Which putter? Distance Control.

[MarcA]

Hi all,

 

My putting has been suffering for months now so I'm going to change putters to hopefully help my confidence and give me a fresh start. Practice seems to help until I get on the course!

 

I'm currently using a Taylormade Spider X which is great from inside 6 foot. My problem is the longer putts (30 foot plus). I have zero distance control with the majority of putts being left 5 foot short.

 

I quite fancy a blade but want a bit of forgiveness. Putters that have caught my eye include:

 - Evnroll ER2 MidBlade

 - odyssey tri-hot 5k triple wide

 

Trying them indoors doesn't help as it's the real world when I struggle. Has anyone used either putter who struggles with distance control? Or are there any other suggestions?

 

Thanks

[MattM97]

Do you practice speed at all? If no you'll probably end up in the same boat as you are now. 

[MarcA]

Yes. Unfortunately, I've always struggled with distance. 

[MattM97]

5 minutes ago, MarcA said:

Yes. Unfortunately, I've always struggled with distance. 

 

I'd maybe opt for a blade without an insert or deep milling. The soft feel might be throwing you off. 

 

My personal experience is a firmer feel leads to better feedback on speed. 

[MarcA]

16 minutes ago, MattM97 said:

 

I'd maybe opt for a blade without an insert or deep milling. The soft feel might be throwing you off. 

 

My personal experience is a firmer feel leads to better feedback on speed. 

Thanks - I'll look into this as you could be right. Do you have any recommendations?

[MattM97]

16 minutes ago, MarcA said:

Thanks - I'll look into this as you could be right. Do you have any recommendations?

 

If you want a wider blade a Bettinardi BB8W or BB1W. Can also look at a Scotty Squareback or one of the new Plus models. There is the Ping PLD Milled Anser and Anser D but their milling can feel soft to some. 

 

One from left field a Burke AI+77 cause they have a 90 Guarantee on their putters. 

 

There are others but the Bettinardi, Scotty and Ping are super easy to find in store and try. 

[MarcA]

3 minutes ago, MattM97 said:

 

If you want a wider blade a Bettinardi BB8W or BB1W. Can also look at a Scotty Squareback or one of the new Plus models. There is the Ping PLD Milled Anser and Anser D but their milling can feel soft to some. 

 

One from left field a Burke AI+77 cause they have a 90 Guarantee on their putters. 

 

There are others but the Bettinardi, Scotty and Ping are super easy to find in store and try. 

 

Thanks - I'll have to pop out and try some. Funnily enough, the BB8W was on my initial list but I changed my mind whilst posting on here.

[LukeDonaldsTiger]

I had an OG Spider and the Odyssey Exo 7. Same issue, great on short putts, tough to judge lag putts.

Very happy now with the 2-Ball OG. The insert feels perfect. I tested it in a store without intentions to buy and knew right there. Really a great design. 

[MarcA]

9 minutes ago, LukeDonaldsTiger said:

I had an OG Spider and the Odyssey Exo 7. Same issue, great on short putts, tough to judge lag putts.

Very happy now with the 2-Ball OG. The insert feels perfect. I tested it in a store without intentions to buy and knew right there. Really a great design. 

 

I'm pleased it isn't just me...

[rollen]

Have you tried distance practicing while looking at the hole?  Hit the 1st putt while looking at the hole.   My distance control is much better while looking at the hole.  I’ll then hit the next putt conventional (looking at the ball) trying to replicate the feel.  On the course, take practice strokes while looking at the hole and then attempt to replicate the feel on the actual putt.  I also found that a routine that involves counting helps.  Something on the line of 1 - look at hole, 2- look at ball, 3- look at hole, 4 - look at ball, 5 pause while looking at the ball, 6- backstroke, 7 - impact.  

[MarcA]

24 minutes ago, rollen said:

Have you tried distance practicing while looking at the hole?  Hit the 1st putt while looking at the hole.   My distance control is much better while looking at the hole.  I’ll then hit the next putt conventional (looking at the ball) trying to replicate the feel.  On the course, take practice strokes while looking at the hole and then attempt to replicate the feel on the actual putt.  I also found that a routine that involves counting helps.  Something on the line of 1 - look at hole, 2- look at ball, 3- look at hole, 4 - look at ball, 5 pause while looking at the ball, 6- backstroke, 7 - impact.  

 

I have not tried this so will give it a go, thanks. I do like having a simple and quick routine for shots so this suggestion is something which could help. Thank you.

[Titan60]

If you will commit to regular practice of the ladder drill on the green you will improve your distance control regardless of the putter.  Start at 8 feet and drop a ball about every 3 feet further from there out to 30 feet.  Do this drill 4 times every practice session and your distance control will improve. Place a tee 2 feet behind the hole.  Work to have the ball stop between the hole and the tee.  To make it challenging start over at 8 feet if you end up short of the hole or long of the tee.  Best of luck to you!

[rooski]

I'm testing out the L.A.B DF3 and I've found it likely the best putter I've used as far as speed control. I often have had a tendency to hammer them by the hole but the L.A.B has been really good for me specifically in this regard.

 

YMMV

[Phabs]

Something with one of those worthless tech putter shafts.  

[hammergolf]

4 hours ago, MarcA said:

Hi all,

 

My putting has been suffering for months now so I'm going to change putters to hopefully help my confidence and give me a fresh start. Practice seems to help until I get on the course!

 

I'm currently using a Taylormade Spider X which is great from inside 6 foot. My problem is the longer putts (30 foot plus). I have zero distance control with the majority of putts being left 5 foot short.

 

I quite fancy a blade but want a bit of forgiveness. Putters that have caught my eye include:

 - Evnroll ER2 MidBlade

 - odyssey tri-hot 5k triple wide

 

Trying them indoors doesn't help as it's the real world when I struggle. Has anyone used either putter who struggles with distance control? Or are there any other suggestions?

 

Thanks

There isn’t a putter in the market that can compete with the distance consistency of Evnroll. They have made several videos with a robot showing center, toe, and heel hits going the same distance. I’ve used one since they were released in 2016.

 

 

Edited March 24 by hammergolf

[Urb]

Edel has a very interesting system for distance control, all centered around weighting.

 

If you're leaving putts short, go lighter in head and add weight up by your hands.  Allows you to accelerate and hit putts harder.  I'm over simplifying, so look em up on YouTube for all the details.

 

[Zach.buckler23]

Need to do speed drills first in my opinion! Then it’s time to get a new putter 

[tatertot]

6 hours ago, MattM97 said:

 

I'd maybe opt for a blade without an insert or deep milling. The soft feel might be throwing you off. 

 

My personal experience is a firmer feel leads to better feedback on speed. 

Good advice ... Also think about head weight. Lighter putters (330g range) can help some people's "feel".

[tatertot]

1 hour ago, Urb said:

Edel has a very interesting system for distance control, all centered around weighting.

 

If you're leaving putts short, go lighter in head and add weight up by your hands.  Allows you to accelerate and hit putts harder.  I'm over simplifying, so look em up on YouTube for all the details.

 

Also good advice ... I went to a SuperStroke with the screw-in weight, and it's helped.

[MarcA]

Thanks all, some very helpful posts. I'll try to reply to them all here.

 

I do practice my putting however struggle when playing for real. I'm fairly consistent from inside 20 foot but it's the longer distances that cause me the most pain, not helped by the fact we have large greens of varying pace and breaks. I'm always frightened of charging putts past so regularly leave myself short. In fact, the more greens I hit in regulation...the worse my score! And I find my bad putting ruining the rest of my game.

 

I had been looking at the L.A.B DF3 and sent a video off for a remote fitting. Unfortunately, I would require a custom fit which is out of my budget.

 

When I was looking at Evnroll, I was looking at getting the 90g grip. My thinking here was that although the putter would be on the softer side, it would be more consistent than what I'm getting now from my Spider. This consistency of strikes therefore helping me to judge putts from distance.

 

Lighter head and heavy grip is an interesting angle and kind of linked to my Evnroll thinking. Although I'm googled and struggle to see any new putters which are light these days. Even the blades seem heavy! Any suggestions of lighter putters such as Eden would be much appreciated.

 

I do feel like it's a bit of a minefield. I can try as many out as I like in a shop and they all feel the same. I won't know until I get on the course with one. I find buying a putter such a challenge and far more difficult than any other club.

 

How does the Odyssey Ai stack up? That seems to also be an interesting option from watching a couple of YouTube videos.

 

But yes, I agree. I will be working on my distance control.

[SwingMan]

So many opinions ... I'd like a video. But I know the following:

 

Deep milling gives a very soft feel - I had a Bett that I could. not use b/c of this feature. Very annoying

 

No milling gives a firm feel

 

Some shallow milling gives you a direct feel but softens it slightly

 

Light head with counterbalancing makes the light head feel even lighter - may cause your hands and wrists to move too much. It's not a bad thing to have some meat behind the ball to get it going.

 

I'd check your stroke because it may be technique which could eventually play mind games. On speed, I take a longer stroke going back but don't rush it going forward. Relax. Use your big muscles, the shoulders, not your hands and wrists. On uphill putts, look beyond the hill as your target line. On downhill, look at a shorter target line.

Edited March 25 by SwingMan

[MattM97]

2 hours ago, MarcA said:

Thanks all, some very helpful posts. I'll try to reply to them all here.

 

I do practice my putting however struggle when playing for real. I'm fairly consistent from inside 20 foot but it's the longer distances that cause me the most pain, not helped by the fact we have large greens of varying pace and breaks. I'm always frightened of charging putts past so regularly leave myself short. In fact, the more greens I hit in regulation...the worse my score! And I find my bad putting ruining the rest of my game.

 

I had been looking at the L.A.B DF3 and sent a video off for a remote fitting. Unfortunately, I would require a custom fit which is out of my budget.

 

When I was looking at Evnroll, I was looking at getting the 90g grip. My thinking here was that although the putter would be on the softer side, it would be more consistent than what I'm getting now from my Spider. This consistency of strikes therefore helping me to judge putts from distance.

 

Lighter head and heavy grip is an interesting angle and kind of linked to my Evnroll thinking. Although I'm googled and struggle to see any new putters which are light these days. Even the blades seem heavy! Any suggestions of lighter putters such as Eden would be much appreciated.

 

I do feel like it's a bit of a minefield. I can try as many out as I like in a shop and they all feel the same. I won't know until I get on the course with one. I find buying a putter such a challenge and far more difficult than any other club.

 

How does the Odyssey Ai stack up? That seems to also be an interesting option from watching a couple of YouTube videos.

 

But yes, I agree. I will be working on my distance control.

 

I'd definitely look at the AI One putters, they are insert but they are firm since they are aluminum backed but also have the Milled ones as well. Here's a video showing some results from Cool Clubs: 

 

 

[nosil]

3 hours ago, MarcA said:

 

I do practice my putting however struggle when playing for real. I'm fairly consistent from inside 20 foot but it's the longer distances that cause me the most pain, not helped by the fact we have large greens of varying pace and breaks. I'm always frightened of charging putts past so regularly leave myself short.

  Your fear of charging putts past the hole s the problem; it isn’t the putter.  If you practice putts longer than 20 feet and you can control the distance on those, you should be able to do the same during the round.  

[Chrischo555]

not sure if someone said this or not, but if your miss is short, the evnroll will probably hurt you. They mute the sweet spot and keep the heel and toe of the face standard so that mishits technically go the same distance as center strikes. It's not awful, but it's definitely not ideal if your miss is short.

[SwingMan]

2 hours ago, Chrischo555 said:

not sure if someone said this or not, but if your miss is short, the evnroll will probably hurt you. They mute the sweet spot and keep the heel and toe of the face standard so that mishits technically go the same distance as center strikes. It's not awful, but it's definitely not ideal if your miss is short.

 

True

 

Owned an Evenroll for over a year. Did not make the cut. Not because I did not hit the sweetspot consistently. But it did feel really bad when hit outside the "spot." Sometimes, one purposely wants a downhill putt to stop and you hit it off the toe or feel. And the Evenroll It was too heavy for what I needed. And I can say the same for several other putters over 350g in a 35 in. length.

Edited March 25 by SwingMan

[MarcA]

Ongoing thanks for everyone's input. Very helpful.

 

I took an early finish from work today and popped to a local golf retailer to try a few putters out. After much research, I needed to get my hands on the real thing!

 

I've settled on an Odyssey Ai-One Putter (Double Wide DB) as I really liked the way the ball came off the face. It definitely feels like a putter I can work with and won't be too costly by the time I sell my current putter.

 

I just need to focus on practicing and hopefully a fresh start will help!

[StoutKing]

I can only speak of what has worked best for me.  For distance control a traditional 340g blade with a steel shaft.  A 2009 NP2 was best for me.  That being said I'm using a plumber's neck mallet right now.

[dmeeksDC]

It is all about getting the weighting correct. If you go for an Edel putter fitting, you do not have to buy an Edel putter. But you will go home knowing which type of hosel and alignment aids help you aim accurately and also what weighting gives you optimum speed control. The “speed fitting” part of their process is eye opening and leaves no doubt. Best comprehensive putter fitting in the market IMO. 

[MarcA]

2 hours ago, dmeeksDC said:

It is all about getting the weighting correct. If you go for an Edel putter fitting, you do not have to buy an Edel putter. But you will go home knowing which type of hosel and alignment aids help you aim accurately and also what weighting gives you optimum speed control. The “speed fitting” part of their process is eye opening and leaves no doubt. Best comprehensive putter fitting in the market IMO. 

 

I really like the look of these but sadly out of my price range and no fitters nearby when I checked their site (UK based).

[unclefreizo]

On 3/24/2024 at 12:22 PM, rollen said:

Have you tried distance practicing while looking at the hole?  Hit the 1st putt while looking at the hole.   My distance control is much better while looking at the hole.  I’ll then hit the next putt conventional (looking at the ball) trying to replicate the feel.  On the course, take practice strokes while looking at the hole and then attempt to replicate the feel on the actual putt.  I also found that a routine that involves counting helps.  Something on the line of 1 - look at hole, 2- look at ball, 3- look at hole, 4 - look at ball, 5 pause while looking at the ball, 6- backstroke, 7 - impact.  

I vouch for this method. Train the intuition.