I have to admit that I’m pretty cynical about some of the newer golf equipment that promises this or that and costs a small fortune to add to your bag.
The fine folks at Roenick Golf certainly have put a smile on my face as they’ve come up with something that is pretty ingenious and won’t force you to take a second mortgage (good luck getting one of those these days).
If you’ve read this column in the past, you might know that I’m a blade guy when it comes to putters (and it better have a plumbing neck to boot!) but I think I may have to scout out the Crossbow sometime soon. Might I have to rethink my ways? Who knows but read on to find out about this rather intriguing putter.
Technology
The Roenick Golf Crossbow Putter XB-10 is a mallet-style putter that is precision milled from 6061 aircraft-grade aluminum. It features some fancy technology called “Adjustable Alignment Technology” (or the clever acronym AAT) and was designed to help correct visual misalignment, which for putting, is pretty important.
The Crossbow putters feature an interchangeable heel-toe weight system that allows you to get a custom feel and provides the flexibility to adapt to various shaft lengths (no one size-fits-all putter here!). Rounding out the looks department is the black anodized finish (looks sinister), which reduces pesky sun glare and helps improve sightline visibility.
Why go to all this trouble? Well, let’s face it: if you have an issue with visual misalignment, the odds are pretty good that you spend your time on the greens three-putting. Whether it’s eye dominance or eye convergence or a putter not fit to you, if you can’t visulize and align yourself to your target line, it’s going to be a long day. Just being off a degree or two and you stand virtually zero chance of succeeding (which is depressing).
If you screw up your alignment, you’ll need to attempt to try something to get it to the hole. A great deal of golfers learn to make a compensating stroke in order to correct their visual misalignment. As with anything in golf, if you have to compensate for something, it just leads you down the dark road of inconsistency.
Most of the putters on the market today help you out by getting your eyes over the ball, address your intended target line, and influence putting stroke. That’s fine except the assumption is that you are properly aligned in the first place.
According to Roenick Golf, “research indicates that more than 80% of golfers have difficulty aligning to within 1° of their intended target line. If a golfer strikes a 10-foot putt with the clubface 1° off line and does not make a stroke to compensate for the misalignment, he will miss. Additionally, we observed that visual misalignment is consistent for the majority of golfers and can be corrected.” Correct your alignment + no compensation in your putting stroke = more drained putts. Sign me up!
By utilizing the Adjustable Alignment Technology (AAT) in the Crossbow putter, your visual alignment will be corrected (bye, bye misalignment) and when properly adjusted, the Crossbow Putter XB-10 will allow you to correctly address your intended target line with the clubface making the compensation rather than you have to make a compensating swing. With being properly aligned to your target, all you need to do is relax and make a confident stroke.
Adjusting
There are several ways to adjust the Crossbow Putter XB-10, some simple and some for the more scientific golfer “geek” in mind. The easier method is the Greenside Calibration while the more involved kind is the Laser Calibration method. I’ll take the easier road.
Adjustments are made “by inserting a tool into the hole in the back, loosening a screw, moving the aligner (arrow) to the proper angle and tightening the screw. Each protraction mark on the Crossbow Putter is equal to ½° with the longer marks indicating 1° while the short marks indicate ½°. The aligner always points to the optimum point of contact on the putter face (sweet spot) so it does not deflect the ball when struck.” Seems simple enough and falls into the category of “why didn’t I think of that?”
Specifications and Availability
The Crossbow is available for both men and women and both models work for righties and lefties. Standard loft is 3.5° with a lie angle of 71° (customizable +/- 2°). Shaft type is either heel (Double Bend) or center (Straight) and comes in a multitude of lengths including Standard (31-37″), Belly/Mid (37.5-43″), and Long (43.5-53″).
The head weight is varied from 360-380 grams and can be changed with the interchangeable heel and toe weights (love the customization factor). The sinister looking black anodized color helps to cut down glare and a custom fit silver/red headcover rounds out the Crossbow.
So how much will this set you back? A lot less then I would have thought. The Crossbow putters come in at a cool $150 ($10 upcharge for the Belly/Mid and $20 for the Long) which for a club you’ll use 30+ times during a round seems to be a steal in this day and age. Order one today from the online shop and start taking your money off of your buddies.
Final Thoughts
With writing a weekly equipment column, I see some absolute garbage floating around that promises longer, straighter drives, fixes your slice, and helps you to sink more putts, so needless to say, I’m a very skeptical consumer.
Having said that, the Roenick Crossbow is one of those rare pieces of golf equipment that certainly catches my eye (even though I’m more of a blade guy) and I’m eagerly hoping to try one out soon to see if delivers the goods.
Wow, I can see it now, miss a drive, adjust the driver, miss a putt, adjust the putter, miss a drive, adjust the driver, miss a putt, adjust the putter, miss a drive, adjust the driver, miss a putt, adjust the putter, miss a drive, adjust the driver, miss a putt, adjust the putter, miss a drive, adjust the driver, miss a putt, adjust the putter. This could be the best money maker for a stup like me who don’t know how to use a wrench.
Excellent post!
I’ll have to look into this putter. I like your comment “if you have an issue with visual misalignment, the odds are pretty good that you spend your time on the greens three-putting. Whether it’s eye dominance or eye convergence or a putter not fit to you, if you can’t visulize and align yourself to your target line, it’s going to be a long day”.
This is so true. If you have a any kind of alignment issue (many are unknown to the average golfer), putting will not come naturally to you.
The Adjustable Alignment Technology sounds very intriguing – probably the way of the future for putters.
The next thing the USGA should limit is the size heads on putters; this is ridiculous looking. This is also not that innovative; adjustable weights and shafts have been available in putters for some time, maybe not on the same model. I share the skepticism of Gary. A good putter can putt with just about anything. A bad putter can do the same.
Inclined to agree with Gary and AJ except I’m pretty sure you aren’t allowed to adjust anything on the course; before and after yes, during a round…no. I’m more worried that people will cheat by making those adjustments during a round.
The manufacturers _know_ this’ll go on but they don’t care which I think is an abdication of responsibility. Still, the rules officials could outlaw this sort of thing if they wanted to but I bet they’re worried about shouts of “restraint of trade!”.
Golf is a game of honor. If a person does that, they’ve likely been cheating at ten or eleven other things in the game for years already.
That, or they’re ignorant to the rules – which also means they probably cheat (“unknowingly”).
The responsibility does does not lie with the clubmakers. To make a conforming club? Sure. To make sure it’s not used to break the rules? No.
I really don’t care if one adjusts his putter between each putt rules or not. If I were a betting man it could mean a fortune for me.
If you ain’t got it right before you play – it ain’t gonna get better!!
I’m an old trapshooter and some years back someone invented an adjustable stock for a shotgun. Well a few understood you just adjust it once and leave it alone, others adjust it every time they go to the line. Guess which ones take home all the money?
I tried one of these putters today at the florida golf show in tampa. I was putting about 3* left on my alignment after three puts and the rep. adjusted the arrow approx 3* to the left and when i tried it and did my alignment the putts were going straight at the hole.It was done with the lazer.