How oh how do you choose a putter? :(

[taf]

Trying to complete my bag..

I'm a new golfer of roughly 9 months now. But I'm addicted & heavily so. I've been taking lessons and coaching from the beginning and it's taken me a long time to slowly fill my bag with the clubs that I find best match me. I'm lucky because I've had good coaching from the beginning including with club selection. I'm very particular about things and have tried both on course and in the driving range different clubs before settling on the ultimate purchase.

My bag currently has the following:

x-20 Regular flex Steel Irons
r7 425 TP
CG 54 Degree SW

I've just finished 2 weeks at the canadian golf academy in PEI where I had all my irons extended by 3/4".

I'm happy, I'm striking the ball quite well except I have no putter.

The putter....
I'm stressed by this because I quite simply cannot find a putter I love. Well, that is until I saw a picture of a del mar 3.5 tour putter. I'd buy it instantly if it weren't for the investment sized price. Is it nuts to buy a putter without ever trying it? I can't find the platinum 3.5 locally to try out either although I have tried the Red X which I quite like. I'd have bought it already except here they only sell the demos... i.e. others have hit the club & I want it brand new. Has technology changed a lot since the del mar was produced? Am i better going with a new technology putter or something more classic?

I was thinking to purchase a 3.5 platinum now to give it a try for a while and see how I like it. If it's good then move onto the tour edition.

Can anyone share some insight please?

[johnj]

Your putter stroke has alot to say about what type of putter you should choose such as do you favor or try to emulate a pendulum stroke, straight back and straight forward or do you favor a more natural stroke with some arc? Having said that, we all seem to choose putters with some bias towards aesthics more so than the rest of our clubs. If you let form follow function and choose a putter type that works best for your putting style first then let personal taste decide which brand/model I think you would be well served. Enjoy your next round...J

[taf]

Your putter stroke has alot to say about what type of putter you should choose

Cool! This isn't something i've heard before. Do you have a reference to an article that could explain putter selection based upon swing style? I am working towards a pendulum swing, perhaps this is why I don't like the light putters.

[johnj]

All the short game gurus have weighed in on this, from Pelz to Cameron, et al. If you google this topic or one of them you will get a ton of information to include what type of putter fits your stroke or if you should adapt your stroke to specific type of putter. Pelz believes in what he calls the Pure Pendulum Stroke (PPS), see link below:

 

http://www.internetgolfreview.com/linknet-...-art-golf.shtml

 

Cameron believes in what he calls "toe-flow" and designs his putters accordingly as he believes in a natural arc putting stroke, see link below:

 

http://thesandtrap.com/equipment/clubs/sco..._putters_review

 

I hope that this helps...J

[taf]

Thanks J,

 

It was very helpful, thanks After reading I went back and again tried out a variety of clubs locally. I was surprised to find that the 34" red X gave me the most comfortable feel despite needing to bend over quite a bit more. (Normally I stand quite upright w/ a 35" fitting me).

 

This all said, I still am not 100% satisfied with the red X because I don't like the 3 lines instead of 1.

 

Looking again at the Del Mar line, does this club favor a pendulum stroke? Looks wise, I think it's great but I can't try it locally. Also I'm committed towards pendulum style.

 

Cheers,

Taf