side saddle putters - what putter are you using?

[tm3]

3 hours ago, Haroputt said:

Just watched the L2 putter video by John Ambrose made 9 years ago 

I think this stroke would against the rules now because of how he anchors the left forearm across his chest. 
 

I think you are right.  But if he moved the forearm off the chest I would think he could use the same type of stroke and be legal.

[Haroputt]

5 hours ago, tm3 said:

I think you are right.  But if he moved the forearm off the chest I would think he could use the same type of stroke and be legal.

yes then it  I agree would be conforming stroke.

But then I think it would a bit more difficult to hold steady if not anchoring and create a steady  pendulum

[Haroputt]

Been using onset putter StX  for face on practice green and not grooving on the green as much as like.  One of the pros of face on is that I feel I can make a longer SBST path and SBST feels natural with face on 

With conventional side putting my feeling is SBST is only natural for me for 2 foot putts then for longer putts my putter path tends to arc 

[jgard320]

3 months into this and I'm still going strong. 3 putts are all but eliminated from my game and distance control is automatic. Anything 5 feet or shorter is a gimme and I'm finally confident that a hole isn't ruined if I don't stick my approach shot close to the pin. All in all, this move was the best thing I've done for my game. 

[BigEx44]

2 hours ago, jgard320 said:

3 months into this and I'm still going strong. 3 putts are all but eliminated from my game and distance control is automatic. Anything 5 feet or shorter is a gimme and I'm finally confident that a hole isn't ruined if I don't stick my approach shot close to the pin. All in all, this move was the best thing I've done for my game. 

 

Nice!  Welcome to the dark side.

[bluedot]

On 11/16/2021 at 3:34 PM, jgard320 said:

3 months into this and I'm still going strong. 3 putts are all but eliminated from my game and distance control is automatic. Anything 5 feet or shorter is a gimme and I'm finally confident that a hole isn't ruined if I don't stick my approach shot close to the pin. All in all, this move was the best thing I've done for my game. 

Excellent!

[jgard320]

My advice to anyone is to give it some time. My distance control was immediately better and, at first, I would occasionally bottom out behind the ball until I found a position and stance that worked for me. Once you get all the small pieces in order, this method truly starts to shine. 

[Meanbeav77]

On 11/18/2021 at 7:00 AM, jgard320 said:

My advice to anyone is to give it some time. My distance control was immediately better and, at first, I would occasionally bottom out behind the ball until I found a position and stance that worked for me. Once you get all the small pieces in order, this method truly starts to shine. 

I also found the method to work really well for me. However, I ran into two hurdles. 1) I find on long putts to have the opposite problem of you and I have a tendency of "topping" the ball. I tried many different ball positions/postures and still for the life of me I cannot put a big swing while side saddling which blows because its amazing short-medium range. 2) I thought I could get past it but people making side comments while I warm up and during the round gets to me mentally. So for the time being I went back to a traditional putter until I can get those problems fixed. I was using a Bomar Blaze but moved to the GP putter for the more upright lie angle and added some lead tape for weight. 

[bluedot]

8 hours ago, Meanbeav77 said:

I also found the method to work really well for me. However, I ran into two hurdles. 1) I find on long putts to have the opposite problem of you and I have a tendency of "topping" the ball. I tried many different ball positions/postures and still for the life of me I cannot put a big swing while side saddling which blows because its amazing short-medium range. 2) I thought I could get past it but people making side comments while I warm up and during the round gets to me mentally. So for the time being I went back to a traditional putter until I can get those problems fixed. I was using a Bomar Blaze but moved to the GP putter for the more upright lie angle and added some lead tape for weight. 

#1 is fixable, I promise. A feeling for accelerating thru the ball stops the issue of pulling up.  And remember that on putts of the length we’re talking about here, it is NOT a referendum on the method being used, whatever the method might be.

 

#2 is maybe a little bit trickier.  I’ve written this many, many times on this thread, but good players never say much, and when they do, it’s more likely that they’re interested than anything else.   Truly good players would do ANYTHING to get the ball in the hole; they’ll try anything, and they’re interested in everything; your new driver, the grips you’re using, your shoes, all of it, including your putter.

 

It’s the chops who sort of lose it; my theory is that it’s sort of threatening to them because if it works better than what they are doing (and it usually does!) it means they are “doing it wrong”.  And don’t discount the possibility that the reason it bothers you is because you aren’t 100% confident about it yet. But the bottom line is that they are posers and not to be taken seriously anyway.

 

As you play, keep a running count of the percentage of guys who do not putt from a conventional stance AND with a conventional grip. Anybody who is going left hand low, or the claw, or the saw, or armlock, or whatever, is trying to find some way to take one hand out of the stroke; it’s just damn hard to make two hands work together perfectly in something as precise as a putting stroke.  If you come to realize that you just are using a more “refined” of putting with one hand, plus using your eyes as efficiently as possible, some of the issues with what others are saying will go away.

 

But the real cure? Just putt better than they do; they’ll shut up.

[marmaduk]

On 11/19/2021 at 8:52 PM, Meanbeav77 said:

I also found the method to work really well for me. However, I ran into two hurdles. 1) I find on long putts to have the opposite problem of you and I have a tendency of "topping" the ball. I tried many different ball positions/postures and still for the life of me I cannot put a big swing while side saddling which blows because its amazing short-medium range. 2) I thought I could get past it but people making side comments while I warm up and during the round gets to me mentally. So for the time being I went back to a traditional putter until I can get those problems fixed. I was using a Bomar Blaze but moved to the GP putter for the more upright lie angle and added some lead tape for weight. 

My response to comments. 
 

“You must have been awfully popular in high school to think a complete stranger gives a s*** about your opinion” 

 

On the long ones my miss isn’t topping it but hitting it fat! lol how the hell do you hit a put fat?! Hahah 

Edited November 21, 2021 by marmaduk

[J_Tizzle]

On 11/21/2021 at 10:21 AM, marmaduk said:

My response to comments. 
 

“You must have been awfully popular in high school to think a complete stranger gives a s*** about your opinion” 

 

On the long ones my miss isn’t topping it but hitting it fat! lol how the hell do you hit a put fat?! Hahah 

 

 

I'll admit, on my much longer putts, I have much more of a "hit" than a "stroke" on them.  It is the one bugaboo on a side saddle is hitting a 50ft putt can be difficult, but I mean its difficult with a normal putter too, plus my chances of making the 2nd putt are MUCH higher with the side saddle.

 

And its funny, I never got negative comments about it, mostly people asking questions and wanting to try it.  But most of the golfers I play with are typically better than average (probably a 5handicap is the high, +3 is the low) so they all understand its all about putting it in the hole rather than how you do it.

[HoganHO]

After reading most of this thread, and after not seeing meaningful/lasting improvement in my putting, or confidence in putting over the past 35 years or so of playing golf, I've decided to give Side Saddle a go.

 

My 43" Bobby Grace F22 AK arrived yesterday and I had my first little practice session this morning. The feel is truly amazing--I'm using a Left Dash ProV1x and this feels perfectly soft, love it.

The roll is instant and incredible.

 

Right off the bat, I can say this method can potentially work for me. One of my major issues with conventional putting is getting my eyes in a reasonable position in relation to my intended path. I basically am ALWAYS tilted away from the line and I cannot comfortably set my eyes otherwise. The SS setup feels so comfortable in regard to my eyes.

 

I was trying to emulate the Randy Haag method, but I'm gonna have to play around some with my own technique and setup.

[BigEx44]

18 hours ago, HoganHO said:

After reading most of this thread, and after not seeing meaningful/lasting improvement in my putting, or confidence in putting over the past 35 years or so of playing golf, I've decided to give Side Saddle a go.

 

My 43" Bobby Grace F22 AK arrived yesterday and I had my first little practice session this morning. The feel is truly amazing--I'm using a Left Dash ProV1x and this feels perfectly soft, love it.

The roll is instant and incredible.

 

Right off the bat, I can say this method can potentially work for me. One of my major issues with conventional putting is getting my eyes in a reasonable position in relation to my intended path. I basically am ALWAYS tilted away from the line and I cannot comfortably set my eyes otherwise. The SS setup feels so comfortable in regard to my eyes.

 

I was trying to emulate the Randy Haag method, but I'm gonna have to play around some with my own technique and setup.

Yes, that’s where the experimentation comes in - in the setup.

How tall you want to stand (length of the putter), your grip, ball position, how vertical you want to hold the shaft, feet position.

But once you get that all ironed out - the beauty of this method is that you won’t have too worry too much anymore about the mechanics your stroke.

It’s all taken care of by the setup!

[HoganHO]

So, I bit the bullet and played my first round SS today. Overall I was pleased. Surprisingly, my lag putting/distance control was awesome. I missed some short ones, but I’m going to chalk that up to being a bit nervous/self-conscious about it—that shouldn’t be be as much of an issue going forward.

[HoganHO]

Tips for the short ones? Missing more than I’d like 

[BigEx44]

5 hours ago, HoganHO said:

Tips for the short ones? Missing more than I’d like 

 

It's a new style of putting for you.  

And you've mentioned you're still self-conscious about putting that way.

Which I'm willing to bet means - when you have one of those short putts that you think "everyone should make" - you put even MORE pressure on yourself and thus add a lot of tension to the stroke.

As Bluedot has often said, you unconsciously make those short putts a "referendum" on the SS method.

So.....

1) Give it time.

2) Relax

3) Don't worry about missing the short ones.  It's going to happen sometimes with ANY putting stroke.

4) Go practice 3 and 4 footers until the cows come home to build your confidence with those makeable short putts.

I've been SS putting for 8 years now - so I don't even think about what someone else may be thinking anymore.

But it took me a while to get to that mental state.

And now that I'm there, I could never go back to a traditional putting stroke.

[HoganHO]

That’s just what I needed to hear!

 

thanks 

[HoganHO]

Tinkered with setup a bit today. Finding that keeping the BG F-22 soled as opposed to vertical is helping on the short ones for me…

[Joe Duffer]

I'm curious... when you went vertical shaft, did you miss more putts left or right?

[HoganHO]

11 minutes ago, Joe Duffer said:

I'm curious... when you went vertical shaft, did you miss more putts left or right?

Right 

[Joe Duffer]

Just like when you're on a sidehill-downhill lie, the heel is elevated higher than the toe causing the clubface to now be slightly acclimated to the right. To eliminate this bias, I wonder if BG would/could mill the face on the proper plane for a player who preferred a vertically-hanging (90°) clubshaft? 

 

Does this make any sense... ??? 

 

 

[BigEx44]

6 hours ago, Joe Duffer said:

Just like when you're on a sidehill-downhill lie, the heel is elevated higher than the toe causing the clubface to now be slightly acclimated to the right. To eliminate this bias, I wonder if BG would/could mill the face on the proper plane for a player who preferred a vertically-hanging (90°) clubshaft? 

 

Does this make any sense... ??? 

 

 

 

My BG F-22 has 0 degrees of face loft.  And I make sure any SS putter i order has those specs.  Eliminates the problem you mentioned.

[Joe Duffer]

5 hours ago, BigEx44 said:

 

My BG F-22 has 0 degrees of face loft.  And I make sure any SS putter i order has those specs.  Eliminates the problem you mentioned.

Do you not need a certain amount of dynamic loft at impact? 

[BigEx44]

6 hours ago, Joe Duffer said:

Do you not need a certain amount of dynamic loft at impact? 

 

Since I have my ball a tiny bit forward in my stance - I have enough loft to get the ball rolling.

 

 

[HoganHO]

Anyone find it helps to get your eyes over the line as opposed to to the side? In other words try to get one or both eyes over the ball to your right (for a right-handed side-saddler)?

Seemed to help me in practice today.

[Joe Duffer]

4 hours ago, HoganHO said:

Anyone find it helps to get your eyes over the line as opposed to to the side? In other words try to get one or both eyes over the ball to your right (for a right-handed side-saddler)?

Seemed to help me in practice today.

Absolutely!

[BigEx44]

9 hours ago, HoganHO said:

Anyone find it helps to get your eyes over the line as opposed to to the side? In other words try to get one or both eyes over the ball to your right (for a right-handed side-saddler)?

Seemed to help me in practice today.

 

Absolutely.  I lean a bit right in my setup so that I feel my eyes are directly behind the ball.  I want to take full advantage of my binocular vision!

[HoganHO]

Hate  to give up on this so quickly, but mentally not ready for the change.

 

anyone interested in a BG F22 AK 43” PM me. 

Edited December 11, 2021 by HoganHO

[BigEx44]

On 12/10/2021 at 8:43 PM, HoganHO said:

Hate  to give up on this so quickly, but mentally not ready for the change.

 

anyone interested in a BG F22 AK 43” PM me. 

 

You might want to hang on to the putter for that day when you are mentally ready to change.

[HoganHO]

7 hours ago, BigEx44 said:

 

You might want to hang on to the putter for that day when you are mentally ready to change.

You're probably right!!!