Putter type discussion: Mallet, Mid-mallet, Blade

[Howie]

Hey guys,

As my game improves, I want to take a closer look at possibly improving my most important scoring club, the putter. I've used mallets since I've started, and I am curious about taking a look at the other alternatives. I feel a mallet helps me keep in line on my stroke, but lacks any sort of feel. Also, a mallet has the surface that allows a more exact setup.

A blade seems to be a best bet for feel, which I am still learning. But I am not sure if I fully grasp what that feel should be. I will test some blades as the golf season begins.

Some advice or opinions on this and other thoughts? Thanks for the info.

[Elvisliveson]

You need to match your putter to your stroke. A faced-balanced mallet works best with a straight back straight through putting stroke. A blade works best with an arc (in-out-in) stroke.

[Wahoo]

I think that it really comes down to personal preference, so I would try a bunch of different putters out and see what works best. You'll see a lot of top pros (like Jim Furyk, Padrig Harrington, Rocco Mediate) using large mallets. I've always been a fan of the mid-mallet, which seems to offer a good balance between foregiveness and feel and allows for some alignment aids. My favorite is the Odyssey #9, which has the size of a mid-mallet, but is weighted much more like a blade (toe hangs around 5 o'clock).

[i-Guy]

You need to match your putter to your stroke. A faced-balanced mallet works best with a straight back straight through putting stroke. A blade works best with an arc (in-out-in) stroke.

Ditto...great advice.

However, what does one do when from 15 feet and out they tend to putt on an arc but from 10 feet in they tend to putt straight back and through??? I had been struggling with this and finaly decided to learn how to make putts from ten feet in using the arc stroke as it feels more natural to me...I find that it is in the set up (ball more in the middle of my stance with a heel/toe weighted putter) that makes me more successful on shorter putts...

[DavidFehertysBike]

Ditto...great advice.

Very very true. The longer the stroke, the more it will naturally arc. If you have a long rythmic stroke in general then you might prefer a blade putter. A short compact stroke might be better suited for a mallet.

The key is that you have to realese a heel-toe weighted putter or youll lose putts to the right. Ive was struggling with that and working with a face balanced putter for awhile kind of got my stroke back on track. So there are many different ways you can approach putter style. Go with your gut instinct, not what your head tells you what you need.

[FHopper]

I have spent the winter buying putters and trying them out at home. I like them all, remember you also need to pick the shaft location and neck you like. this is some, (I need to take some new photos. Note the mid shaft semi mallet, (Rossa Monte Carlo 7 ), which is face balanced, it has a lot of feel. Here is one. http://cgi.ebay.com/TAYLORMADE-ROSSA...item20afa70bb2

The Rossa Suzuka is a toe balanced semi mallet. Here is one. http://cgi.ebay.com/New-TaylorMade-R...item19ba2a0051
And my Inza is a face balanced full mallet, it is balanced because I have the weights set that way. Here is one. http://cgi.ebay.com/TAYLORMADE-GOLF-...item2c53392fed
I also Have a Rossa Daytona 1 which is a toe balanced anser type blade. Here is one. http://cgi.ebay.com/TaylorMade-Rossa...item19ba1bf793

The putters are all very affordable and you might want to do what I have done and simply pick up a cross section of putter types and see what you like. I will probably use them all on different courses.

[Howie]

The key is that you have to realese a heel-toe weighted putter or youll lose putts to the right.

Can you clarify a little more on what you mean on this? Thanks!

[etlreams]

Are you using a mallet style putter with an insert? If you like the mallet style, and - as others have pointed out - it fits your putting stroke....then perhaps try a putter with a different face. I switched from an insert faced putter to a milled face putter and I find I like the feel of it much better.

[Howie]

Are you using a mallet style putter with an insert? If you like the mallet style, and - as others have pointed out - it fits your putting stroke....then perhaps try a putter with a different face. I switched from an insert faced putter to a milled face putter and I find I like the feel of it much better.

I'm using the Odyssey Sabertooth, which I believe is a mallet with an insert. The past few years I was taught to use a pendulum type of stroke, which I believe is suited to the mallet. I am willing to try other styles if it can increase my consistency or allow me to learn feel.

[Elvisliveson]

That's exactly what I did. I used the Sabertooth a few years ago when it first came out, as I was still using a SBST stroke. Never had problems lining things up or with mishits, but I felt I never had any feel either, especially for distance on the long putts. Decided to go back to an arc stroke like I had when I was young and concentrate on feel. I started with a small non-moi mallet, then to a heel-toe blade all the way to a traditional toe-balanced blade and haven't looked back.

[i-Guy]

That's exactly what I did. I used the Sabertooth a few years ago when it first came out, as I was still using a SBST stroke. Never had problems lining things up or with mishits, but I felt I never had any feel either, especially for distance on the long putts. Decided to go back to an arc stroke like I had when I was young and concentrate on feel. I started with a small non-moi mallet, then to a heel-toe blade all the way to a traditional toe-balanced blade and haven't looked back.

Exactly my story as well..I putted with the Sabertooth for about 6 months and basically made everything inside of ten feet but could not lag putt to save my life and I practiced it A LOT...I then made a commitment to go back to putting with feel and an arc stroke and I have gotten my avg putts per round down to 30. I still have to work hard practicing short putts but my 3 putts have decreased a lot...

[andef]

i played with a blade for a few months as it was the standard putter in my beginner set. i purchased the odyssey mallet in my sig and cannot argue with the improvements i have made in my putting. i now hole more putts and the softer insert is helping me lag putts closer to the hole. although i love the look of blades (i like them much more than mallets) and i would love to own a classic putter like an answer or a newport 2, i'm not ready to switch to a blade until my putting has become one of the strongest parts of my game (it currently isn't as i average about 33 putts per round)

[Crey23]

Elvis, I had some issues with that myself, and here si what I found...Feel means nothing if I'm inconsistent!

I had a blade TM Daytona CBG #1, and switched to a Rife Mr. Beasley and immediately improved my putting. How, I became far more consistent in my trajectory, which is a reason most people switch to mallets vs blades. Mallets tend to maintain the face in the path you intended better. Since I got the Rife my putting average went from 2.6 to 2.2 in few rounds. I was making more 1 and 2 putts than before.

Now regarding feel....IMHO Odessey putters lack just that ...FEEL!!! When I started to play last year, all I wanted was an Odessey putter (2 or 3 ball mallets), after all if Dave Pelz recommends them and uses them I figured they would be good for me. I actually found that that was not the case. I perceive better feel from the TM Itsy Bitsy Spider and the rife putters, and with any Odessey putter. To me these putters are rather flat, and the sweet spot is far too small...sure you hit it dead center it glides, but the rest of the face is dead.

Check out the Rife and the TM Itsy, you may find these to have great feel .

[DavidFehertysBike]

Can you clarify a little more on what you mean on this? Thanks!

A heel-toe weighted putter (the blade putters you are thinking of) are designed to slightly open and shut. Like a door. Look up the terms

toe hang and toe flow either on this site or google. If you dont let the toe of the putter realese to slightly closed as you strike the putt, youll leave the face open and push it off to the right (or left for lefties) I was having a problem with this a few months ago.

[ControlJunkie]

I don't know that I'd agree with you about mallets not having any feel. I just bought a Scotty Cameron Red X #3 a couple weeks back (Damn it feels good saying that! ) as a replacement for my old-ass Ping Anser. Okay, maybe not a replacement, maybe the better word is a "relief pitcher" . Anyway, I think it has just as much feel as my Anser does, it's just a bit heavier. I think weighting plays a very important role in the feel of a putter, just as it does in all clubs. With all my other clubs, I know for a fact I'm sacrificing a little bit of swing speed for the heavier weight, but I'm cool with it. Because of the heavier weight, I feel like I'm much more conscious of where the club is at all times. I think the same applies to putters.

With that said, not all blade-style putters are necessarily light. You can get a SC Newport that's just as heavy as the Red X is, if not heavier. And if Scottys arent your thing, you can always find the putter you like and then add some lead tape.

My other putter is an Odyssey White Hot Rossie. I putted ok with it, but thought that it definitely lacked feel compared to the Anser and the Red X. I'm not putting them down them by any means, but I just think the big face insert takes away from the feel a good bit. All of this is just my opinion, so take that for what it's worth. Of course the added benefit of that insert is forgiveness. That's part of the reason I wanna try out the Nike Method. There is an insert, but it's grooved into the face, so it's like you have a combination of milled face and insert face. I still wonder how much feel it really has though....

[Elvisliveson]

A Scotty Cameron Red-X is not a large, high MOI mallet like the Odyssey Sabertooth.

[i-Guy]

As far as feel of a putter...the face type (insert / no insert /milled) is personal choice as to how the ball feels off the face...i actually think the ball you play can have a lot to do with this as well...however, I will have to say that my putting experiences have lead me to milled face putters as they feel very good to me and more importantly the ball feels like it comes off the face more consistently then any other type of putter I have tried...just my 2 cents...

[ControlJunkie]

A Scotty Cameron Red-X is not a large, high MOI mallet like the Odyssey Sabertooth.

Okay, mid-mallet, is that better???