Why a lie angle rule for putters?

[8thehardway]

Why can't a putter's lie angle be more upright than 80 degrees? And if there's some advantage to more upright lie angles why are most putters 70 or 71*? Any insights appreciated.

[hbear]

Call it part of the Sam Snead rule? (e.g. part of the straddling the line rule)

I believe it had to do with what was deemed "proper" putting appearace if I'm not mistaken.

[dlygrisse]

They don't want to allow croquet style putting, as a previous poster stated, the Sam Snead rule. The story I read was that Snead was having putting problems and straddled the ball with a 90* putter at the Masters and Bobby Jones told someone with the USGA that that was not golf, the next year....... voilà a rule change. The other rule change was that you cant stand over the line of play, e.g. put the ball between your legs croquet style while putting. Snead then changed to side saddle.
I read this somewhere, but can't remember where, maybe someone can verify it.

[stage1350]

You have to put parameters on the club at some point. 80° was made as the max. Having had putters at 79°, it's extremely upright and probably not for everyone.

It's a less annoying rule than the new groove rule, but proves that the USGA does like to mess with every golfer due to the abilities of a very few...

[Millimax]

That is the Sam Snead rule. The PGA decided the putter must diverge at least 10° from completely upright to remove the pendulum effect. I use a putter with an 80° lie angle, and find it to be superior to any putter I have ever used. My putter is faced balanced, heal to toe balanced, center shafted, and counter weighted a little by using the Supper Stroke Flatso 3.0 grip. I have recently turned the grip with the flat part of the grip to facing away from the target. I is amazing how great it feels. I have won the Sacramento City putting championship 3 years in a row at the age of 57. I use a "Legal Limit Putter" and will never change. It is a new way to get great results. Steve Stricker holds his heal off the ground to get more upright and over the ball. WOW, I am taking the advantage of putting with an upright putter as provided by the rules of golf. It WRX

[Millimax]

It's great to have the Ryder Cup back in the states, GO USA!

[Hammer_Hands]

That is the Sam Snead rule. The PGA decided the putter must diverge at least 10° from completely upright to remove the pendulum effect. I use a putter with an 80° lie angle, and find it to be superior to any putter I have ever used. My putter is faced balanced, heal to toe balanced, center shafted, and counter weighted a little by using the Supper Stroke Flatso 3.0 grip. I have recently turned the grip with the flat part of the grip to facing away from the target. I is amazing how great it feels. I have won the Sacramento City putting championship 3 years in a row at the age of 57. I use a "Legal Limit Putter" and will never change. It is a new way to get great results. Steve Stricker holds his heal off the ground to get more upright and over the ball. WOW, I am taking the advantage of putting with an upright putter as provided by the rules of golf. It WRX

I really like the way you think. I just had my lie angle increased to 73.5 after putting with the heel off the ground for the better part of a year. What kind of putter do you use?

[Millimax]

I use a putter I designed called the Legal Limit Putter. I used a little C Ping that I had re-drilled to a 80° lie. It threw off the balance but was better than standard. We made 200 putters and have 87 left. I'm hoping to get a pro to win with one. I am a putting coach and have spent over a 1000 hours of putting. I use a left hand under, right hand low hand position. I don't break down under pressure as much. here is a pic of my grip.