White Hot Insert? Yay or nay?

[VanTheMan0519]

I seem to have a love hate relationship with inserts. I’ve always gamed them for a bit and then resort back to a Scotty Cameron. Tend to like a firmer feel off the face as I tend to leave putts short. 
 

How would you describe the latest white hot insert on the firmness scale?

[Z1ggy16]

I have a tri hot 5k dw. I have had three latest Scotty plus I have a fully milled Carbon steel blade. 

 

To my ears and hands, it feels soft. Not as soft as the old Ping insert but definitely not a firm milled sound.

[MaineMariner]

To me, the White Hot insert is soft but very springy. So even though the feel/sound is on the soft side, particularly on shorter putts, it comes off the face with a nice bounciness. I judge distance with this face better than anything else I've played, which is why WH putters always end up back in the bag.

 

I'd contrast this with the Bettinardi FIT face that's on my 2017 Studio Stock. That face is soft and feels slow off the face, like I need to hammer the ball to get it to the hole.

[Big_BenB]

I'm a feel putter and I can never judge distance with inserts, I need the feedback from a solid face

[blarkin97]

Just tried out the new ping insert and it was pretty firm to me.  I believe it was on the new anser 2D.  I thought the White hot is surprisingly soft for all the tour guys who love it

[Gohigh]

For slower greens, I feel like insert putters perform better. With a firm stroke, the insert takes some harshness away. 

 

For faster greens (10+ on Stimp), I feel like the milled face putters perform better, as the feedback from even the softest of touches are pronounced and well communicated. 

 

YMMV.

[me05501]

I just got an Odyssey 11 Tour Lined slant neck with the WH insert. I am coming from a Cleveland Huntington Beach 11S which has a milled face. 

 

I really like the feel off the insert. I try to accelerate through every putt, even the short ones, and anything that feels too firm can be a bit scary. 

 

I haven't had any issues judging distances with the new putter. It seems like a good match for my innate distance judgment and control. 

[MCCA]

23 hours ago, Big_BenB said:

I'm a feel putter and I can never judge distance with inserts, I need the feedback from a solid face

I'm in the same boat, my distance control is horrible with inserts i keep trying but revert back to my Toulon Vegas. Sometimes i'm wonder if the ball i play Prov-1 X effects it?

[So_Cal]

I like it.  Also like original stronomic.  Don’t like microhinge

[RH82]

Favorite insert of all time. Been using it for years.

[scott406]

I have a hard time with the white Hot insert

I have no feel in it whatsoever

I have used the Taylormade inserts in a Tour Black Spider and a PING insert with good results.

Also had a PXG with a milled face that I really liked

It is just personal preference, I just cannot get the feel down with a White Hot insert

It's not you , it's me

 

 

 

 

[nosedive32]

Unless greens are particularly fast (which I don't play often) there is absolutely no way I could ever use a white hot insert. Every one I've ever tried from back in the day to present is just too dang soft.

 

I've also never got on with any of the ping inserts I've tried, or any of the taylormade inserts that weren't metal.

[mjo23]

On 1/29/2023 at 2:21 PM, VanTheMan0519 said:

I seem to have a love hate relationship with inserts. I’ve always gamed them for a bit and then resort back to a Scotty Cameron. Tend to like a firmer feel off the face as I tend to leave putts short. 
 

How would you describe the latest white hot insert on the firmness scale?

Same as any other white hot insert. Definitely feels soft, but it doesn’t come off the face slow by any means. I think much of the distance control issues that people may have cited with the White hot OG’s is related to the Stroke Lab and counterweight tech, not the insert. Stroke lab isn’t for everybody, you can order it with their steel shaft instead.

 

But one thing I’ve noticed with SL putters (since I play 33” length) is that increasing the head weight makes a big difference in terms of feel. If you’re playing a length <35” you should experiment with heavier weights (even if you play 35”, it’s still possible that you may prefer a heavier head). The 30gram counter plug in the top of the shaft can make the head, and overall swing weight, feel too light

[me05501]

On 1/30/2023 at 11:50 PM, So_Cal said:

I like it.  Also like original stronomic.  Don’t like microhinge

 

I loved those Stronomic inserts. Hard to believe they've never done a retro reissue with the different color inserts. 

[Boricua Golf]

I have a Scotty and a Toulon Chicago, almost same feel (Toulon feels softer), I also have an Odyssey White Hot Pro V-Line that I have played for over ten years, it is really good, softer that the milled?, of course, but not as soft as the more current versions, I do practice with it once in a while and put it in play, but my gamer is the Toulon...microhinge "meh" not bad by any means...putting is such a personal preference that it is hard to say one is better that the other, to each their own I guess, I prefer the milled feel.

[JohnBrew]

Nay. I had a Rossi mallet, like Jon Rahm uses, used it about six months and decided it was not for me so I traded for a TaylorMade Spider X Hydroblast, which has also gone to the putter graveyard.

I do like the old micro hinge insert. Acquired an old Stroke Lab Seven w/microhinge and it is one of the best putters I've ever used.

Edited February 2, 2023 by JohnBrew

[bogeyman71]

I've gotten use to the insert.  It seems that now I can't get away from it.

[Unteachable]

played white hot for many years, now i hate the feel.  Too soft for me though it does come off the face better than many inserts.

Taylormade feels firmer but very plastic.  Ping insert is way too soft for my liking (as is their deep milling on the PLD line)

The bettinardi Studio stock series are fully milled and feel worse to me though- face is like mush due the the way they mill it.

The scotty phantom 5 i play now has pretty shallow milling and feels good

i think im going with a solid face on my next putter

[MattM97]

For me nay, not an insert guy but having rolled some in store it's not awful feeling I think Odyssey have had much worse but like others would definitely need a lot of time to dial in the speed and feel. 

[mjo23]

40 minutes ago, Unteachable said:

played white hot for many years, now i hate the feel.  Too soft for me though it does come off the face better than many inserts.

Taylormade feels firmer but very plastic.  Ping insert is way too soft for my liking (as is their deep milling on the PLD line)

The bettinardi Studio stock series are fully milled and feel worse to me though- face is like mush due the the way they mill it.

The scotty phantom 5 i play now has pretty shallow milling and feels good

i think im going with a solid face on my next putter

The Studio Stock has the RCF (roll control face, which is similar to their FIT face) and it’s suppose to be very soft; it’s Betti’s milled alternative to an insert.

 

But the BBseries and Queen-b putters will be considerably firmer (queen b probably being the firmest of the two). The previous generation BBseries was Carbon steel with light milling, now it’s 303stainless steel with their ‘aggressive flymill’ (probably kinda similar to PLD’s but I don’t think the milling is quite as deep as the PLD’s)

Edited February 2, 2023 by mjo23

[gripandrip]

I have an old white hot tour rossie putter with this insert and it became my "hot" putter. It was in a back up travel bag, and made it to my main bag. I' trying to bring back my Khombi S into play because I like the alignment marks better, but it is a hard change back. I think the insert has a great feel, and have no issues with speed control.

[mjo23]

6 hours ago, Boricua Golf said:

I have a Scotty and a Toulon Chicago, almost same feel (Toulon feels softer), I also have an Odyssey White Hot Pro V-Line that I have played for over ten years, it is really good, softer that the milled?, of course, but not as soft as the more current versions, I do practice with it once in a while and put it in play, but my gamer is the Toulon...microhinge "meh" not bad by any means...putting is such a personal preference that it is hard to say one is better that the other, to each their own I guess, I prefer the milled feel.

The white hot pro v-line has been my gamer for over 10 years as well, and I recently got a Toulon Chicago too. Love both them. Hard to say which i prefer, which says a lot about how great those white hot pros were/are

[Unteachable]

33 minutes ago, mjo23 said:

The Studio Stock has the RCF (roll control face, which is similar to their FIT face) and it’s suppose to be very soft; it’s Betti’s milled alternative to an insert.

 

But the BBseries and Queen-b putters will be considerably firmer (queen b probably being the firmest of the two). The previous generation BBseries was Carbon steel with light milling, now it’s 303stainless steel with their ‘aggressive flymill’ (probably kinda similar to PLD’s but I don’t think the milling is quite as deep as the PLD’s)

I thought about trying the bb28 because i love that shape.  i wonder if they will mill a top line on it for you?

[95124hacker]

Is the WH Pro insert firmer?

[Puttersaurus Rex]

4 hours ago, 95124hacker said:

Is the WH Pro insert firmer?

Yes.

[Esox]

I don't like inserts. I'll take a forged and/or milled face every time. I'd even play an old school Ping cast bronze before an insert.

Edited February 5, 2023 by Esox

[RH82]

The fact that so many pros still use the WH insert to this day says a lot.