V fast greens: heavy/light putter head?

[jobin]

Got onto some greens today, baked hard and dry. Using my old heavy Zebra putter often put the ball way beyond the hole. 

So i got to wonder if on such greens i might be better off with a light weight putter head. 

Any opinion; or is experience the best teacher?

[davep043]

1 hour ago, jobin said:

Got onto some greens today, baked hard and dry. Using my old heavy Zebra putter often put the ball way beyond the hole. 

So i got to wonder if on such greens i might be better off with a light weight putter head. 

Any opinion; or is experience the best teacher?

When I get to faster greens, I usually try to take a slightly longer but slower-paced stroke to help distance control.  It seems to me that when it HAS to be swing slowly, it would be easier to maintain your alignment and direction with a heavier putter.  I have a feeling that this will be a personal choice, one size almost certainly does NOT fit all.

[juststeve]

I like a lite putter in general because it allows me to make a good positive stroke.  More so if the greens are really fast.

 

Steve

[scooterhd2]

conventional widsom is FAST greens HEAVY putter. slows down the stroke. but different folks...

[Krt22]

3 hours ago, scooterhd2 said:

conventional widsom is FAST greens HEAVY putter. slows down the stroke. but different folks...

Tell that to Tiger 

[kb7]

When greens get very fast I go lighter (330g vs 350g). 
 

it’s all preference

[davep043]

I know I said earlier that I believe a heavier putter will be easier to keep on line and keep the face orientation when moving at the slow speed required on fast greens.  But I don't change my putter.  To me its a whole lot easier to change one thing (putter speed at impact) than to change two things (putter speed, AND putter weight).  More than anything else, going to different green speeds requires the player to make enough practice strokes to understand how to get the speed right.  Five minutes on the practice green before the round won't do it for most.  

[golfsticks]

A vintage blade putter works well for me on either slick or sludge greens,  it's all touch anyway.   

[hybrid25]

Heavy putters are difficult to lag putt with. I prefer half mallet putters like TM Ardmore or Odyssey double wide styles. Mallets can also have some toe hang as well. 

[gators78]

On fast, sloped greens I just can't get any consistency with a heavy putter. The differences in 10 to 15 feet or 15 or 20 is almost negligible when there's a ton of mass behind the ball, throw in some slope or tiers, no chance for me. 

 

After a David Orr podcast I went the other direction and tried to recreate the original Ping/almost Tiger specs with the 310-320g head and PP58 grip, now there are very clear differences in a 10 to 15 to 20' putt, even on super fast greens. It's obviously feel based and different player by player, but the trend of the 370g+ heads start feeling like sledgehammers to a nail. 

[nitram]

2 hours ago, davep043 said:

I know I said earlier that I believe a heavier putter will be easier to keep on line and keep the face orientation when moving at the slow speed required on fast greens.  But I don't change my putter.  To me its a whole lot easier to change one thing (putter speed at impact) than to change two things (putter speed, AND putter weight).  More than anything else, going to different green speeds requires the player to make enough practice strokes to understand how to get the speed right.  Five minutes on the practice green before the round won't do it for most.  

Well said Dave. I don't change my putter either. It's been my experience over the decades that the speed of the practice green is rarely the same as what I encounter on the course the majority of the time.

[davep043]

1 minute ago, nitram said:

Well said Dave. I don't change my putter either. It's been my experience over the decades that the speed of the practice green is rarely the same as what I encounter on the course the majority of the time.

That may be true in some cases, but its all you have to work with before you play the round.  Its better to get consistently comfortable with that green's speed than to simply assume that its not representative.  I play a lot courses where the practice green is pretty representative.  Its been MY experience that a lot of players will blame their own distance woes on "variable green speeds" rather than actually spend the time to get their distance right on the practice green.

[nsxguy]

On 9/16/2020 at 10:04 AM, jobin said:

Got onto some greens today, baked hard and dry. Using my old heavy Zebra putter often put the ball way beyond the hole. 

So i got to wonder if on such greens i might be better off with a light weight putter head. 

Any opinion; or is experience the best teacher?

 

e=mv2

 

Seems to me that once one develops confidence and familiarity with a particular putter that it's probably better/simpler to only change 1 part of the formula (v2) than both.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[davep043]

1 minute ago, nsxguy said:

 

e=mv2

 

Seems to me that once one develops confidence and familiarity with a particular putter that it's probably better/simpler to only change 1 part of the formula (v2) than both.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Its the natural inclination of many people to prefer to buy something to solve an issue, rather than put in personal effort to do the same.

[nsxguy]

13 minutes ago, davep043 said:

Its the natural inclination of many people to prefer to buy something to solve an issue, rather than put in personal effort to do the same.

 

So you're suggesting I really don't need all 25 of my putters ?!?!?!

[davep043]

Just now, nsxguy said:

 

So you're suggesting I really don't need all 25 of my putters ?!?!?!

I guess it depends on whether you play greens of 25 different speeds.

[juststeve]

3 hours ago, davep043 said:

I know I said earlier that I believe a heavier putter will be easier to keep on line and keep the face orientation when moving at the slow speed required on fast greens.  But I don't change my putter.  To me its a whole lot easier to change one thing (putter speed at impact) than to change two things (putter speed, AND putter weight).  More than anything else, going to different green speeds requires the player to make enough practice strokes to understand how to get the speed right.  Five minutes on the practice green before the round won't do it for most.  

I don't change putters for fast greens.  I play the same putter, around 330 grams, whether the greens are fast or slow. 

 

Steve

[Moonlightgrm]

I did an Edel putter fitting in 2013. My home course has daily green speeds of 10.5 to 11.0 stimped and posted every day. My fitter recommended a 345 gram putter head due to our quicker than most, putting greens. Seven years later, I am still using that putter. In my case, a slightly heavier putter works for me on quicker greens. 

Edited September 17, 2020 by Moonlightgrm
Typo

[Hardshooter]

Hey

[Hardshooter]

I just played my course running super fast. 11-12s

faster ever seen them.

i play a scotty champions choice with 20s in them. Pretty heavy.. 4-7’ I’m money.

anytjing more I have zero distance control.

either scared to hit it and leave short, or when I will myself to get it to hole, blow it by.

So heavy for me on fast greens was no bueno.

gonna try my spider gt max tomorrow when I play again.

seems a lot lighter.

just bought it and haven’t used yet.

cheers