Length of shaft in Putters

[Carlo]

is the lenght a real factor?

I have been reading about this a lot on Golfwrx and I would like to understand how to choose the lenght of the shaft between 35, 34, 33 and even 32... What is the main factor?
I am 6'1" tall and I felt no differences between 35 and 34 inches putters...
What does guide you in this particular choice?

[Gxgolfer]

For me, it was my height, 5'5", and the way I setup with my arms hanging down.

[Carlo]

Ok is actually what I was thinking about the height of a person... mostly! Thanks!

[Geo]

Ok is actually what I was thinking about the height of a person... mostly! Thanks!

Not really, mostly comes down to personal preference. One guy I know is 6'4" and has his putter cut down to 31". Granted he has fairly long arms, but I believe Phil Mickelson's putter is about 32" and while he's tall, his arms aren't freakishly long. FWIW, I'm 5'10" and my putters are mostly 33" long. Again, personal preference.

 

beruo

 

Quick aside, I once read that the 35" standard originated to keep putters accessible in the old school golf bags. 31-33" putters would be below the lip of the bag, making it difficult to pull out. Don't know how true that is, but it wasn't debunked by snopes.

[dfung]

I think putter length is a totally personal thing. so there's not really hard and fast rules. I'm 5'10" but I have very short legs (30" jeans inseam) and long money arms (35" sleeve on a dress shirt). I guess my lowland gorilla physique explains why my driver ball flight looks like a banana (rim shot, please!).

 

Anyway, I prefer a 33" putter, and the Ping fitting putter directs me to 32". I like grabbing the putter toward the bottom of the grip, but have one buddy that likes to have the heel of his left palm near the butt end of the grip so all these sorts of things (not to mention how much you bend over) affect your favored putter length.

 

There's also some swing weight affect depending on putter length which may or may not bug you. Since most putters in the stores seem to be 35", I often try them gripped down very low and it's definitely a different feel than the same putter in a short length even though there's obviously no change in the overall weight of the putter when you grab low.

[BeRight]

In watching TGC, it seems that most people use a putter that is to long for them. One putting theory is that your eyes should be over the ball. So depending on your height, arm length and of course stance, many people would improve their putting by being closer to the ball with eyes directly over the ball.