Toe hang and rotation

[jomatty]

I’m curious what thought process you guys use when choosing a putter hosel/shaft combination.  I know the stock answer is to get a putter fitting and at some point I’m going to do so, but it is quite a drive and it is going to take a good while to get that done, and I’m curious about discussing it in the meantime.  Not sure if it would be better to post this in the academy section...

I definitely have a decent amount of face rotation in my stroke although I have taken a lot of it out, and seem to be more consistent with a little less.  Initially I was opening the club face close to 4 degrees and while I could usually square it to within 1 degree of square at impact I was not super consistent with it.  I’m currently using more of a SBST Approach (I realize of course that it does have some arc in it but the feel is very much SBST).  I’m now opening the face closer to 2 degrees in the backswing and much more consistently squaring the club face.  I always leave it slightly open at impact, aside from the occasional perfect face angle.  On a bad stroke I leave it way open and on the good ones it will be like .2 degree open or so, but I never close the face too much.
Im currently using a Toulon Las Vegas h7 (flow neck) and am having mixed results.  I’ve always liked flow necks but I’ve generally had more arc in my stroke.  Lately I’ve felt really comfortable with with my wife’s golo6 and I’m wondering if I should try a new putter with that style shaft...

So that is some overly verbose rambling that gets me to this question.

Do you prefer to go with a hosel/shaft combo that helps you close the club face or one that helps you to keep the club face more square during the backswing.  I’ve tested a fair amount but haven’t got conclusive results (perhaps that shows conclusively that I’m overthinking it and it doesn’t matter).
 I’m probably going to get a two ball ten and just don’t know if I want a slant neck or double bend...

thank you to anyone that read through this...

 

[cristphoto]

The basic logic is the more the toe hang the more your putting arc should be.  Reverse that and face balanced putters (or ones almost face balanced) work best for more straight back and through putting strokes.  All other putters and strokes fall in the middle somewhere.  

 

I found this out on my own and it was somewhat confirmed by going to the Cameron website.  I have two Scotty Cameron Newport putters - one with the "normal" neck and one with a very short neck where the shaft goes over the putter end. With my arc I seem to putt better with the normal neck as I have a slight arc and the putter matches it.  The normal neck has a bit less toe hang.  

[nosil]

Toe hang and rotation requirements are a tricky topic.    As part of your stroke a putter will arc and rotate;  those are influenced by how far you stand from the ball,  ball position, and the putter you are using.  Ideally you shouldn't try to have any particular stroke type and control the rotation.  The right miss could be caused by your intent of trying to be SBST and low rotation which results in holding off the rotation and a push right.    Putter design (weight, CoG, hosel position, offset, etc) influence how the putter moves through the stroke and ultimately create a toe hang.   You have to be careful when just looking at toe hang since a putter that has a 370 gr head and 1/4 toe hang will rotate at a different rate than a 340 gram putter with 1/4 toe hang.    

 

I like gate drills to help determine if I have the correct putter.  Are you able to consistently roll a narrow yardstick or through a gate width that has between .5 and 1 degree of error?   

[IPA4Me]

Go with what feels comfortable.  You can tell rolling a few putts whether performance matches up with the comfortable feel.  You've clearly learned over time what works best.  Trust your gut.

[shart6]

I use Scotty Cameron's 20 ft. test to begin. It is generally pretty obvious which type of putter styles work best. Next I find a sloped area on the a practice green and putt a couple hundred six to seven foot putts. this will narrow your selection further. Finally hit about fifty straight three footers talking with someone while you are putting. If it  works distracted on short puts you have found your style. 

[jls667]

If you have the time, watch some of TXG's videos on putter fitting. After watching their videos, especially the Q&A love fitting that's over an hour long, you'll learn more than working with most fitters, minus the hard data from SAM or quintic. 

[RobotDoctor]

I prefer a flow neck and a toe hang around 4:30-5:00.  I have come to this conclusion for me based on trial and error with putters when I'm putting my best.  The Ping Zing style has been what works best for me.  My current gamer is from Byron Morgan with his Epic Day model.  This has a full shaft offset with a long pipe flow neck and sits around 4:30 toe hang.  I have a moderate gate path (square to open to square to close) so this style of blade works great.  My putter has 3 degrees loft. I've never putted better or at least not since in was in college.  That was a long time ago.