Going with a super light head and regular round grip. Am I crazy?

[Yellow Jacket]

I've always used a Newport 2, but over the years, my stroke with a putter has gotten worse. However, my stroke with a lob wedge has always been great, so I switched to an Odyssey #9 last year since I thought maybe the "heel shafted" nature of the LW was why my stroke was so much better. I putted great with the #9 in-store, but 11 months later and I'm calling the experiment a failure.

 

It recently occurred to me that the 2 other big differences between my LW and a putter are 1) a much lighter head and 2) a normal round grip. I recently picked up a Ping Dalehead Anser, which has a lighter head than any putter of the last 20 years, and I'm thinking of putting on the same Lamkin Crossline Cord I have on all my clubs.

 

Am I crazy? Is there any validity to this or am I destined to putt with my LW forever?

[anjoga]

Are you saying you putt with your Lob Wedge (LW)? The old Anser with the round crossline cord seems like a cheap enough experiment to give it a go. Whatever gets the ball in the hole, right?

[glensmithis]

My Edel putter has their round grip and the head weight is only 250g with 110g counter weight. Depending on the speed of the greens I am playing, I do change some of the head weights. I have 2-5g, 2-12g and 2-24g that I can interchange. I was using an oversized round grip for a few years prior to me getting my Edel.

[SetTheBarrHigh]

I really like round putter grips in college. Used to buy one of the Winn blue belly putter grips and cut it in half.

[Yellow Jacket]

[quote name='anjoga' timestamp='1433784943' post='11711906']
Are you saying you putt with your Lob Wedge (LW)? The old Anser with the round crossline cord seems like a cheap enough experiment to give it a go. Whatever gets the ball in the hole, right?
[/quote]
If I'm struggling with my putter, which is more often than not these days, then yes, I putt with my lob wedge, and my stroke is perfectly smooth. I would just putt with it all the time but it gets difficult to precisely blade the ball on longer strokes.

The 4 things I can think of that are different between putting with my lob wedge and putter are:

1) Significantly flatter lie angle
2) Full "toe hang"
3) Lighter head weight and swing weight
4) Round grip

[j_king]

I don't think you need to try and replicate the specs of your LW for a putter.

I would venture to say it's not the specs of the LW that make putting easier for you, it's the fact that it's not a putter...

[trying2scratch]

Tough to say if it will help, but worth a try I would say.

 

Maybe try going with an old 8802 style putter with a ferrule and slap on a round grip. It might trick your eyes and hands into thinking its a normal iron or wedge.... Something similar to below:

 

[Graymulligan]

So if it makes putts for you, but we think you're crazy, will you decide to not do it?

Experiment. Maybe it works, maybe it doesn't, but what's the harm in trying it?

[shart6]

[quote name='Yellow Jacket' timestamp='1433810159' post='11714918']
[quote name='anjoga' timestamp='1433784943' post='11711906']
Are you saying you putt with your Lob Wedge (LW)? The old Anser with the round crossline cord seems like a cheap enough experiment to give it a go. Whatever gets the ball in the hole, right?
[/quote]
If I'm struggling with my putter, which is more often than not these days, then yes, I putt with my lob wedge, and my stroke is perfectly smooth. I would just putt with it all the time but it gets difficult to precisely blade the ball on longer strokes.

The 4 things I can think of that are different between putting with my lob wedge and putter are:

1) Significantly flatter lie angle
2) Full "toe hang"
3) Lighter head weight and swing weight
4) Round grip
[/quote]

Not unusual to like a lighter putter head, especially on Rye and Bermuda grasses. A full "toe hang" may suit the stroke you actually use on the course. You could get more inside to inside at times as your tempo changes. Happens to me when I get a little quicker. As for the round grip, many good players have used one when they were struggling to release the putter head smoothly.

My suggestion would be to try a regular golf grip for a bit on a blade flange putter, then put a non-tapered regular grip on it.

[bargolf]

I think this is an outstanding idea. Please keep the forum posted with your results.

The Anser head weight should be about right if you build the putter about 1/2 inch shorter than your lob wedge. Your wedge probably weighs 305+/- grams You might find you prefer a slightly larger grip when using round for your putter. If you do go larger consider a 1/4 inch difference in length.

The round grip eliminates the impulse to steer the stroke. It is a safe bet you like to set up away from the ball a little. The flatter lie and lighter head will help match club rotation to the arc your setup mandates.

When you bend the Anser flat, you will move the toe hang closer to face balance. Ignore it. Face balanced at 64 degrees is much different than face balanced at 70 when you measure rotation numbers.

Good Luck.

[Yellow Jacket]

[quote name='bargolf' timestamp='1433873520' post='11719872']
I think this is an outstanding idea. Please keep the forum posted with your results.

The Anser head weight should be about right if you build the putter about 1/2 inch shorter than your lob wedge. Your wedge probably weighs 305+/- grams You might find you prefer a slightly larger grip when using round for your putter. If you do go larger consider a 1/4 inch difference in length.

The round grip eliminates the impulse to steer the stroke. It is a safe bet you like to set up away from the ball a little. The flatter lie and lighter head will help match club rotation to the arc your setup mandates.

When you bend the Anser flat, you will move the toe hang closer to face balance. Ignore it. Face balanced at 64 degrees is much different than face balanced at 70 when you measure rotation numbers.

Good Luck.
[/quote]
I played 18 this weekend and the back 9 was open so I worked a lot on my putting stroke. I played with my mini-tour friend so he was able to provide some observations about the experiment.

1) Putting with the lighter Anser/round Crossline Cord is better than with the Odyssey #9 or Newport 2 I've used in the last couple years, but I think that has less to do with the head weight and more to do with the round grip. For whatever reason, it has become difficult in recent years to align the putter face where I'm aiming with how a putter grip sits in my hands. This is true for both reverse overlap and cross handed grips.

2) I still suck with a putter. With my lob wedge, my hands are low and my eyes are about 2 balls inside. Although I was able to have a little success late in the round trying this with the Anser, it has a standard lie so the stroke was awkward with the toe in the air, and it wasn't nearly as consistent as my LW anyway.

3) The putter is probably a little too light at the moment, but I can play around with lead tape. This manifested in me being a little jerky on my backstroke.

4) Contributing to the jerky takeaway is the observation that I don't forward press with a LW but instinctively do with a putter. Trying to take a putter back without a forward press will take some time to get used to.

At this point, I feel like I know a little more about what makes my LW stroke tick, but I don't feel much closer to translating that with an actual putter. It would be interesting to find a cheap one to bend down to 63 or 64* lie and see if that's the missing link since I'm not sure I can/want to with the Dalehead Anser, but since ball position has the biggest effect on my aiming, I'll probably have to find some way to "reach" out to the ball.

[CWB]

I've used Lamkin Oversize Crossline on a few putters
it nice having the same feel as the rest of my clubs

how far could you bend a ?
Cleveland Classis Black 4