Z Factor - Best Training Aid Ever

[iacas]

Here's the only tip you'll ever need to putt well: get a Z Factor and use it.

Full review is here, and I encourage everyone to read it . Start saving your pennies. Don't get a new driver. Get a Z Factor.

[BASHERBAKER69]

can i ask if Erik already has one?

300 dollars is a lot to spend on aputting stroke!

[gogolfing]

I watched Fore Inventors Only and was very intrigued by this product. I inquired about getting it in Canada and there is a distributor. But, like many I was leery of the price tag. I wanted to hear from some people who have used it to see the benefits and drawbacks of it. This review has answered a lot of these questions for me, and I am probably going to pull the trigger. In a short time of using it, 2 stokes off a round because of putting. I'm sure a new $500 driver wouldn't have the same benefit for me. I usually save up for one major golf purchase per year, and this year it will more than likely be the Z Factor.

One question Erik; I have a mallet putter. Would a 2 Ball SRT work fine in it with the necessary placement of the magnets etc...?

Thanks for the review.

[tmoult]

Yeha ive seen advertised alot now... $500 is alot of money for a putting stroke tho....

[MrKadash]

A member at my club owns one -- I looked at it closer last week but didn't get a chance to try it. He says it has worked wonders helping build a repeatable putting stroke, however the jury is still out on the impact it has had on his scoring.

[immts007]

Good review, and it sounds like a useful device. But I will have to wait till these start showing up on eBay as it is waaaaay out of my price bracket.

One of my favorite drills from 2007 was the yardstick drill. I'd bend a metal yard stick into a slight arc, hold it in place with tees, and put the heel of my putter against the yard stick while stroking putts. I figured it was a good way to groove an arc stroke.

For now, I'll save the money and try the yardstick...

[Pinseeker81]

It looks cool, but I doubt it would work with my putter. I'm not sure it's $300 worth of cool though.

[iacas]

One question Erik; I have a mallet putter. Would a 2 Ball SRT work fine in it with the necessary placement of the magnets etc...?

Just a few days ago I hooked up a two-ball putter. It was one of the steel insert ones (with the steel insert inside the white polymer other insert). You just put sticky pads on, as I said in the review - works just fine.

Since I have a few 33" putters that look approximately the same (Newports, Red Xs, etc.), I leave the metal pieces stuck on them 24/7 at home. I practice my stroke with it. Then my gamer putters (two of them) can just stay in my bag.

Yeha ive seen advertised alot now... $500 is alot of money for a putting stroke tho....

$300, and that's U.S. dollars, so given the strength of the U.S. dollar isn't that like $12.75 in Canadian money at this point?

Not saying you're Canadian... just that it's not $500. It's $299.

It looks cool, but I doubt it would work with my putter. I'm not sure it's $300 worth of cool though.

It works with all putters. I hope to have made that clear in the review.

[Pinseeker81]

I was looking at all the pictures on their site and the thing is defenatly bigger than I first thought it was. I was just worried that my new tri-ball wouldn't fit right cause of the abnormal size of the putter head.
I guess even if it didn't I could just use an old blade putter in it.

[iacas]

I was looking at all the pictures on their site and the thing is defenatly bigger than I first thought it was. I was just worried that my new tri-ball wouldn't fit right cause of the abnormal size of the putter head.

It'll work with just about any putter. Maybe not that Ping DOC 17 thing or whatever it was, but even the TriBall SRT should fit just fine.

Ideally you'll want to use the same putter you use, too.

[Pinseeker81]

The thing is looking better and better the more I stare at it. Now to convince my wife $300 is a good investment after I almost swore the game off this morning, lol.

[nykfan4life]

Is it really that great? I might just get this.

[LastPrankster]

Having too technical of a putter stroke can be a bad thing. If all you do is rely on technique and mechanics, you lose feel. Most of the best putters in the world have really well trained feel.

Definitely not worth $300.

[JaY_B]

For £50 (unsure of the prices in America) you could buy this training aid ( clicky ) Which appears to have the same effect as what you have recommended, but for a fraction of the cost.

[iacas]

Having too technical of a putter stroke can be a bad thing. If all you do is rely on technique and mechanics, you lose feel. Most of the best putters in the world have really well trained feel.

That's one of the dumbest things I've heard today. Admittedly, it's only 8:30am, but I think it'll hold up...

Very little about using the Z Facto is "technical." Feel is distance - and admittedly the Z Factor won't help you with distance control. But good distance control is crap if you're starting the ball off-line every time and never know where your stroke is going to send the ball.

For £50 (unsure of the prices in America) you could buy this training aid (

Well let's see: it's not adjustable, it's not going to guide the face angle (just the path), and it promotes only a square-to-square stroke, which Dean will tell you almost nobody uses (for good reason). My "metal yardstick" drill "worked" too and cost a lot less, except that it didn't really work all that well...

[gogolfing]

Having too technical of a putter stroke can be a bad thing. If all you do is rely on technique and mechanics, you lose feel. Most of the best putters in the world have really well trained feel.

I think this would actually help get away from the technical thinking that could disrupt rhythm. I think it would ingrain more of a feel of what a good stroke feels like, and that is one of the main reasons why I am considering getting one. Sure the $300 is going to get people to shy away from it, but I don't think that is because it is a bad product in any sense. As I said in an earlier post, for most, buying a $400 driver probably won't be knocking off 2 strokes per round, but this just might.

[JaY_B]

Well let's see: it's not adjustable, it's not going to guide the face angle (just the path), and it promotes only a square-to-square stroke, which Dean will tell you almost nobody uses (for good reason). My "metal yardstick" drill "worked" too and cost a lot less, except that it didn't really work all that well...

Sorry, did not mean to upset you, but when you compare £50 to £150 ish (assumed cost at current exchange rates) then the £50 model that 'only' encourages a straight back and straight through putting stroke looks more inviting.

Heck, Iacas I agree with you the Z factor training aid looks awesome, but its a lot of £££

[Pinseeker81]

Think of it this way, if Cameron or somebody came out with a $299 putter that gave you a perfectly repeatable putting stroke and shaved 2 strokes off every round instantly, they would fly off shelves. Why not something that does it with your current putter?