In this video, Neil Tappin takes a look at the decisions relating to finding the right putter. He covers everything from the price to the mechanics of your stroke to help you understand some of the questions worth asking yourself. If you are in the market for a new putter, spend some time considering these factors and you should make a smarter decision.
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00:00Hello everyone Neil Tappin here from Golf Monthly and welcome to the London Club and this video on
00:08how to find the right putter. Obviously it's a really important thing to get right if you can
00:12hold a few more putts your handicap is likely to come down so finding the right equipment is
00:17crucial and we're going to boil it down to five key areas things that you need to think about if
00:21you are on the hunt for a brand new putter. Right let's get started. Okay so the first thing to
00:27consider is the feel and this is really important because on the market right now you've got putters
00:31that offer a firm feel right through to the ones that offer an ultra soft feel so finding something
00:37on that spectrum that really fits the bill for you is really important. Now one thing to consider is
00:42the greens on the golf course that you play most regularly. Are they slower in which case you might
00:47want a firmer feel? Are they ultra fast in which case a soft feel might help you control your distance
00:52that little bit more? Now what I would do would be to do some research read the blurb about the
00:58different putters that you're interested in and try and marry up the sort of feel that you like with
01:03what the manufacturers are saying about what's on offer from their putter. If you can get it right then
01:07you should find a putter that you just click with that offers you that exact feel that you're looking
01:11for. Often in our equipment videos we talk about the importance of finding clubs that you really like
01:16the look of and I think nowhere in the bag is that more important than on the greens with your putter.
01:22Finding a putter that offers you as much confidence as possible is absolutely essential. Now the
01:27manufacturers understand that and that's why you've got a whole host of different shapes to choose from
01:32so narrowing down your search is absolutely essential. On the one end of the spectrum you'll
01:36have really large mallets with very very strong alignment aids for those players that do want some
01:41assistance at address and then at the other end of the spectrum you'll have those ultra slimline
01:46traditional models that are really designed for those players that like to control their putts
01:50through their feel of pace. Working out exactly where on that spectrum you sit where the preference
01:56is for your game is going to be a really important part of finding the right putter for your game.
02:01Okay so the next factor to consider is the price and your budget. Now on the golf monthly website we
02:07have a post a best putters post that I'll put a link into the url below that gives you a really good
02:12idea about the spectrum of different models there are on the market and they range from £425 on the
02:18one hand through to £69 on the other so it tells you a bit about the disparity in terms of price
02:23there is out on there on the market. Now why is there a disparity well some of it will come down
02:27to technology you might not think there's a huge amount of technology at work within putters but
02:32actually it is an area that the manufacturers have done a lot of research into and for a lot of the
02:37time the technology at work will help the ball get rolling quickly off the face to deliver that kind
02:43of really smooth roll on the greens the feel that you're looking for and the sort of stroke that
02:47you're after and then on the other hand part of the price is down to the craftsmanship so as you jump
02:53up through the price brackets you'll often find that the craftsmanship the general aesthetic just gets
02:57that little bit more refined the good news is that there are plenty of different choices so no matter
03:03what your budget you should find something that really suits your game the next question to ask
03:07yourself is how strong is the arc of your stroke for some players their stroke tends to be fairly
03:13straight back and through but for other players the stroke tends to go more in to square to in
03:18and that would be a stronger arc so figuring out how strong the arc of your stroke is is really
03:23important because there will be a model out there that suits your stroke now let me explain how that
03:28works so in the puzzle that i have here is more of a what you would describe as a face balanced putter
03:33so if i hold it like this you can see the face points pretty much straight up right this is really
03:38more for those players who have more of a straight back and through stroke whereas this model here
03:43has more of a toe hang to it so again if i hold it like that you'll notice the toe hangs a little bit
03:48more down towards the ground and that's for those players with a stronger arc so again do a little bit of
03:53research find the putter that's designed to match your stroke and the arc of your stroke it could
03:59really help okay so the last factor to consider is the length of the putter and finding the right
04:04length of putter will help you set your posture over the ball correctly so that your eyes are nicely
04:10positioned over the ball at address it can make a big difference the way in which your stroke works
04:14but also the way in which you're able to pick the line as you stand over the ball at address and
04:18now obviously this is the sort of thing that a pga pro can really help you with if you go for a
04:22putter fitting but i appreciate not everybody's going to go through the process of getting a
04:26putter fitting so it might just be one of those things that you need to sort of figure out for
04:29yourself now the most common putter lengths are 35 inches which is this one here which is what i use
04:3634 inches and down to 33 inches work out which you think might be right for you and then order the
04:41correct putter that you think might help you set your posture over the ball correctly at address
04:47okay so there you have it that's our look at how to find the right putter as i said
04:51right at the beginning of this video finding the right putter is so important if you can hold a few
04:55more putts then there's no two ways about it your handicap will move in the correct direction so if
05:01you are looking to invest before you do so have a think about some of those factors it could help you
05:05make a smarter choice