LAB and the Zero-Torque movement (junior edition)

[MB19]

About 18 monts ago, our pro noticed my daughter checking out his LAB putter while she was warming up in the hitting bay.  The pro says he'd just been fitted for it, and he loved it so far.  My daughter tells him that one of her friends from Orlando (a top 13yo in FL) had one in her bag last tournament, and thought it looked cool.  She didn't actually try one out until a trip to Golf Galaxy several months later, but she and her brother both seemed obsessed with it and liked it.  As they both had Spider GTx which were fairly new at the time, I didn't think much more about it.

 

Fast-forward to last month, where I got a report from my dad that this same Orlando friend had drilled two 30' putts and a few more 12-15' putts to save a round that wasn't going so well en route to winning a small event while paired with my daughter.  My father, just trying to be a helping grandpa, had gotten from the girl's father (it's not unusual that we talk to this girl's parents through the round) that she had become a dedicated student of one of the state's best AIM Point instructors.  I was with my son during all this, but the next event I saw her father and he was very forthcoming in saying we absolutely needed to start seeing this putting guru. He's always been direct while still being kind--a line few can walk as well as he does.  The kids learned AIM Point late in the summer, but didn't retain the last bit of it real well (measuring breaks with straddling the putting line, holding the hand out for calibration cheifly).

 

While my daughter's putting has improved dramatically the past several months, uphill putts past 15' are still quite an achilles heel and her medium putts should be dropping a little more.  After watching several reviews on Zero-Torque putters, I can't help but wonder if one of these putters would be a great tool for my daughter's leave-it-short syndrome and my son's pull-it-left miss.  In combination with finishing up their knowldedge of AIM Point, it seems this could be a great way for them to shave off strokes.

 

I also can't help but to wonder if these putters won't be outlawed at some point due to them giving too much of a stability advantage.

 

Has anyone gone through a fitting? Removed one from the bag?  I'm curious as to what everyone is seeing and going through with zero-torque putters.

[AC168]

I bought one for me and think it’s great.  I’m going to wait until my son will need a 32” or so putter and I will then custom order one for him then.

[leezer99]

Here are your 2024 best putters on the PGA Tour. I tried finding their 2024 WITB but a couple date back to 2023.

 

 

A big part of why people are having success with the LAB is because they are actually going through a fitting process. You might be able to do the same with whatever OEM you decide to go with. But if you've got $500+ and six weeks to wait maybe LAB is the way to go. 

 

Plus, you might want to wait and see what Bryson drops pretty soon. 😉

[MB19]

On 12/27/2024 at 4:20 AM, leezer99 said:

Here are your 2024 best putters on the PGA Tour. I tried finding their 2024 WITB but a couple date back to 2023.

 

 

A big part of why people are having success with the LAB is because they are actually going through a fitting process. You might be able to do the same with whatever OEM you decide to go with. But if you've got $500+ and six weeks to wait maybe LAB is the way to go. 

 

Plus, you might want to wait and see what Bryson drops pretty soon. 😉

All great input, thank you for posting all of this.

 

Odyssey 7 making a strong showing with the putting titans.  Bought used 7 AI Cruiser for my daughter to try out (which she loved at Golf Galaxy messing around), and she didn't like it enough to knock the GTx Spider out of her bag after a couple weeks' tryout... was surprised by this, because that 7 was very good IMO.

[leezer99]

9 hours ago, MB19 said:

All great input, thank you for posting all of this.

 

Odyssey 7 making a strong showing with the putting titans.  Bought used 7 AI Cruiser for my daughter to try out (which she loved at Golf Galaxy messing around), and she didn't like it enough to knock the GTx Spider out of her bag after a couple weeks' tryout... was surprised by this, because that 7 was very good IMO.

 

Odyssey 7 is the best putter ever made IMO. Unchecked but I'd say it's the most copied profile after the Anser. 

[Archimedes65]

On 12/26/2024 at 4:29 PM, MB19 said:

I also can't help but to wonder if these putters won't be outlawed at some point due to them giving too much of a stability advantage.

 

Yeah, I don’t think you have to worry about that.

[darter79]

 

On 12/27/2024 at 3:20 AM, leezer99 said:

Here are your 2024 best putters on the PGA Tour. I tried finding their 2024 WITB but a couple date back to 2023.

 

 

A big part of why people are having success with the LAB is because they are actually going through a fitting process. You might be able to do the same with whatever OEM you decide to go with. But if you've got $500+ and six weeks to wait maybe LAB is the way to go. 

 

Plus, you might want to wait and see what Bryson drops pretty soon. 😉

more like 8 weeks and closer to $700 if you custom fit or change anything. But get fit never know you might come out standard like my kid did. 

 

But several other OEM coming out with their own zero torque versions 

[leezer99]

4 hours ago, darter79 said:

 

more like 8 weeks and closer to $700 if you custom fit or change anything. But get fit never know you might come out standard like my kid did. 

 

But several other OEM coming out with their own zero torque versions 

Here’s how it would go for me. Over research putters for a month. Spend another month deciding if it is actually worth it. Step back for another month because another oem has something coming out. Decide to buy the LAB and wait the 8 weeks. He starts putting better and not want to change putters.

[leezer99]

 

[mojomover]

Our entire family is a LAB putter family, including myself and my 12/9yr old. It is a bit of an overkill for the 9yr as the putter costs as much as the rest of the bag, but that’s the club she really needs the most help with 

 

I find that the putters are really good, stable and forgiving. It took me a bit of time to get used to and my 12yr a bit less time to get used to and my daughter found it easiest to adapt. I maintain fairly diligent stats for all of us and it roughly saves my 12yr old about 2 shots and my 9yr 2shots/9 holes (based on change pre post after getting the putter)

[Orange Hog]

My daughter’s swing coach ran through some putting drills with her during the last lesson.  It took him all of about 10 seconds to recognize her putter was far from ideal for her, so he suggested getting fit for a LAB.  I’m a big time LAB loyalist and had a shorter DF2.1 at home that was my first I ever owned.  Figured I’d let her try it on the course to see what she thought of the shape and feel.  While the specs aren’t perfect for her she was immediately more confident on lag putting and pretty much anything inside of 7 feet.  It’s definitely a chunk of $$$ but I’m going to get her custom fit next week with her coach.  It’s transformed my game and I think it’ll do the same for her.

[MB19]

On 12/27/2024 at 4:20 AM, leezer99 said:

Here are your 2024 best putters on the PGA Tour. I tried finding their 2024 WITB but a couple date back to 2023.

 

 

A big part of why people are having success with the LAB is because they are actually going through a fitting process. You might be able to do the same with whatever OEM you decide to go with. But if you've got $500+ and six weeks to wait maybe LAB is the way to go. 

 

Plus, you might want to wait and see what Bryson drops pretty soon. 😉

I thought of you the other day when I tried out putters at Moon Golf in Viera.  There was used semi-beat-up Odyssey 2-Ball there, and I couldn't believe how easy it was to allign and putt with.  I'm a terrible putter by most accounts, but this thing may have made me average.

[leezer99]

5 hours ago, MB19 said:

I thought of you the other day when I tried out putters at Moon Golf in Viera.  There was used semi-beat-up Odyssey 2-Ball there, and I couldn't believe how easy it was to allign and putt with.  I'm a terrible putter by most accounts, but this thing may have made me average.

After the Odyssey 7, the 2Ball is the next best putter IMO. 

[LawGenius305]

It's the Indian!!

[MB19]

5 hours ago, LawGenius305 said:

It's the Indian!!

Even they upgraded to rifles, eventually.

[LawGenius305]

58 minutes ago, MB19 said:

Even they upgraded to rifles, eventually.

Have you seen some of the aim with rifles in the movies? It is still awful.

[MB19]

3 minutes ago, LawGenius305 said:

Have you seen some of the aim with rifles in the movies? It is still awful.

The marksman from Yellowstone didn't have any problems with a long gun and a good optic.

[darter79]

On 1/30/2025 at 8:36 AM, LawGenius305 said:

It's the Indian!!

 

It always is but if the Indian is using a broken arrow still going to miss the target. 

[LawGenius305]

42 minutes ago, darter79 said:

 

It always is but if the Indian is using a broken arrow still going to miss the target. 

 

True Dat.. 

[MB19]

4 hours ago, darter79 said:

 

It always is but if the Indian is using a broken arrow still going to miss the target. 

[BallsBreakFast]

On 1/28/2025 at 4:27 AM, leezer99 said:

After the Odyssey 7, the 2Ball is the next best putter IMO. 

So many people swear by the Ody whitehot #7...my kid still games an original one that was handed down to her by her coach.  I know a few people that were anxiously anticipating the #7 square-2-square that was just released after giving the LAB DF3 a go.

[leezer99]

5 hours ago, BallsBreakFast said:

So many people swear by the Ody whitehot #7...my kid still games an original one that was handed down to her by her coach.  I know a few people that were anxiously anticipating the #7 square-2-square that was just released after giving the LAB DF3 a go.

 

Tried the Sqaure to Square Odyssey 7 at Roger Dunn the other day. It made me feel all tingly inside. 

[BallsBreakFast]

7 hours ago, leezer99 said:

 

Tried the Sqaure to Square Odyssey 7 at Roger Dunn the other day. It made me feel all tingly inside. 

Its a relative bargain for US$ 300 vs 2-2.5x the price for a LAB. 

[Golfingdawg19]

My daughter is looking at trying either the Bettinardi antidote or the Lab OZ.1i. She is waiting for the OZ.1i to come out before she makes a decision. She wants to check both of them out. 

[MB19]

On 2/1/2025 at 12:23 PM, BallsBreakFast said:

Its a relative bargain for US$ 300 vs 2-2.5x the price for a LAB. 

While the #7 Square looks like a crazy-good putter, the fitter at my local shop quesioned if it was indeed a true zero-torque putter.  He tried to balance it right in front of me after balancing all five LABs he had there and it didn't settle like the LABs did.

 

Now, this may mean very little in terms of its worth as an all-around putter--but it was pretty interesting IMO.

[BallsBreakFast]

40 minutes ago, MB19 said:

While the #7 Square looks like a crazy-good putter, the fitter at my local shop quesioned if it was indeed a true zero-torque putter.  He tried to balance it right in front of me after balancing all five LABs he had there and it didn't settle like the LABs did.

 

Now, this may mean very little in terms of its worth as an all-around putter--but it was pretty interesting IMO.

I believe the Callaway site says it's toe weighted. It's not "lie angle balanced" like LABs.

[Golfingdawg19]

My daughter just got the OZ1i and loves it. She doesn’t get excited about many things so I was shocked. We will see how the results go. 

[BallsBreakFast]

Saw this today and managed to putt a few before the wife dragged me away...

[MB19]

I took my daughter in for a LAB fitting yesterday at Moon Golf in Vero Beach, and the main fitter (Jordan) was really thorough through the whole process.  

 

After watching her putt with her gamer, then taking several measurements to calabrate, he set us up with an OZ1, OZ1i and DF3 models.  THe calabrating was done on a dummy Mezz-lookng model with an adjustable shaft and hozel (and maybe a smal level on it?).

 

No Mezz models there, unfortunately, but they did have a wide variety of lie angles and shafts (the TPT is STIFF!) for us to try.  Our fitting lasted for about 40 minutes, trying several different kinds of putts with different models and shafts.

 

Going into the fitting, I had no intention of buying a putter that day--but I did have a small box of clubs to trade in my truck just in case.

 

We walked out with a DF3, as that's what she felt most confident in over the ball.  The thing is just point-and-shoot. 

[DennisGolf99]

MB19, may I ask what putter did she use prior to DF3? Is the LAB putter any good for longer putt?