Putter

Though most putters have a 32-to-35-inch (81–89 cm) shaft (slightly shorter for most ladies and juniors, longer for most men), putters are also made with longer shaft lengths and grips, and are designed to reduce the "degrees of freedom" allowed a player when he or she putts. Simply, the more joints that can easily bend or twist during the putting motion, the more degrees of freedom a player has when putting, which gives more flexibility and feel but can result in more inconsistent putts. With a normal putter, the player has six degrees of freedom: hands, wrists, elbows, shoulders, waist and knees, all of which can be moved just slightly to affect the path of the ball and likely prevent a putt from falling in the cup. Such motions, especially nervous uncontrollable motions, are called "yips", and having a chronic case of the "yips" can ruin a golfer's short game. German professional golfer Bernhard Langer is famous for having such a severe case that he once needed four putts to hole out from within three feet of the cup.[4]

A belly putter is typically about 6 to 8 inches (15–20 cm) longer than a normal putter and is designed to be "anchored" against the abdomen of the player. This design reduces or removes the importance of the hands, wrists, elbows, and shoulders. A long putter is even longer and is designed to be anchored from the chest or even the chin and similarly reduces the impact of the hands, wrists, elbows and shoulders. The disadvantages are decreased feel and control over putting power, especially with the long putter. Their use in professional tournaments is hotly contested; Jim Furyk and others on the pro tours including Langer and Vijay Singh have used belly putters at some point with a marked improvement of their short game, while players like Tiger Woods and officials like former USGA technical director Frank Thomas have condemned it as conferring an unfair advantage on users.[5]

In November 2012, a proposed change for the 2016 edition of the rules of golf was announced, which would forbid players from anchoring a club against their body in any way. This rule change will affect the use of long and belly putters by players.[6][7] Notable players affected include Adam Scott, Tim Clark, Kevin Stadler, Keegan Bradley, Webb Simpson, Carl Pettersson and Ernie Els. This new rule (14-1b Anchoring the Club) was approved in May 2013 and took effect on January 1, 2016. This new rule prohibits "anchoring" a putter when making a stroke. It does not ban long-shafted putters, rather, it bans the method by which they were originally designed to be used.

Called a fetch putter because it can be used to retrieve the golf ball out of the cup. In November of 2018 Lee Westwood won the Nedbank Golf Challenge using a PING Sigma 2 Fetch putter.[8]

As putting is one of the most important aspects of a player's golf game, a variety of teaching tools and trainers exist to assist the player in learning correct technique. Though many tools are simply simulations of a putting green such as indoor putting mats and cups, or attachments such as laser guides, some tools are integral features of a "training club". One such tool is the breakaway; a hinged joint in the shaft of an otherwise normal putter that stays rigid until a certain amount of force is applied, then gives way. This is used to teach golfers to use a steady, even putting motion without any sudden pressure applied by the hands or arms to swing the club, creating a more relaxed, controllable putt. Another feature is a curved face, sometimes severely so. Though most putter faces are flat and, depending on other aspects of the head design, very forgiving, the curved putter face forces the player to contact the ball with the very center of the clubfeet in order to hit a straight shot. All other shots will carom off in odd directions or will curve off the intended putting line. Other training clubs incorporate very lightweight heads which encourage a firmer upper body posture that reduces wrist and arm movement, or to the opposite extreme a very heavyweight head that encourages the user to adopt the "pendulum swing" technique and use the weight of the club instead of muscle power. Almost all of these can be used as a "real" putter, but the idea of these devices is to make putting harder than with a real putter as the desired result only occurs when the player utilizes perfect technique, and therefore they are normally used only in practice environments.

The Standard

Using the direction from the https://data.gov.uk/education-standards/, the ‘Standard’ for putting has been defined.

The most critical stroke in golf is the putting stroke. As a standard you need a consistent address putting position that is the same for everyone no matter their size. The obvious place to start is the middle of your stance as that is constant for all. The second place is directly under the mid point of your eyes as that is also constant for all. This gives 2 specific places that intersect in the middle of your stance and directly under the mid point of your eyes. This becomes ‘the neutral spot’ as everyone can locate that specific spot

Finding the mid point of your stance is easy as you look at your feet and you have those 2 markers to guide you. There are no markers to guide you to the mid point under your eyes, thus that is more difficult.

Defining the standard for the ‘Neutral spot’ for putting.

What is it?

Before you can determine whether the address and engagement position is optimal for performance, and that your inconsistent putting problem has been solved, you need to evaluate the performance of your putting. This is achieved by measuring your address position and results against a define standard.

Who uses it?

Golfers of all standards.

Why use it?

Positional variations occur when the golfer adopts their set up position. If you want to reduce the amount of variation of the address position in set up process, you need to compare the results of the set up position with a standard.

Variation can exist for two reasons:

1. The Standard Common causes are flaws inherent in the set up process.
2. The Standard Special causes are variations from standards caused by errors.

Most causes of variation at address in the set up process are from flaws in the engagement stage, and not because of error. Once you realise this, you can stop failing due to inconsistent engagement and start changing the set up processes that cause the flaws inherent in the engagement stage.

The standard is used to assess the consistency of the set up process with guidelines and measurements for evaluating performance.

When to use it?

After defining the solution to a problem, and before monitoring or evaluating the solution.

How to use it:

Define the standard by determining the metrics of the set up process with the help of control charts.

Control Chart.

What is it?

A Control Chart is a tool you can use to monitor the ball position at the address stage. It graphically depicts the ball position compared to the results of the putt.

It is necessary to acknowledge that some variations are not "mistakes" introduced by golfers, but, rather, they are personal innovations. Some variations are deliberately introduced to the set up processes by golfers specifically because those variations are found to be more result oriented as confirmed in the control chart.

When to use it?

First, you need to define the standard of how things should be. Then, you need to monitor (collect data) about the set up process. Then, you create a control graph using the monitoring data.

Defining the standard for the ‘Neutral Spot’.

The fundamental of the neutral spot is it delivers certainty of the ball position regardless of height or width of the player. That set up position is consistent in the metrics used on each occasion, and allows for movement and changes in the ball position at address (personal innovations) without compromising the neutral spot.

The neutral spot is located in the mid point of your horizontal stance, where a vertical line is taken. That vertical line intersects with the point directly under the mid point of your eyes.

No matter the width of your stance, the horizontal mid point is constant. If your stance was 14” wide, the mid point would be identical if you stance was 25” or 7” wide. The mid point remains constant, and in all cases is the horizontal.

No matter the distance between your eyes, the mid point is constant. If your eyes are 5” apart, the mid point would be identical if your eyes were 3” or 4” apart. The mid point remains constant, and in all cases is the vertical.

The point of intersection is the neutral spot and remains consistent at all times for all players.

How to use it:

Now the neutral spot has been defined, and can be located by the player, that position needs to be mapped by the player for reference purposes. The neutral spot has a zero value, however any movement from this spot can be measured on a simple Vertical and Horizontal bases using fixed + & - incremental values. (collect data).

Each player has an individual putting stroke that is related to their specific physicality and biomechanics. By testing various ball positions in relation to the neutral spot, which is the fixed point of reference, the player can map and identify the ball position that delivers the most consistent outcome.

Control Chart.

What is it?

By mapping the ball position in relationship to the neutral spot and recording the results of putts, the player creates a data repository that can be analysed and referenced. This constantly optimises the ball position for the player.

When to use it?

Once the ideal ball position is mapped to the relationship to the neutral spot, periodic measurements need to be taken to ensure the integrity of the ball position remains intact. By comparing the current mapped position to the historical data the player can modify the ball position in reference to the neutral spot to deliver the putting results required.