Results from putter lie adjustment?

[6holesn1]

Finally found a clubmaker that can bend my Futura Phantom Mallet to 65* without the worry of breaking the shaft...my question is, by having a face balanced putter with this extreme flat lie angle will it affect the characteristics of the putter(will it still be face balanced??? Will it sit the same at address???).

 

Thanks in advance for your responses.

 

Dewey.

[choeppner]

I'm interested in this as well, as I have never heard of aputter being bent that flat. Should be interesting. Have you tried rolling some with it yet? I know I had my old newport bent to 67 which was 4 flat and couldn't tell much of a difference at address except it was better for me. Hard to describe. If it works for you....then don't question it. LOL

 

-CHRIS-

[cbae]

Finally found a clubmaker that can bend my Futura Phantom Mallet to 65* without the worry of breaking the shaft...my question is, by having a face balanced putter with this extreme flat lie angle will it affect the characteristics of the putter(will it still be face balanced??? Will it sit the same at address???).

 

Thanks in advance for your responses.

 

Dewey.

 

If the putter started off as face-balanced, a flatter lie angle will cause it to be slightly heel-heavy. But don't sweat it. The effect that the balance of the face might have on your swing mechanics is greatly exaggerated. Getting the lie angle correct is much more important than having the head perfectly face-balanced at that particular lie angle.

 

Think about it this way. When you putt, you essentially hold the shaft at the end opposite the head, which has most of the mass. In order to swing the head by holding it at the end of the shaft, you have to apply significant amount of torque with your hands. Otherwise, the shaft would move and the head would stay stationary, right? Does that make sense so far? Now this torque that you apply with your hands to get the head moving is MORE than enough to compensate for the "unbalance" that there may be caused by the position of the shaft axis relative to the head's center of gravity. IOW, if you're strong enough the swing the putter head at all, you're applying enough torque to prevent the face from opening or closing due to the shaft axis not being in-line with the CG of the head (i.e. not being face-balanced).

 

Whether the putter is a true heel-shafted putter like the 8802 or a 1/4 toe hanger like an Anser or a face-balanced center-shaft makes little difference to the dynamics of the head (or face) as you swing it. The shaft axis position only matters insofar as the distance the CG of the head is away from your body affects the amount of torque that is required to swing the head. IOW, if all things are equal, an 8802 will feel somewhat "heavier" or more difficult to swing than a center-shafted putter will. And that's only because the CG of the head is somewhere outside the radius of the end of the shaft, whereas with a center-shafted putter the CG of the head is positioned right at the end of the shaft. Bigger radius = more torque, right? That's really the only difference that the face balance could make. It really has little impact on whether or not the face will try to open or close when you swing the club.

 

As I said, all this stuff about the importance of "toe flow" and "face-balanced" being better for a particular type of swing is all exaggerated.

[cbae]

I'm interested in this as well, as I have never heard of aputter being bent that flat. Should be interesting. Have you tried rolling some with it yet? I know I had my old newport bent to 67 which was 4 flat and couldn't tell much of a difference at address except it was better for me. Hard to describe. If it works for you....then don't question it. LOL

 

-CHRIS-

 

That you couldn't feel much difference is no surprise. I bet that your putter was closer to being face-balanced though. Newports are 1/4 toe hangers, and bending the hosel to yield a flatter lie angle would put the shaft axis closer to the center of the head, which would cause the toe to hang less than it normally would.

[6holesn1]

WOW...thanks for the reply...sending them in tomorrow...will report back when they return.

 

Thanks, Dewey.

[drewspin]

Finally found a clubmaker that can bend my Futura Phantom Mallet to 65* without the worry of breaking the shaft...my question is, by having a face balanced putter with this extreme flat lie angle will it affect the characteristics of the putter(will it still be face balanced??? Will it sit the same at address???).

 

Thanks in advance for your responses.

 

Dewey.

 

If the putter started off as face-balanced, a flatter lie angle will cause it to be slightly heel-heavy. But don't sweat it. The effect that the balance of the face might have on your swing mechanics is greatly exaggerated. Getting the lie angle correct is much more important than having the head perfectly face-balanced at that particular lie angle.

 

Think about it this way. When you putt, you essentially hold the shaft at the end opposite the head, which has most of the mass. In order to swing the head by holding it at the end of the shaft, you have to apply significant amount of torque with your hands. Otherwise, the shaft would move and the head would stay stationary, right? Does that make sense so far? Now this torque that you apply with your hands to get the head moving is MORE than enough to compensate for the "unbalance" that there may be caused by the position of the shaft axis relative to the head's center of gravity. IOW, if you're strong enough the swing the putter head at all, you're applying enough torque to prevent the face from opening or closing due to the shaft axis not being in-line with the CG of the head (i.e. not being face-balanced).

 

Whether the putter is a true heel-shafted putter like the 8802 or a 1/4 toe hanger like an Anser or a face-balanced center-shaft makes little difference to the dynamics of the head (or face) as you swing it. The shaft axis position only matters insofar as the distance the CG of the head is away from your body affects the amount of torque that is required to swing the head. IOW, if all things are equal, an 8802 will feel somewhat "heavier" or more difficult to swing than a center-shafted putter will. And that's only because the CG of the head is somewhere outside the radius of the end of the shaft, whereas with a center-shafted putter the CG of the head is positioned right at the end of the shaft. Bigger radius = more torque, right? That's really the only difference that the face balance could make. It really has little impact on whether or not the face will try to open or close when you swing the club.

 

As I said, all this stuff about the importance of "toe flow" and "face-balanced" being better for a particular type of swing is all exaggerated.

 

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