What does a Counter Weighted Putter Accomplish?

[596]

To counter weight or not, that is the question.

 

So why counter weight a putter? What does it accomplish?  What type of stroke does it improve? What problem, if any, does it solve?  Why bother?  What does weight at the top of the putter do to the stroke?  

 

I use a center shafted Ricky Johnson 506 Wide Body. 38" length. I grip well down the grip most of the time.  I alternate between a standard and claw grip.  I could probably get away with a 35" putter.  But why counter balance it?

[Glock917]

Its just simple physics and it is all about the balance point.

 

All putters have a balance point and most are near the head right, so imagine lengthen it 6" and go extreme by placing a 5lb kettle bell on the end. It will raising the balance point close to your chest or abouts.

 

That will make it easier to swing in terms of the exertion of force your wrist do. 

 

So while any counter balancing accomplishes that it does it do it to that extreme to zero out the force needed but just lessens it. 

 

I do not see any downside in doing it except making a club heavier and you carry like i do haha

 

 

[jarediogolf]

With the counterweight everything moves together. The overall feel is more stable. Best thing I can like it to is a basic video camera stabilizer rig which essentially is a big counterweight. 
 

I extended my putter to 38” and put a 100g counter weight and a 17 inch grip. 
 

Everything became more stable, distance control got way better, and I don’t feel like I need to apply pressure to keep the head from lagging behind in my stroke. 
 

Of all my club tinkering, this has been probably my most successful experiment. 

[DE-ILLINI]

For me counter balanced putters smooth out my stroke.  I feel like I can make a smoother take away and keep the putter better moving on my intended line.  I have not tried putters with extended shafts.  I have messed around with small weights in the butt end of the club or used a SuperStroke grip which allows the addition of a weight.  The SuperStroke grip is a great way to experiment with this because you can switch the weights without pulling the grip.

[HGLucky13]

I found that it stabilized my hands better. I could see a visible shakiness to my hands before, my hand path was all over the place. Now that I have a counterbalanced putter, along with heavier weights in the head, that has gone away. As a side effect I have less tension in my hands and a lot smoother stroke.

[Maine Golfer]

I just installed one with hopes of it feeling more stable in my hands take away. Less jitters 

[Maine Golfer]

Checking in, im a true believer. Didn't 3 putt anything on my first 9 of the year, made a 20 footer as well. Will convert over other putter's i own. 

[TNwanabe]

Stability is the biggest thing I take away from it. 

[Maine Golfer]

I didn't 3 putt anything my first day out with it. I love the feel, its hard to twist or do silly things on the take away with it. 

[Mike_C]

I picked up a Ping B60 recently, and decided to regrip with a Superstroke grip after a couple rounds with it.   Totally changed the feel, now it feel to me is too head heavy which I don' t like, I need to add  some counter weight.  I guess the stock rubber grip was quite heavy.....

[J13]

Counter balance is good for some and not so much for others.  All depends on your stroke type.  If you tend to be more short linear you would most likely benefit from a counter weight.  

[BHI 99]

With 38” putter you’re pretty much already there. 

[vanderputts]

I'm in the process of testing a CB putter now after a recent bout of fighting pushes and pulls. 

 

Not new to CBs but haven't gamed one in a long time. I need to quiet my hands and smooth my motion a bit both back and forwards. 

 

CB does that for me in practice, we'll see if it translates on the course. Friends that have tried it, and there are quite a few, have putted lights out. Miles better.

[BallsBreakFast]

I noticed that the LAB OZ1 putter is now available with a counterweight option.  Has anyone purchased or tried one?

[TonyRo]

On 3/17/2025 at 11:36 PM, jarediogolf said:

Best thing I can like it to is a basic video camera stabilizer rig which essentially is a big counterweight. 

This is a pretty great analogy. I think that's basically the gist of it - the closer you move the center of gravity of the entire putting system to your hands, the more stable it will feel - the less stroke/head wobble you'll feel. The downside is that some find the added weight (the heads are usually ~ 25-50g heavier and the longer shaft + grip weight as well) affects their speed control. 

Worth referencing this oldie but goodie, see the "Weight and Whole-Club Balance" section: https://www.tutelman.com/golf/design/special4.php

[jarediogolf]

7 hours ago, TonyRo said:

This is a pretty great analogy. I think that's basically the gist of it - the closer you move the center of gravity of the entire putting system to your hands, the more stable it will feel - the less stroke/head wobble you'll feel. The downside is that some find the added weight (the heads are usually ~ 25-50g heavier and the longer shaft + grip weight as well) affects their speed control. 

Worth referencing this oldie but goodie, see the "Weight and Whole-Club Balance" section: https://www.tutelman.com/golf/design/special4.php

So I have this 38” 100g counterweight setup on a lightweight Ping B60 head. 
 

I played the Ping because I like the distance control better than mallets. After I did the counter weight distance control became even better especially on longer putts. 
 

All that to say you don’t need a heavy head with a heavy counterweight. 

 

[TonyRo]

21 minutes ago, jarediogolf said:

All that to say you don’t need a heavy head with a heavy counterweight. 

Totally true! The industry as a whole just generally seems to be moving towards a heavy-headed mallet as the main CB offering is all. LAB heads are around 400g, the Odyssey Jailbird CBs are 380g, the new Scottsdale Craz-E is 370g, etc.

[smoky25]

I have a tendency to take the putter back outside and a CB SuperStroke with a 25g wt. fixed that for me.

[Jtgavigan]

For me, it really helped my speed control. I added an Optivibe down the shaft and another counterwight in the end of the grip. See my signature for the exact setup. Speed control improved immediately. Got the idea from an Edel putter fitting video. 

[bannermannn88]

A few weeks ago there was a long line at my local PGATSS when I was just popping in to grab some balls so I killed some time trying putters I usually never look twice at. 
 

I picked up a new Cleveland HB2 #11 38” CB and felt like Ty Webb showing Danny how to putt. I had to laugh. It was so good. Once I saw the price tag I figured it’d be a (relatively) cheap and fun experiment and took it home. I really do like the concept and would recommend trying it to any of my friends if they were going through some putting woes. 

[cptfeeezies]

On 3/24/2025 at 10:00 AM, J13 said:

Counter balance is good for some and not so much for others.  All depends on your stroke type.  If you tend to be more short linear you would most likely benefit from a counter weight.  

Do you mean short, linear stroke in the sense of having very little arc?