2 interesting putters...

[bcstones]

Came across this in one of my putter bins (really need to do some cleaning out)....a ball putter & an adjustable putter:

 

 

There is a flat spot on the exact opposite. No band on shaft & generic grip. Tried to get a shot that would show both flats, but unsuccessful

 

 

AXALINE-77 adjustable sweet-spot. No idea of maker...no shaft band & generic grip

 

 

Here is the "adjuster"...tho, from what I saw on the net, it actually came w/2...tho I think that even w/1, it could be "adjusted"

Edited October 7, 2023 by bcstones

[Bigarch]

I think the ball is a training putter, right?  I remember Pelz had one similar that we used to mess around with about 40 years ago.  Great for teaching you to hit the sweet spot and get a consistent strike.  Hit it anywhere other than dead center and the ball goes squirreling offline.  I'm sure the flat spot on the opposite side was so that both lefties and righties could use it.

 

Which brings up another memory.  Remember when the first thing you did when you picked up a putter, was find the true sweet spot by holding the grip with a couple fingers and tapping the face with your index finger on your other hand?  You couldn't trust the alignment lines so that was always your first move.  I was in Dicks a couple months ago and picked up a putter and did that.  The salesperson in there looked at me like I had two heads or something.  🤣

[bcstones]

9 minutes ago, Bigarch said:

I think the ball is a training putter, right?  I remember Pelz had one similar that we used to mess around with about 40 years ago.  Great for teaching you to hit the sweet spot and get a consistent strike.  Hit it anywhere other than dead center and the ball goes squirreling offline.  I'm sure the flat spot on the opposite side was so that both lefties and righties could use it.

 

Which brings up another memory.  Remember when the first thing you did when you picked up a putter, was find the true sweet spot by holding the grip with a couple fingers and tapping the face with your index finger on your other hand?  You couldn't trust the alignment lines so that was always your first move.  I was in Dicks a couple months ago and picked up a putter and did that.  The salesperson in there looked at me like I had two heads or something.  🤣

Interesting...never thought of it as a training putter. I remember when I first saw it a decade plus ago, I thought it was a swing trainer....then I did putt w/it. That ball of bronze or brass has some heft to it, so you don't need a long swing to move the ball, an inch or two for a 3' putt was all that was needed. At that time, I put (pun not intended) in the weird catagory w/the Golfsmith 1K driver & those stand alone putters.

I'd never heard of that method to find the sweet spot until @Jiggered mentioned it in one of his videos & I asked him what he was talking about. I saw someone on YouTube yesterday using a tee, instead of his finger. Dick's has always impressed w/their lack of knowledge of anything vintage...

[@_the_crook]

4 hours ago, Bigarch said:

I think the ball is a training putter, right?  I remember Pelz had one similar that we used to mess around with about 40 years ago.  Great for teaching you to hit the sweet spot and get a consistent strike.  Hit it anywhere other than dead center and the ball goes squirreling offline.  I'm sure the flat spot on the opposite side was so that both lefties and righties could use it.

 

Which brings up another memory.  Remember when the first thing you did when you picked up a putter, was find the true sweet spot by holding the grip with a couple fingers and tapping the face with your index finger on your other hand?  You couldn't trust the alignment lines so that was always your first move.  I was in Dicks a couple months ago and picked up a putter and did that.  The salesperson in there looked at me like I had two heads or something.  🤣

+1,

I've seen similar training putters, though my noggin can't supply the maker.  think they made them in stainless, another may have been simply painted black.

 

as to the sweet spot, there were some putters that didn't do all that well from a center face strike.

we needed to hit a few balls ahead of and behind center to get the real feel.

one of my older Wilson blades need to be struck a shade closer to the heel.

 

[Shallowface]

On 10/7/2023 at 1:44 PM, bcstones said:

Came across this in one of my putter bins (really need to do some cleaning out)....a ball putter & an adjustable putter:

 

 

There is a flat spot on the exact opposite. No band on shaft & generic grip. Tried to get a shot that would show both flats, but unsuccessful

 

 

AXALINE-77 adjustable sweet-spot. No idea of maker...no shaft band & generic grip

 

 

Here is the "adjuster"...tho, from what I saw on the net, it actually came w/2...tho I think that even w/1, it could be "adjusted"

Axaline is the brand name, or "maker," of that putter.  They sold a number of models of store line putters in the 60s and 70s, although the one you have is pretty sophisticated for a store line putter.

One of the first putters I had as a kid was an Axaline Americana heel shafted flanged blade that looked very much like the one Nicklaus was using at the time.  It even had a fluted shaft.  The head however was made of zinc.  I used it to miss a nine footer for birdie that would have won us our league championship in high school.  

That was in 1976, but it still bothers me to this day.