Counterbalanced my Putter!

[Bobcat43]

Worked my way out of the yipps!

I was struggling with my putting out of the gate this year. So I was looking for that magical solution. I heard about counterbalancing putters with $10 at you local hardware store. So what the hey...

I did this about a month ago and have waited until now to post. It has really smoothed out the stroke. I've got the old feel back. It took some time on the green to get completely used to it. But putts were falling almost right away. It worked for long and short putts. I did this to my brand new TM Imola 8 AGSI+.

It puts a lot of weight right under your hands. I kept adding and subtracting weight to find that perfect feel. The swing weight gets real light but the overall weight is much higher. Strange at first it didn't sound like it could work. But I recently saw all the threads on Padraig's new putter shaft. Possibly a similar concept?

All I did was buy a 4" screw (1/2" dia), a bunch of nuts, some rubber washers and a threaded (1/2") gromet? Drill a hole in your grip in line with shaft thread the screw through the gromet and start adding nuts and washers to you prefered weight. Tighten it down and your ready. Or you could buy the balanced certified version for big $$$.

All I can say is if you're struggling give it a try. Not too expensive and easily reversible. There maybe some other threads about this on here.

[boon44]

Glad to hear it did the trick for you. Did you weigh everything before you installed it? How many grams was it if you did....

 

The way you did it makes it easy to tweek the weight till you get it just the way you like it. You can add or subtract nuts,washers,etc, to get the desired weight that feels right.

 

Another way to do it is to buy a 1/2" diameter 3" long clevis pin at the local hardware store for less than $3.00 out the door. I bought the one that only has one hole at the end. Some have 3 or 4 holes for adjustability but those weight a little less (roughly 74g). My clevis pin with a wrap of tap weighed out at exactly 81g. I was going to put on a new GripMaster grip anyway, so I removed the old grip, wrapped the clevis pin with a little double sided tape and slid it in the shaft. The cap of the clevis pin tops off the shaft perfectly and there was no rattle whatsoever. Pop on the new grip and your good to go!

 

I turned my Dad onto the clevis pin trick and he did it just like mine in his 2-Ball putter and he absolutely loves it. Everyone in his "Thursday Old Goat's League" asked him why his putting improved so much and he smartly said "practice". Those guys are cutthroat when they're playing for a couple bucks a hole. LOL.

 

Backweighting putters is old school but it truly works. Nicklaus did a version of it in his irons as well back in the day.

 

Happy Putting!

[Bobcat43]

No I didn't weigh it exactly yet. It's working so well right now I don't want to even mess with it! at a certain level putting all confidence. whatever you can do to get some confidence...do it! Good Luck.

[krypto89]

i did it also with my cameron newport mil spec. now i can't putt without it installed. here is my estimated weight:

 

newport head = 340g

shaft = 130g

grip = 63g

BC weight = 90g

Total = 623g

[ick golfer]

can someone try to better explain the instaation process? i want to give this a try

[Seve424]

I put a 1/2 by 3 inch clevis pin in my Zing, it worked like a charm.

 

It gave it better feel.

 

To install you just take the grip off, put tape around the pin to keep it from bouncing around in the shaft, stick the pin in the end of the shaft and re-grip. The end of the clevis pin should be about the same diameter as the outside of the shaft.

 

You can get the pins at any hardware store, they're like $3 at Home Depot.

[slicer90]

what is a clevis pin?

[gentles]

Is this a similar effect to putting sand down a shaft? I am after a more quiet hands stroke, and am contemplating filling my shaft with sand, any ideas?

[rrd]

ive heard of people filling their putter shaft with sugar too

[Seve424]

This is what a clevis pin looks like. The 1/2" size fits almost perfectly in the end of a shaft.

 

It counterbalances the weight of the head for a different feel. Balance Certified and the Heavy Putter both use this concept.

 

It's a lot different feel than if you pour sand down the shaft.

[slicer90]

Can someone explain the advantages/diadvantages to counter balancing a putter. i am also looking for something to help my putting.

[boon44]

The advantage is that it puts some weight under your hands and that helps quiet your hands, quiet your stroke. If you want to do a little home test for some carpet putting, take a stack of 12 quarters and take some packing tape and tape the quarters together in a stack and then tape them to the top of the putter grip. This will give you an idea of how backweighting feels and how it helps. A quarter weighs about 6 grams so 12 of them would be about 72g. My clevis pin installed weighed 80g just to give you an idea. 70g is a good weight to start, but I have heard of guys going as heavy as 120g. It is really a personal choice as to what feels "right" for you. The quarter trick is not exactly how the real deal feels but it does give you a cheap non invasive idea as to how it feels/works.

 

Good Luck!

[mutley]

Bearing in mind that it's hard to go back once you've started down this road - any reduction in counter-weight feels too light - it may be worth trying the following before you fill you putter shaft with lead shot, Beavis pins, spent uranium etc etc.

 

Without removing the grip, put some lead tape around the top of the shaft. You can vary the amount and experiment. Once you find a feel that you like, remove the grip and add the preferred amount vertically down the back of the shaft.

 

You can't feel the tape under the thickest part of a putter grip and you'll be surprised the difference a small amount makes - 25 grams transformed my palsied stroke into a thing of great beauty.

:bad:

 

The best way I can describe the difference in feel is 'solid'. Other putters feel flimsy by comparison. Don't get too hung up on numbers - overall and swing-weights, it's about feel.

Enjoy!

[CWB]

[url="http://www.golfworks.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_TL0001"]TOUR LOCK PRO[/url]

[b][b]
[b]WILSON STAFF KIRK CURRIE II BALANCE FIT[/b]
has a weight kit on top and bottom. I've scavenged a few from Wilson Currie 1,2,3 models and
then used a AVS midsize grip.
[/b][/b]

[url="http://www.golfworks.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_GW0054"]RUBBER TUNGSTEN SWINGWEIGHT TAPE[/url] for toe.

[michaeli3i3]

I just did this with a clevis pin to My Seemore FGP. I also added a SuperStroke Grip. i cannot believe how well this works.

[Hansch99]

[quote name='Seve424' timestamp='1182540031' post='609641']
To install you just take the grip off, [b]put tape around the pin to keep it from bouncing around in the shaft[/b], stick the pin in the end of the shaft and re-grip. [/quote]

What kind of tape is used? Can anyone fill me in?

[GLF4EVR]

Another way of doing this. I live in the country so I have a fair amount of hardware in the shop. Use 1/4" carriage bolts. I have many different sizes. I have many of my clubs backweighted. The putter starts with a 4-6" lenght carriage bolt. Then start adding nuts to bolt for weight. I have a 6" filled with nuts that comes just short of 150 grams. Wrap masking tape around this. Use just enough masking tape to get the "weight" to fit snugly in the shaft. Then place the grip on.

Now the fun part is if you are not using air for the grip. Then you have to mess with grip tape. Back when I did my putter I was not using air on the grip. What I did was go to the putting green with the grip off. I hit a lot of putts while adding or subtracting nutts on a 6" bolt. All of this was to try the feel more than anything. I did notice that when I was in the higher weight realm I was not pulling or pushing the 4-6 foot range as much.

This took about an hour and 1/2 with many strange looks & know one asking what I was doing. Then went home & gripped it. I have regripped the putter twice since then, but the weight is still there.

[chnco]

Any pictures?

[golfnhack]

Save yourself a lot of trouble. Just get the tool and the 50g weight. $30 shipped to your local GolfSmith. Wait for a 25% coupon code (like I did) and get it for $24 shipped.

https://www.golfsmith.com/search?s=Tour+lock

[pgmsvm77]

Does anyone on this thread know what adding weights to the butt of the club did to the swing weight? Seems like it would be somewhere in the low C to high B range.

Just curious.

[mvhoffman]

I added a 20g plug from golfsmith to the end of my NC sub 30 and actually threw a belly putter grip winn TM version and wow. I have been back weighting, sorry....counterbalance, my stuff for a couple years now and it really does make a difference. If you think that your putter feels smooth then you should try your other clubs. It makes a huge difference.

[lionart]

Can anyone confirm if when you guys mentioned a 1/2 inch clevis pin if the 1/2 inch is the diameter of the pin that drops into the shaft or the head that sits above?

[lionart]

[color=#282828]Can anyone confirm if when you guys mentioned a 1/2 inch clevis pin if the 1/2 inch is the diameter of the pin that drops into the shaft or the head that sits above the shaft?[/color]

[johnnybogey]

[quote name='lionart' timestamp='1405599606' post='9719181']
[color=#282828]Can anyone confirm if when you guys mentioned a 1/2 inch clevis pin if the 1/2 inch is the diameter of the pin that drops into the shaft or the head that sits above the shaft?[/color]
[/quote]

I believe the 1/2 inch is in reference to the thread size. I went to home depot and bought a "1/2 inch" clevis pin and it fit perfectly. I.e. once installed, the top portion was flush with the shaft.

[Kev-Golfnut61]

[quote name='Bobcat43' timestamp='1181786827' post='597961']
I was struggling with my putting out of the gate this year. So I was looking for that magical solution. I heard about counterbalancing putters with $10 at you local hardware store. So what the hey...

I did this about a month ago and have waited until now to post. It has really smoothed out the stroke. I've got the old feel back. It took some time on the green to get completely used to it. But putts were falling almost right away. It worked for long and short putts. I did this to my brand new TM Imola 8 AGSI+.

It puts a lot of weight right under your hands. I kept adding and subtracting weight to find that perfect feel. The swing weight gets real light but the overall weight is much higher. Strange at first it didn't sound like it could work. But I recently saw all the threads on Padraig's new putter shaft. Possibly a similar concept?

All I did was buy a 4" screw (1/2" dia), a bunch of nuts, some rubber washers and a threaded (1/2") gromet? Drill a hole in your grip in line with shaft thread the screw through the gromet and start adding nuts and washers to you prefered weight. Tighten it down and your ready. Or you could buy the balanced certified version for big $$$.

All I can say is if you're struggling give it a try. Not too expensive and easily reversible. There maybe some other threads about this on here.
[/quote]

I know this is a really old post, but do you have pictures of this experiment?
Thanks,
Kevin

[colin_ba]

The tour lock website has a putter modification kit. Comes with 3 weights.
I put a SuperStroke grip on my scotty GoLo and found that the swing weight was a bit high for my liking. I have other head weights but they are all heavier, so I decided to buy one of these kits, slapped the middle weight in my putter and Wow! What a difference. Much better feel, more stable and smoothed my stoke out.
It could be all in my head but I think this is going to be a big help. It's a bit early to say for sure, but early signs are promising.

[Teeoffnow]

If you want to try counter balancing your putter without changing a thing internally then try cutting a slit in a heavy rubber door stopper. You can then can clip the stopper on the shaft of the putter just underneath the handle. You can vary the weight & they only cost a couple of dollars from the hardware.

Remember if ultimately you do decide to weight up your putter the weight needs to be 7 inches down the shaft to maximise the effect.

Our SAM putt lab tests on a range of players shows around 48% of our students putt better when the putter is weighted. Biomechanically it forces you to lift the putter with the bigger muscles in the forearm then the smaller muscles of the wrist.

Also note that counter balancing only works properly if you grip down the shaft. So if you are using a standard length putter you may want to grip 2-3 inches down the grip.

So in 48% of cases more weight helps according to SAM Putt Lab. This is an easy way to test to see if you are one of the 48% without destroying your putter.

I have an inset weight of 100 grams but 75 grams is more commonly used

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