Putter Fitting: Some thoughts and Interesting results.

greggj77 · October 30, 2023

Hello hope all is well fellow golfers.

I just had a putter fitting and found the results interesting. I Figured this may help some.

The Fitting was done on SAM lab https://www.scienceandmotion.com/puttlab/ device. A super cool device with awesome data.

For reference: I'm 5'10" righty and have always played a 34-35" putter, the first thing the fitter did was to have me roll a few, then he put a mirror board down and had me hang my arms in a putting stance with my eyes directly over the ball. He measured the distance to the floor, and we found 33.25" To be the correct length to have a natural stance, comfortable arm hang and my eyes over the ball. With a 35" putter my eyes were not even close. Also, during the fitting, the SAM equipment showed that I "arc" or hit up to get the ball rolling but, was, in truth hopping it and that I needed to stay down through impact vs hitting up at the ball. We also found that my misses were predominantly to the right and the Toe was also closed slightly.

I must admit the confidence that this gives me has been unbelievable I have dropped 2 strokes from my index a 5.4 to a 3.6. in six rounds. I have been fitted for driver and irons in the past but, IMHO the putter fitting has been the best and most impactful fitting to date.

Couple take ways:

-if on the fence, get fit for the putter it was 100% worth it for me

-As with driver shafts, Shorter may be better: Try shorter putters with the idea of a natural stance that has the eyes directly over the ball. Its amazing how many more putts you will hit.

Hope this helps some of you!

Anyone else have similar thoughts on putter fittings?

5hort5tuff · October 30, 2023

Great to hear. I 100% think e everyone should be fit for length and lie. Everyone should see what they aim best too...blade vs mallet, and what alignment works best.

What putter did you end up with?

jda · October 31, 2023

What made you go and do the fitting? Was something broken and you needed a fix?

I have never considered a putter fitting, but I can hit a putt where I aim it with good speed. I also know that I don't know what I don't know.

Would people who have no issues getting the ball where they want it benefit from this? Those who already think that they are good putters? I get confidence is good for everybody, but beyond that? Trying to learn... thanks.

dmecca2 · October 31, 2023

How much was the fitting and did you choose a putter based on the fitting?

How was your miss predominately right, but your toe was predominately closed? This is contradictory. Unless your face is closed relative to path? But you would need a pretty huge arc to miss right with a closed face relative to path.

tatertot · October 31, 2023

How did you lower your index 2 strokes jn 6 rounds?

5hort5tuff · October 31, 2023

5 hours ago, jda said:

What made you go and do the fitting? Was something broken and you needed a fix?

I have never considered a putter fitting, but I can hit a putt where I aim it with good speed. I also know that I don't know what I don't know.

Would people who have no issues getting the ball where they want it benefit from this? Those who already think that they are good putters? I get confidence is good for everybody, but beyond that? Trying to learn... thanks.

2 ways to look at this. 1) you are happy with your current putter and arent losing any strokes on the greens. No way you can get better. No need for fitting. 2) you are happy with your current putter and would like to see if there is anything you are missing/can learn about your putting.

Both are acceptable. A fitting isn't necessary for anyone but you never know until you get fit. Worst case you spend 100$ to confirm your putting is optimal.

jda · October 31, 2023

I am not a binary guy. The nuance and details matter too much to the intelligent and those good at their craft.

There is also risk to any endeavor to find out more - this goes beyond golf, of course. Fittings and more data can hurt things, cause indecision, etc. Ignorance can be bliss in some cases - the whole "don't meet your idols" type of deal. I don't know why people think that a fitting (or lessons) can only do good - this is not the case by a long shot.

If you have been fit, I would love to hear about some nuance and details that led to the experience, and during it. I get the high level, but the details are what matters...