Choosing the proper putter for your golf game can be a critical factor in achieving lower scores. With the large variety of putters on the market, choosing the correct model can be difficult. While comfort is an important feature to consider, you also should ensure that your putter's length corresponds with your height. A licensed PGA teaching professional can provide a proper fit.
Putter Facts
According to Bruce Martin of the San Diego Golf Academy, "putting comprises of approximately 35 to 45+ percent of the total strokes for the majority of golfers, including PGA Tour Professionals". Having a putter with which you feel comfortable is critical to helping you improve putting skills. According to Martin, most amateur golfers don't seek a proper putter fitting, and that can result in a putter that is too long or short for the player's height.
Standard Lengths
Putters are typically sold with shaft lengths between 35 and 36 inches. This length is considered to be a "standard" putter length for most players, and is used to design the typical depth of a golf bag. Golf instructor Martin believes, however, that putters 34 to 36 inches long can be too long for most amateur golfers. Using a putter that is too long can cause you to align your putts incorrectly, address the ball in an improper position and even affect your putt swing path.
Proper Fit
A properly fitting putter will be fit to your height and swing path to allow for proper alignment at address and a comfortable feel when standing over the ball, according to Geoff Mangum of the Mangum Putting Zone. For example, Mangum suggests that a player who is 6 feet should use a putter that is 34 inches long to provide proper alignment and comfort throughout his putting stroke. When fitting a putter to a player's height, a club fitter will measure the angles created between your hands, torso and wrist to calculate the proper putter shaft length for your height.
Considerations
While you can use a putter recommended to fit your height and swing path, you also might feel more comfortable with a longer putter for other reasons. If you are unable to bend at the waist at address because of back problems, a longer putter may improve your comfort level. Putters also come in unusually long or short shaft lengths, again focused at giving the player customization in regard to what feels more comfortable when putting.
Member Comments