LAB Link Sweet Spot

sadclevelandsports · April 23

I just received this putter yesterday, and noticed I get a thinner feeling where the alignment line is, but it feels much nicer heel side closer to where the shaft is screwed in. Has anyone noticed that the sweet spot is more heel side than the alignment line indicates? Please feel free to let me know that I'm crazy and that it's all in my head.

jls667 · April 24

Someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong but I've heard the sweet spot/cog on most putters is actually slightly heel side but the alignment lines are placed in a spot that will make the top line look evenly split. Similar to most actual clubs where the sweet spot is usually towards the heel not dead center, hence why so many irons now have tungsten weights in the toe. It pulls the sweet spot away a bit from the heel towards the center by a couple millimeters.

That said I'm not surprised with the Link since the shaft meets intersects with the putter head on the heel side of the alignment line. Probably pulling to the cog that way.

wings02 · April 24

Although I do not have a Link1 anymore, when I was playing one, I experienced the same thing. Playing the ball slightly on the heel side gave me a more solid feel at ball strike. What you have consider is the fact that even though your starting ball placement on the putter is slightly inside, your actual ball strike could be in the middle at the alignment line. This could be because the mechanics of your putting stroke, in my case, the take a way, causes you to make contact with the ball slightly outside of your starting point. If that stroke is repeatable, I guess it doesn't matter.

sadclevelandsports · April 24

7 hours ago, wings02 said:

Although I do not have a Link1 anymore, when I was playing one, I experienced the same thing. Playing the ball slightly on the heel side gave me a more solid feel at ball strike. What you have consider is the fact that even though your starting ball placement on the putter is slightly inside, your actual ball strike could be in the middle at the alignment line. This could be because the mechanics of your putting stroke, in my case, the take a way, causes you to make contact with the ball slightly outside of your starting point. If that stroke is repeatable, I guess it doesn't matter.

Yeah I tested it with some chalk on the ball, and found that the most solid "feeling" was closer to the heel side. I guess it doesn't matter if it's going straight. I haven't had time to test if it affect distance..

jt2gt · April 26

On 4/24/2024 at 12:21 PM, sadclevelandsports said:

Yeah I tested it with some chalk on the ball, and found that the most solid "feeling" was closer to the heel side. I guess it doesn't matter if it's going straight. I haven't had time to test if it affect distance..

Probably because that is the area where the extra material is from the shaft being screwed in. Its basically double the thickness of the rest of the cavity. More material in the cavity equals thuddier feel/sound, so it feels like more of a sweetspot area to you.

sadclevelandsports · April 26

4 hours ago, jt2gt said:

Probably because that is the area where the extra material is from the shaft being screwed in. Its basically double the thickness of the rest of the cavity. More material in the cavity equals thuddier feel/sound, so it feels like more of a sweetspot area to you.

That makes sense, though I struggle to know where the true "sweet spot" is. I played yesterday, and I wasn't sure if there was that big of a distance change when the feeling changed, but who knows.