Armlock putters - who’s tried them and why have you moved away if you did?

[Pnwpingi210]

Long story short,  I’m looking to experiment this offseason with an arm lock putter.    Looking to hear some experiences from folks that have used them and what they liked and what they didn’t like.

 

 

[RangeBaller]

I've read quite a few threads on this and the synopsis seems to be down to fitting (shocker).  I believe the common assumption of just extending your normal spec 4" with a heavier head is flawed.  IMO your success with armlock will be much more influenced by the lie angle, which in most cases is way too flat on off the shelf armlocks.

[kleydejong]

I'm still playing one.  It has been 3 years I think.  I am currently gaming this Scottie Cameron which I frankensteined into an Armlock.  Head weight is about 420g.  I put a plumbers neck on it from the golfworks and bent the snot out of it for both lie and loft.  I believe it has about 7* loft.  41" length.  I honestly don't know what the lie angle is.  I basically putt with it, then go back to the garage, stick it in the vice, torque on it with two wrenches, and then go test it some more until it sat flat and rolled right with my setup / posture. 

 

It took some time at first to adjust to having my hands forward pressed.  I left my left wrist straight with my forearm and extend my right wrist.  They're about in line with my left big toe.  But then I just rock the shoulders.  I had to adjust to feeling what square was though. 

I also found with time that I putt best if I keep a lighter pressure of the grip on my left forearm.  I want to touch, but lightly.  Not pressing in firmly. 

 

 

 

 

[Baroo]

I experimented with it for a while, i just felt there was just a little too much tension in my arms trying to keep that handle pressed against my front arm.  I toyed with ball position which helped but just never got totally comfortable.  With that said, i believe it was an effective training aid to really quiet my hands and wrist and use more rocking shoulders to initiate the putting stroke, glad i did it for that reason.

[biglefthander]

I love the idea of it but play most of my golf these days on public courses in the south and the greens are too slow for it so I've moved back to a traditional putter

 

I would revisit it if I ever get back to a region where the greens are stimping good

[kjmtthws]

Used a Bettinardi Armlock for about 2 years.. 

 

Long story short, I was having a terrible time with 6-8 footers that I felt I should have made more regularly.. Tried an armlock at a local big box store and the head felt really stable.. My wife is from chicago and we went to visit family and got fitted at the Bettinardi factory one afternoon.. Love the crap out of it for a while.. Felt like the head was super stable and I expected to make all 6-8 footers for really long time.. Even converted some guys at my club to get their own armlock versions. 

 

However, ultimately the honeymoon phase wore off and I was having a terrible time with feeling like I could get any speed on lag putts correct.. I could get the line correct, but was always 10 feet short on long putts or 10 feet long on long putts.. 

 

Ultimately have gone the way of LAB and couldn't be happier -- but I am sure the honeymoon phase of this will eventually wear off too in a couple of years 

 

 

[Pnwpingi210]

On 8/28/2024 at 10:29 AM, RangeBaller said:

I've read quite a few threads on this and the synopsis seems to be down to fitting (shocker).  I believe the common assumption of just extending your normal spec 4" with a heavier head is flawed.  IMO your success with armlock will be much more influenced by the lie angle, which in most cases is way too flat on off the shelf armlocks.

 

20 hours ago, kleydejong said:

I'm still playing one.  It has been 3 years I think.  I am currently gaming this Scottie Cameron which I frankensteined into an Armlock.  Head weight is about 420g.  I put a plumbers neck on it from the golfworks and bent the snot out of it for both lie and loft.  I believe it has about 7* loft.  41" length.  I honestly don't know what the lie angle is.  I basically putt with it, then go back to the garage, stick it in the vice, torque on it with two wrenches, and then go test it some more until it sat flat and rolled right with my setup / posture. 

 

It took some time at first to adjust to having my hands forward pressed.  I left my left wrist straight with my forearm and extend my right wrist.  They're about in line with my left big toe.  But then I just rock the shoulders.  I had to adjust to feeling what square was though. 

I also found with time that I putt best if I keep a lighter pressure of the grip on my left forearm.  I want to touch, but lightly.  Not pressing in firmly. 

 

 

 

 

 

17 hours ago, biglefthander said:

I love the idea of it but play most of my golf these days on public courses in the south and the greens are too slow for it so I've moved back to a traditional putter

 

I would revisit it if I ever get back to a region where the greens are stimping good

 

40 minutes ago, kjmtthws said:

Used a Bettinardi Armlock for about 2 years.. 

 

Long story short, I was having a terrible time with 6-8 footers that I felt I should have made more regularly.. Tried an armlock at a local big box store and the head felt really stable.. My wife is from chicago and we went to visit family and got fitted at the Bettinardi factory one afternoon.. Love the crap out of it for a while.. Felt like the head was super stable and I expected to make all 6-8 footers for really long time.. Even converted some guys at my club to get their own armlock versions. 

 

However, ultimately the honeymoon phase wore off and I was having a terrible time with feeling like I could get any speed on lag putts correct.. I could get the line correct, but was always 10 feet short on long putts or 10 feet long on long putts.. 

 

Ultimately have gone the way of LAB and couldn't be happier -- but I am sure the honeymoon phase of this will eventually wear off too in a couple of years 

 

 

Thanks for this.

 

I went ahead and picked one up for testing this off season.  I’m looking to convert more putts inside 3- 8 feet, and eliminate 3 putts inside of about 25.

 

i play on generally lower public green and the lag putting was/is my concern with the arm lock