Putter Fitting - What were your results and did your game change?

[MillerLowLife]

Putting has been a bit of frustration this year. Seems like contact has been inconsistent so I often find myself trying something new on every green. Obviously not ideal and doesn't get you feeling confident over 18 holes. I've been gaming a 35' Scotty Cameron Newport 2. Has stock loft/lie and has been something I've used for years now and usually stuck to the blade/anser style of putters because they "fit my eye". I use to have a Spyder as a back up which felt great but speed control always seemed hard to get down on short and long putts so I eventually sold it. Kinda regret doing that now. I also grew up playing an Odyssey 2-ball.

 

So I'm pretty sick of this back and forth and not feeling sure on what to commit to. I scheduled a putter fitting on Friday that includes SAM putting camera. I'm interested to see what they adjust me to. Whether it's strictly a change in length/loft/lie on my current gamer or also moving away to something with high MOI.

 

Has anyone done putter fittings and walk away with completely different gamers and netted better results?

[tleader]

I went through a Quintec fitting several years ago. It confirmed my current putter at the time was best, and solidified my length, lie, and toe flow/hang.

Did wonders for my confidence, knowing I had a perfect match for my imperfect stroke.

[Z1ggy16]

Do you play on really fast or slow greens? Oddly enough I started putting a lot better when I went *down* in head weight. Modern trend of heads is to up MOI, which since companies can't make putters the same size as drivers means they have to up mass a decent amount.

 

Since the greens I play are usually relatively slow (maybe stimp 8, max 9) going down in head weight helped my speed control a lot. With the heavier heads I was constantly leaving putts short. This is one thing you maybe can't test or get fit for in a fitting because A) most shops have perfect synthetic greens probably running around 10+ stimp and b) tend to only carry new product which as I said, is generally getting heavier overall.

 

I think MOI is more of a marketing ploy/buzzword. I know this is kind of a cliche thing to say but many of the best putters the game has ever seen, were practically using a tree branch to putt compared to what is being sold now a days. Putting is such a complex part of the game, I think the fitting is only but a small part of dialing in this club.

[titleless_30]

I went to Club Champion almost 2 years ago. Found out I was playing the completely wrong style of putter. Went from a toe hang blade to a face balanced mallet. Completely changed my game

[LeoLeo99]

I went for a fitting. They used a combination of a camera and the Ping putting app. They were believers of the Ping dogma to match the arc of your stroke to the toe hang of the putter. They put me a putter with a little more toe hang than the one I had. Double bend to plumber's neck. They said I was putting as consistently as a pro. They also flattened the lie a couple degrees. Problem is that my stroke in practice is a lot better than my stroke on the course when it really counts. I'm a little yippy on the course.

[MattM97]

I've done 2 fittings with Edel so they're not your typical putter fitting. First time was with a Edel certified fitter and he built to putter to me well but just made it way too heavy was having issues with it all year. Reason being the fitting greens were way too fast, honestly most fitting greens are at a stimp of 15 or more, just stupid.

 

Then I got re-fit again with Dave Edel, the putter that was built for me was right which was good but he agreed the weight was too heavy. So we played around with the weight and then Dave suggested I move over to the claw grip based on a few physical traits I had mainly traditional grip I'd turn the club over and pull putts. So just waiting on my Edel to be returned but in the mean time I'm using a traditional blade and long neck blade working with the claw grip and I'm seeing a difference, played 1 round and putts were better, playing another round this weekend.

 

I do want to go for a traditional fit on Quintic or SAM just to get specs cause I'm thinking of a custom putter for a gift to myself.

[MillerLowLife]

> @Z1ggy16 said:

> Do you play on really fast or slow greens? Oddly enough I started putting a lot better when I went *down* in head weight. Modern trend of heads is to up MOI, which since companies can't make putters the same size as drivers means they have to up mass a decent amount.

>

> Since the greens I play are usually relatively slow (maybe stimp 8, max 9) going down in head weight helped my speed control a lot. With the heavier heads I was constantly leaving putts short. This is one thing you maybe can't test or get fit for in a fitting because A) most shops have perfect synthetic greens probably running around 10+ stimp and b) tend to only carry new product which as I said, is generally getting heavier overall.

>

> I think MOI is more of a marketing ploy/buzzword. I know this is kind of a cliche thing to say but many of the best putters the game has ever seen, were practically using a tree branch to putt compared to what is being sold now a days. Putting is such a complex part of the game, I think the fitting is only but a small part of dialing in this club.

 

Usually right in between - nothing too slow and nothing too fast is usually how it works out. I actually recently switched heavier weights into my SC putter for better feel since I also starting to choke down on the 35" putter. I guess that's where I'm sort of stuck is, for my body, what setup might work best and then I can narrow the putter options from there. I love to tinker with my whole bag but I really hate to do that with my putter and spending all year trying to figure what will net the most consistent strikes has driven me mad. I guess I'm also hoping to get a mini lesson out of this putter fitting as well. Could be a waste of money at this point but I'm willing to go through the process once at this point.

 

 

[Z1ggy16]

> @MillerLowLife said:

> > @Z1ggy16 said:

> > Do you play on really fast or slow greens? Oddly enough I started putting a lot better when I went *down* in head weight. Modern trend of heads is to up MOI, which since companies can't make putters the same size as drivers means they have to up mass a decent amount.

> >

> > Since the greens I play are usually relatively slow (maybe stimp 8, max 9) going down in head weight helped my speed control a lot. With the heavier heads I was constantly leaving putts short. This is one thing you maybe can't test or get fit for in a fitting because A) most shops have perfect synthetic greens probably running around 10+ stimp and b) tend to only carry new product which as I said, is generally getting heavier overall.

> >

> > I think MOI is more of a marketing ploy/buzzword. I know this is kind of a cliche thing to say but many of the best putters the game has ever seen, were practically using a tree branch to putt compared to what is being sold now a days. Putting is such a complex part of the game, I think the fitting is only but a small part of dialing in this club.

>

> Usually right in between - nothing too slow and nothing too fast is usually how it works out. I actually recently switched heavier weights into my SC putter for better feel since I also starting to choke down on the 35" putter. I guess that's where I'm sort of stuck is, for my body, what setup might work best and then I can narrow the putter options from there. I love to tinker with my whole bag but I really hate to do that with my putter and spending all year trying to figure what will net the most consistent strikes has driven me mad. I guess I'm also hoping to get a mini lesson out of this putter fitting as well. Could be a waste of money at this point but I'm willing to go through the process once at this point.

>

>

 

Every fitting should be a bit of a lesson, especially when it comes to SAM. You can see your tendencies, path, aim line, etc. Just be sure your fitter comes recommended, IMO SAM can kind of be used as a crutch since it almost does the entire fitting by itself. I had a SAM fitting at a popular location (to remain unnamed, don't want to cause problems) and basically my fitter just handed me putters, said mostly nothing to me, then at the end SAM spit out what should work best for me, then he said okay here's that putter, that'll be $250. Avoid that if you can.

[IDrive300Fsport]

Did my fitting at club champion earlier this year. I previously had 2 Scotty mallet putters. I really thought I had a sbst stroke. But that wasn’t the case. Went through all sort of different putters with different necks. Ended up going to a blade putter with a flow neck. Specs are 3 degrees of loft, 69 degree for lie, 34.25in, headweight is 330 grams. And shaving an average 5-6 strokes since the fitting. I use Grint to keep track of my putts. It’s a very informative app if used correctly and honestly. Best round for putts this year is 29. And thats after my fitting. Last years best round for putts was 33.

[ME27]

I recently had a putter fitting at Bettinardi and found out ive been playing the wrong type of putter pretty much my whole life. I have been using a Scotty Newport 2 at 35 inches with significant toe hang. At the fitting i found out i should be using a face balanced putter at 34.5 inches with 3.5 degrees of loft and a 67 lie angle. Not only have i been holing more putts but even the ones im missing are scaring the hole more frequently and thus leaving me closer putts coming back. I can already see in my scores how much the fitting has helped me.

[MillerLowLife]

> @ME27 said:

> I recently had a putter fitting at Bettinardi and found out ive been playing the wrong type of putter pretty much my whole life. I have been using a Scotty Newport 2 at 35 inches with significant toe hang. At the fitting i found out i should be using a face balanced putter at 34.5 inches with 3.5 degrees of loft and a 67 lie angle. Not only have i been holing more putts but even the ones im missing are scaring the hole more frequently and thus leaving me closer putts coming back. I can already see in my scores how much the fitting has helped me.

 

I'm so jealous. I am obssessed with the Hive and would love to do a fitting there and pick up some limited release stuff. Mostly with the Windy City Wizard. Their raw releases are also top notch. But this type of information is the type of stuff I would want to know if I need to switch up or not. I want to be able to get an idea of what my specs are in case I want to try out different putters.

[MillerLowLife]

So before my fitting tomorrow, I'm currently gaming the 2016 NP2 with stock specs at 35' and traxion pistol gt grip. Apart from the weights I switched out - from 15G to 20G weights. I've been messing around with gripping my putter towards the end or choking down lately which was the cause for the heavier weights to go in.

[DGord10]

In my opinion putter fittings are overlooked too often. People will go for fittings with their woods and irons but not their putter. I was in that boat until last year. Last June I set up fittings for me and my son at Bettinardi and they did a terrific job. As it turned out, we both had mallet style putters that generally fit our stroke but which were the wrong length and, at least for my son, the wrong lie. They also provided some pointers with respect to our set up and stroke - not really a lesson as such but they made some terrific observations and suggestions. My son also had a fitting at Club Champion on a SAM and it confirmed his Bettinardi putter was a good fit - there the results did more of the talking and so there weren’t really any pointers or observations.

 

While neither of our types of putters changed dramatically, shortening them to the right length really helped both of us and helped us pretty much immediately - and from what I have observed and discussed with the guys at Bettinardi a large proportion of people (who aren’t really tall) are using putters which are too long for them.

[hd.softail]

I'm sure I will get some flack for this and I want to start by saying I'm a big fan of the Bettinardi company and products. I've had two putter fittings in my life and in my opinion they had significant impact on my putting outlook and resulting scores.

 

First, I went to Bettinardi. Great/fun experience and learned a lot about putting. At my fitting the fitter found/said I had my hands low and I was fitting in a putter with a 67 (3 flat) lie angle. Had some success with the new flat stick.

 

Looking to expand my putter collection I had a custom Cameron Fitting about a year after the Betti fitting. To my surprise, the fitter didn't want want to bend the Newport at all, he said 70 degrees is the correct lie for everyone ("maybe" +/- 1 degree), what we need to find is the correct length to put your hands/posture in the correct position to fit the 70 degree lie angle (he said this was Scotty's philosophy on putter lie angle/fitting). This blew my mind a bit but the results have been real good. He left me with a putter that fit and my "swing thought" with putting is to set the putter at the correct lie angle and then move into that position and putt from there. The results are I feel like I have the same (and more consistent) setup for every putt and putting has improved greatly.

 

Now, I don't know if the "Cameron Philosophy" is the right one or not but it sure makes a lot of sense. I've read story after story of Bettinardi fittings that result in 3 degrees flat or upright builds and to their credit, they are fitting the player/stroke and not changing them to fit the putter. However, I do believe there's something to Cameron saying, "NO, this is how the putter should sit on the ground, get into a posture that fits this setup and you'll putt better." The results were very clear for me, maybe not so much for others.

 

All that said, I think once you have a good putter fitting, you don't need to go back regularly unless your stroke changes for some reason. I do believe you need to identify if you need face balanced, slight arc or strong arc. And...I can't wait for Betti to bring back the BB8 so I can go get fit for one of those!

[ME27]

> @"hd.softail" said:

> I'm sure I will get some flack for this and I want to start by saying I'm a big fan of the Bettinardi company and products. I've had two putter fittings in my life and in my opinion they had significant impact on my putting outlook and resulting scores.

>

> First, I went to Bettinardi. Great/fun experience and learned a lot about putting. At my fitting the fitter found/said I had my hands low and I was fitting in a putter with a 67 (3 flat) lie angle. Had some success with the new flat stick.

>

> Looking to expand my putter collection I had a custom Cameron Fitting about a year after the Betti fitting. To my surprise, the fitter didn't want want to bend the Newport at all, he said 70 degrees is the correct lie for everyone ("maybe" +/- 1 degree), what we need to find is the correct length to put your hands/posture in the correct position to fit the 70 degree lie angle (he said this was Scotty's philosophy on putter lie angle/fitting). This blew my mind a bit but the results have been real good. He left me with a putter that fit and my "swing thought" with putting is to set the putter at the correct lie angle and then move into that position and putt from there. The results are I feel like I have the same (and more consistent) setup for every putt and putting has improved greatly.

>

> Now, I don't know if the "Cameron Philosophy" is the right one or not but it sure makes a lot of sense. I've read story after story of Bettinardi fittings that result in 3 degrees flat or upright builds and to their credit, they are fitting the player/stroke and not changing them to fit the putter. However, I do believe there's something to Cameron saying, "NO, this is how the putter should sit on the ground, get into a posture that fits this setup and you'll putt better." The results were very clear for me, maybe not so much for others.

>

> All that said, I think once you have a good putter fitting, you don't need to go back regularly unless your stroke changes for some reason. I do believe you need to identify if you need face balanced, slight arc or strong arc. And...I can't wait for Betti to bring back the BB8 so I can go get fit for one of those!

 

Yea I think its just a different philosophy between the two. Bettinardi doesnt want to change your natural stroke and it seems cameron feels everyone should fall into the same type of lie angle. With there being so many different types of strokes and how people grip the club differenty i find it hard to believe that everyone should be at the same specs when it comes to lie and loft but to each their own. If it works for you it works for you, only you can decide on an individual basis.

[ME27]

> @MillerLowLife said:

> > @ME27 said:

> > I recently had a putter fitting at Bettinardi and found out ive been playing the wrong type of putter pretty much my whole life. I have been using a Scotty Newport 2 at 35 inches with significant toe hang. At the fitting i found out i should be using a face balanced putter at 34.5 inches with 3.5 degrees of loft and a 67 lie angle. Not only have i been holing more putts but even the ones im missing are scaring the hole more frequently and thus leaving me closer putts coming back. I can already see in my scores how much the fitting has helped me.

>

> I'm so jealous. I am obssessed with the Hive and would love to do a fitting there and pick up some limited release stuff. Mostly with the Windy City Wizard. Their raw releases are also top notch. But this type of information is the type of stuff I would want to know if I need to switch up or not. I want to be able to get an idea of what my specs are in case I want to try out different putters.

 

Yea if you ever get the chance to make it there I would definitely do it. Fitting is free if you buy a putter there and the hive room is something to be seen. All the cool covers and one off putters are amazing.

[MattM97]

> @DGord10 said:

> In my opinion putter fittings are overlooked too often. People will go for fittings with their woods and irons but not their putter. I was in that boat until last year. Last June I set up fittings for me and my son at Bettinardi and they did a terrific job. As it turned out, we both had mallet style putters that generally fit our stroke but which were the wrong length and, at least for my son, the wrong lie. They also provided some pointers with respect to our set up and stroke - not really a lesson as such but they made some terrific observations and suggestions. My son also had a fitting at Club Champion on a SAM and it confirmed his Bettinardi putter was a good fit - there the results did more of the talking and so there weren’t really any pointers or observations.

>

> While neither of our types of putters changed dramatically, shortening them to the right length really helped both of us and helped us pretty much immediately - and from what I have observed and discussed with the guys at Bettinardi a large proportion of people (who aren’t really tall) are using putters which are too long for them.

 

I think putting lessons as well. Looking at my game while not amazing I can often get to the green no problem with my distance but my short game kills me. Example my best round this year is an 89 and I had 39 putts, awful I know. If I had a semi respectable 30 putts my score would have been an 80 and I missed enough easy putts to be in the mid to low 80s. So I'm going to work on my putting more and also look into a coach as well, I mean what area of your game can you possibly improve 5 strokes or more easily? It's putting and wedge game.

[MillerLowLife]

Actually had a pretty good experience with this fitting. I have a decent relationship with owner of this custom fitting shop so they weren't trying to hawk anything on me unless it was a better fit. Turns out the SAM fitting spit out almost the same results of what I was using with the toe hang blade and basically same loft/life.

So it turned into more of a putting lesson at that point. I had be setting up to the ball with closed shoulders and leaving the face slightly open which was one major ailment of my putting woes. After some minor adjustments to posture/setup (making sure my feet and shoulders are square to my target). I was sinking everything, so the fitting was rather quick and didn't really have to do much. Gave me some advice on putting drills/practice. I'll pick up a string to make a chalk line on a flat/straight putt to monitor my setup.

It's a weird feeling having my shoulders square tho. I feel like my torso is facing the target almost. Will take practice to drill down and continued practice to keep comfortable.

 

EDIT: Also he only charged me half price since it didn't take that long.

[DGord10]

That’s a nice result and approach - goal was to help you and your putting and not just sell something - well done!!

 

> @MillerLowLife said:

> Actually had a pretty good experience with this fitting. I have a decent relationship with owner of this custom fitting shop so they weren't trying to hawk anything on me unless it was a better fit. Turns out the SAM fitting spit out almost the same results of what I was using with the toe hang blade and basically same loft/life.

> So it turned into more of a putting lesson at that point. I had be setting up to the ball with closed shoulders and leaving the face slightly open which was one major ailment of my putting woes. After some minor adjustments to posture/setup (making sure my feet and shoulders are square to my target). I was sinking everything, so the fitting was rather quick and didn't really have to do much. Gave me some advice on putting drills/practice. I'll pick up a string to make a chalk line on a flat/straight putt to monitor my setup.

> It's a weird feeling having my shoulders square tho. I feel like my torso is facing the target almost. Will take practice to drill down and continued practice to keep comfortable.

>

> EDIT: Also he only charged me half price since it didn't take that long.

 

 

[shanker128]

Had a putter fitting a few weeks ago at the Club Champion outside of Hilton Head. Was a bit skeptical but hoping to get something that fit my stroke a bit better. I had been using a Cameron Del Mar for the last 8ish years. After just a single stroke, my fitter told me he would bet that 3/4 of my putts were a few inches short right and the other 1/4 got blasted left and 5’ past the hole. It was as if he had watched me putt the last few years instead of a single stroke. Got fitted into a flow neck Bettinardi and had a day of practice with it before playing Harbour Town for the first time. Walked away from that round with 25 putts including 12 one putts, and the lone 3 putt was across an entire green. While there was a forecaddie reading the greens, I’ve never putted anywhere close to that my entire life. I haven’t a clue how many strokes the fitting will have saved me on average over the long run, but it’s been hovering around 10ish the last 2 weeks. Only regret is not doing it years ago.

[jonesry09]

Why do the majority of these fitting entail? A video from behind your putting stroke? An "expert" watching you? I have been considering one at a local place but I fall into the line of people that for no reason am always skeptical about these fittings. It's great to read these reviews where you aren't dealing with car salesmen.

[dlow206]

What exactly is the output in terms of specs that you get from a putter fitting from a place like club champion?

[FairwaysToHeaven]

I've seen some really good putter fitters not use SAM. do you all think its necessary...or is it better left to use when just practicing your stroke?

[braincramp52]

I'm another one who has been playing the wrong putter most of the last 30 years. I've always played face balanced putters or very little toe hang. Got fitted locally and discovered the best putter for me is a strong toe hang (about 4:30) Switched to a pencil grip and a Newport 3 and I still can't believe the difference.

[MillerLowLife]

> @HoosierMizuno said:

> I've seen some really good putter fitters not use SAM. do you all think its necessary...or is it better left to use when just practicing your stroke?

 

Really up to you and where you're at with your putting I guess. I certainly don't think it's necessary. They do give you some valuable feedback that is much more streamlined on SAM than the naked eye. As it will gather where you strike it on the face, path/arc you take the putter on, and if your face is closed/opened at impact. Being that I felt very comfortable with my newport 2 but have been getting horrible results this year, I wanted very specific feedback. After hit 7 balls and almost everything was center of the face but the face was open like 4 degrees (way too much when you're talking about putting), it was a straight forward setup shoulder adjustment fixes. He was pretty frank with me but when you don't really practice monitoring your setup in putting, it can be hard to keep consistent. That's why he said even just 20 minutes every other day (or as much as I can) get a chalk line on a straight putt with tee gates about a foot in front of my ball. Will help insure I'm starting the ball on line and if I'm not, I'll know it's my posture and can adjust and get comfortable with what square shoulders to the target feels like.

[MillerLowLife]

> @jonesry09 said:

> Why do the majority of these fitting entail? A video from behind your putting stroke? An "expert" watching you? I have been considering one at a local place but I fall into the line of people that for no reason am always skeptical about these fittings. It's great to read these reviews where you aren't dealing with car salesmen.

 

I'm trying to remember everything he did but first he took my measurements of my gamer and entered the length/loft/lie in the computer. Then he hook up a sensor to the shaft which I'm not 100% on what it specifically did. The machine is all setup for a straight putt that was probably like 12-15ft. You hit 7 balls in a row which will gather data on your swing arc, contact on the face, and face at contact. After that is probably where just a good fitter will shine. SAM will tell you a general area to look first in terms of toe hang/face balanced, loft, lie, and even putter grip (which doesn't matter a whole lot). And you will test a few different things and see if it improves or not. LIke i said above, I got very similiar readings to my gamer and at that point it was just looking into my setup.