mushy or soft feeling at and thru impact. I'd much rather have a steel pole than a noodle. I'm going to hopefully be testing out stability shaft in a few weeks. In the mean time, I may end up putting in a C Taper 130x shaft in one of my spare putters to see what that does for me. I think on 2 or 3 foot putts, the shaft is fairly meaningless, but I 100% feel the effects of strike, twisting of the club and a touch of flex on a 20ft+ stroke.

[A.Princey]

The T2C heavy putter shaft is a beast if you want a "telephone pole". It feels like hitting a rock at impact, I immediately removed it from a putter I bought. Another option might be taking a .370 parallel tip x-stiff iron shaft and tipping it the full amount so that only enough of the .370 is left to insert into the putter hosel. This would make it really stiff, and depending on the hosel diameter, may need to be ground down some for installation, or the putter reamed(not recommended).

[KRW59]

I use the C-Taper S 120 3 or 4 iron shafts in several of my putters.

Have to trim the taper off the end ( about 1" ) to get to .370" dia.

 

Feel good with milled face putters ..and look great with satin finished heads

 

 

[Howard_Jones]

I'm absolutely and completely a FEEL putter. As much as contact and ball type impact feel, everything leading up to my stroke affects me. Grip size, weighting, shaft type. What really got me thinking was my TeI3 putter, which has a repurposed shaft in it that is much softer than typical putter shafts. I cannot explain it but the small amount of flex this has added at takeaway and through the ball has improved my perceived feel so much. I will completely discount any "torque" and misalignment due to face twisting to have this feel/confidence in my stroke.

The other part of this is when I noticed a discernible change in feel between my identically spec'd Byrons. One has a stepped shaft and the other is stepless, the stepped one is softer. The softer one feels better and contact more consistent and effortless.

 

My plan is to take a 3i shaft and butt trim it to put into a putter and see if this feel gets better with the "softer" shaft. And before anyone states feel is nothing more than sound, I perceive this difference even on practice strokes, where contact is absent.

 

Its strictly personal what we prefer, so just go for it and try it off, i just wanted to suggest you add a DOWEL to the shaft tip, it did not think it would make much of a difference on a putter but i was surprised, so if feel is that important to you, try to add a dowel while your are add it.

 

My gamer is a Mitchell CNC art blade putter with UST frequency filtered shaft (steel carbonfiber combo), and the dowel took it up one level on feel, its almost like i can feel the dimples in the ball, so the feedback of feel it provides is very good.

[A.Princey]

Yeah, I've done the fluted oak dowel trick before too and can attest to it's merit as well. For some reason, I think I mentioned it in a thread you were active in and maybe planted the initial seed! Don't quote me on this, I could very well be sadly mistaken.

[KRW59]

I use the C-Taper S 120 3 or 4 iron shafts in several of my putters.

Have to trim the taper off the end ( about 1" ) to get to .370" dia.

 

Feel good with milled face putters ..and look great with satin finished heads

 

There is more to this story ,that makes a difference in the of C-Tapers...

 

I have added 30 to 40 grams of sugar into the 12 t0 14" of the butt end , and

sealed it in place with foam backing rod, It increases the putter static weight to 550 to 570 grams and allows me to use 55-60 gram standard size grips and will balance to a E-2 or E-3 SW.

 

Putter heads 350 , 358 , 365 grams . All at 34.5 to 34.75 playing length.

 

The sugar and foam inserts in the shafts are definatly softening the feel.

[A.Princey]

Hmmm, sugar??? Sand could have maybe been a better play but I respect the idea. Won't moisture in the shaft make that a gnarly situation in not too long a time?

[KRW59]

Hmmm, sugar??? Sand could have maybe been a better play but I respect the idea. Won't moisture in the shaft make that a gnarly situation in not too long a time?

 

Sand can have contaminants that could cause internal rusting in the shafts.

 

I have pulled the plugs and emptied the sugar from shafts, for adjustments, or

replacement , a few putters done 10 to 15 years ago.....

 

Sugar has poured right out , still in its granular state , every time.

[gunmetal]

I'm absolutely and completely a FEEL putter. As much as contact and ball type impact feel, everything leading up to my stroke affects me. Grip size, weighting, shaft type. What really got me thinking was my TeI3 putter, which has a repurposed shaft in it that is much softer than typical putter shafts. I cannot explain it but the small amount of flex this has added at takeaway and through the ball has improved my perceived feel so much. I will completely discount any "torque" and misalignment due to face twisting to have this feel/confidence in my stroke.

The other part of this is when I noticed a discernible change in feel between my identically spec'd Byrons. One has a stepped shaft and the other is stepless, the stepped one is softer. The softer one feels better and contact more consistent and effortless.

 

My plan is to take a 3i shaft and butt trim it to put into a putter and see if this feel gets better with the "softer" shaft. And before anyone states feel is nothing more than sound, I perceive this difference even on practice strokes, where contact is absent.

 

Its strictly personal what we prefer, so just go for it and try it off, i just wanted to suggest you add a DOWEL to the shaft tip, it did not think it would make much of a difference on a putter but i was surprised, so if feel is that important to you, try to add a dowel while your are add it.

 

My gamer is a Mitchell CNC art blade putter with UST frequency filtered shaft (steel carbonfiber combo), and the dowel took it up one level on feel, its almost like i can feel the dimples in the ball, so the feedback of feel it provides is very good.

 

What size dowel after you inserting? I presume you want a snug fit.

 

On a related note, nearly all of my best putting rounds included one head or another attached to a UST frequency filtered shaft. Love it.

[Howard_Jones]

I'm absolutely and completely a FEEL putter. As much as contact and ball type impact feel, everything leading up to my stroke affects me. Grip size, weighting, shaft type. What really got me thinking was my TeI3 putter, which has a repurposed shaft in it that is much softer than typical putter shafts. I cannot explain it but the small amount of flex this has added at takeaway and through the ball has improved my perceived feel so much. I will completely discount any "torque" and misalignment due to face twisting to have this feel/confidence in my stroke.

The other part of this is when I noticed a discernible change in feel between my identically spec'd Byrons. One has a stepped shaft and the other is stepless, the stepped one is softer. The softer one feels better and contact more consistent and effortless.

 

My plan is to take a 3i shaft and butt trim it to put into a putter and see if this feel gets better with the "softer" shaft. And before anyone states feel is nothing more than sound, I perceive this difference even on practice strokes, where contact is absent.

 

Its strictly personal what we prefer, so just go for it and try it off, i just wanted to suggest you add a DOWEL to the shaft tip, it did not think it would make much of a difference on a putter but i was surprised, so if feel is that important to you, try to add a dowel while your are add it.

 

My gamer is a Mitchell CNC art blade putter with UST frequency filtered shaft (steel carbonfiber combo), and the dowel took it up one level on feel, its almost like i can feel the dimples in the ball, so the feedback of feel it provides is very good.

 

What size dowel after you inserting? I presume you want a snug fit.

 

On a related note, nearly all of my best putting rounds included one head or another attached to a UST frequency filtered shaft. Love it.

 

im not able to recall that, but the UST shaft is a parallel tip with a OD of .370 but its ID...cant recall, i had a drawer with 2 sizes of Dowels but dont ask me what they was, i cant recall anything else than the brand, and thats was "Stanley" and they was made of oak (harder wood the better). Yes make the fit as tight as possible, so you need a hammer to get it in position.

 

To make air escape i prefer a strait cut on the side on full length of the dowel instead of drilling a hole in the center. i used my Mitchell shaft cutter to make that "air trail" but a strait chop saw can do it.