Best Putter for Your Putting Stroke, Putting Tip

Right Putter on Pressure Putts, Good Lag Putting, Lower Golf Scores

Apr 25, 2009
John Hoskison

Choose Best Putter for Your Stroke - john hoskison

There are literally hundreds of putters on the market but which one is right for your stroke. Use this easy golf test to find out which putter suits your putting stroke.

There are many putters on the market and choosing the right one can drastically improve your putting. The right putter will help you hole out more consistenlty, in turn saving you shots on the green. But many club golfers use a putter that actually stops them from putting well.

If you are suffering from too many three putts, not rolling up close enough to the hole, or missing those crucial four foot putts try this test to see if a change of putter could change your luck on the greens.

Putting Strokes

First of all, before you start to choose a putter, you have to find out what type of putting stroke you use. There are three fundamental styles.

Square-to-Square - the putter blade appears to open on the way back but in fact stays square to the path. On the way through it appears to close.. This putting stroke is most similar to the full swing, and the stroke used by Tiger Woods.

Open to Closed – the blade opens quite a lot on the way back and closes on the way through. This is the putting stroke used by some of the great touch putters like Ben Crenshaw and Lee Trevino.

Closed to Open - the player is keen to keep the face of the club looking at the target throughout the stroke. It is an artificial action different from a normal golf swing. The hands and arms manipulate the blade closed on the way back and hold it open on the way through.

Each of these putting styles requires a different putter. Once you have determined which style you adopt, only then can you start to investigate which putter to choose. The right putter will help you improve on the greens, by holing crucial short putts and getting long putts close to the hole.

Does your Putter Match your Style

Take your putter, hold out your arm in front of you, extend your index finger and then balance the shaft on your finger so it lies horizontally. This is the position where you can determine what type of putter you possess.

Look at the face of the putter. If the putter face is at 45 degrees, neither up, nor down, we call this a neutral putter and it will suit style 1

If the toe is pointing to the ground, we call it a blade design, or a blade putter. This putter suits putting style 2

If the putter is balancing with the face pointing at the ceiling, this is called a face balanced putter and suits style 3

There is also a forth type of balance which is less common but becoming incresingly popular. It is known as 'universally balanced' and encourages a player to putt with a very orthodox putting stroke. If balanced on the finger it will balance in any position.

If you have decided your putting style is open to closed (style 1) and you use a face-balanced putter, you have little chance of putting well. Conversely if you try and keep the face pointing at the hole through out the stroke (style 3) and you are using a blade design, you will miss more putts than you make.

It is essential to match the putter to the stroke to hole pressure putts and control distance. If in doubt go to your nearest golf club and seek advice from a PGA pro.