Putter Fitting Issues

In every evaluation, we test the trail hand for rotational tendencies. Public thank you to Mike Adams and Terry Rowles who taught me the tendencies in the full swing and allowed me to adapt to putting. This has proven to be a short cut to helping players find a square face position at impact. As an added benefit, we have found a definite improvement in aiming accuracy and perception when we found the correct grip.

Try this test. Take a ruler and set it on the floor. Square your putter to the trail edge of the ruler try not to rest the putter against the straight edge. Next, while in your posture, close your eyes and take a deep breath. Does your grip feel comfortable? Is there any tension in your arms? Without opening your eyes, if you find either question to be true, try to relieve the problem. When you are comfortable, open your eyes and look down; did the putter move? You will learn a great deal from this drill. If the putter does move, you will find it matches a miss tendency you might have. Using the pictures below, an example might be you grip the club in an under position, but when you relax you rotate to a neutral position. On the golf course you might find this matches a pull miss tendency you have on the golf course.

Another interesting phenomenon we have found is how when we found the correct trail hand position, we see an improvement in putter aim at address. There is a famous tour player who tests one way but uses a different trail hand orientation in play. He discovered a pull aim tendency that he had to compensate for in his stroke. When his timing was on, he was amazing, but as he got older, the ability to compensate on the fly diminished. He found a small grip change that solved the problem. He aims it better and his stroke is simpler.

As it pertains to fitting a putter, we strongly recommend that you find the appropriate grip, both handle and hand position prior to deciding the model you think works best. For one reason, we have discovered clearly that certain hand positions work best with certain designs. For example, we like putters with the center of mass close to the face, for under grip players. In reverse, we have more success with mallets and deeper centers of mass for cover players. This comment is a total oversimplification but provides an exceptionally good start point for a fitting evaluation.

The moral of the story for today is this. Fit the grip before you choose the putter. I use round full swing grips to evaluate. That way, there is no negative influence on the procedure. Then when we find the correct hand position, we look for a grip that fits your hands, rather than forcing your hands based on the grip. P.S. Most stick with the round.