Putter Loft?

[APowell0057]

I often leave putts short due to the ball bouncing early in the putt. I putt crosshanded with my hands VERY far back. Think opposite of the forward press. Should I have the putter delofted?

[Shindig]

It sounds to me like your stroke is effectively scooping the ball on the putts by adding significant loft at impact. It's actually a fault that tends to arise from insufficient loft on your putter.

If you have an alternate putter that you don't hate, but that isn't your favorite, hanging around somewhere, I'd suggest adding loft to that putter - make it about 5 degrees. You'll want to adjust the lie angle too (probably closer to 68 degrees), otherwise the face will look hooked at address. Try this with a forward press: if you're a good enough player with the problems you describe from putting, I would bet that a weekend of practicing this will drop a shot or two per round from your score.

[deronsizemore]

  APowell0057 said:

I often leave putts short due to the ball bouncing early in the putt. I putt crosshanded with my hands VERY far back. Think opposite of the forward press. Should I have the putter delofted?

If your hands are as far back as you say, then yes, you'll likely want to de-loft the putter. Most putters have 3-4 degrees of loft so if your hands are that far back, then you've likely got 7-8 degrees of loft which I cannot even imagine putting a ball with that much loft.

Zach Johnson comes to mind as one person who has his hands back rather than forward pressed. If I'm not mistaken, Zach's putter has zero degrees of loft.

  Shindig said:

It sounds to me like your stroke is effectively scooping the ball on the putts by adding significant loft at impact. It's actually a fault that tends to arise from insufficient loft on your putter.

Your advice is solid assuming he wants to completely change his putting style. He never mentions doing that though. Adding loft will make the face set closed at address as you stated, but adjusting the lie angle doesn't do anything to counter act a loft adjustment (I've asked Scotty Cameron reps about this very thing since I've adjusted my own putter a lot). I like my own putters at 68 degrees but giving someone general advice like this (like you just read it in the Stan Utley book and repeated it) isn't going to help him if you don't know anything else about him and how he putts. 5 degrees of loft and 68 lie isn't going to work for everyone.

[Shindig]

  deronsizemore said:

Zach Johnson comes to mind as one person who has his hands back rather than forward pressed. If I'm not mistaken, Zach's putter has zero degrees of loft.

You are correct on both; I had forgotten about Zach Johnson, and I assumed that the mention of the hands back was a fault he was working on fixing.

  deronsizemore said:

I like my own putters at 68 degrees but giving someone general advice like this (like you just read it in the Stan Utley book and repeated it) isn't going to help him if you don't know anything else about him and how he putts. 5 degrees of loft and 68 lie isn't going to work for everyone.

While I did get the idea initially from the Utley book, it's something I've been using for some time now. It's also something I feel is of far better use in general than most off-the-rack numbers.

[APowell0057]

sorry guys, I feel like I'm a good putter as a lot of the balls that end up short because they start bouncing early in the putt, are actually on line. I don't plan on changing my stroke at all. Where should I go though? Living in a small town makes it really tough to get the right information. Edwin Watts maybe?

[James_Black]

  APowell0057 said:

sorry guys, I feel like I'm a good putter as a lot of the balls that end up short because they start bouncing early in the putt, are actually on line. I don't plan on changing my stroke at all. Where should I go though? Living in a small town makes it really tough to get the right information. Edwin Watts maybe?

if you don't want to change anything and the ball ends up short..... hit it harder?

Are you hitting up on the ball?

[Shindig]

  APowell0057 said:

sorry guys, I feel like I'm a good putter as a lot of the balls that end up short because they start bouncing early in the putt, are actually on line. I don't plan on changing my stroke at all. Where should I go though? Living in a small town makes it really tough to get the right information. Edwin Watts maybe?

Alright, there's the information I was missing.

Checking if you're hitting up on the ball is the first step. Lowering the loft can reduce the impact of it, by making it more effectively flat at impact. You could conceivably change the ball position without changing your stroke, too.

[tatertot]

Have you thought about a YES! or Rife putter? The grooves get the ball rolling sooner - and bouncing or skidding less. Plus, the Rife has very low loft.

[James_Black]

  tatertot said:

Have you thought about a YES! or Rife putter? The grooves get the ball rolling sooner - and bouncing or skidding less. Plus, the Rife has very low loft.

my YES! putter has 2.3* of loft so that's another option I guess as well.

[deronsizemore]

  Shindig said:

While I did get the idea initially from the Utley book, it's something I've been using for some time now. It's also something I feel is of far better use in general than most off-the-rack numbers.

I agree. I changed my grip and lie angle to match that of Utley's teaching a while ago and seem to be a better putter as a result, could just be I'm practicing more too...

I went to a 68 degree lie but went to a 3 degree loft on my Cameron. I don't like to forward press enough to where I need 5 or 6 degrees of loft. I can't imagine having a putter with that much loft on it, actually.

[calvie7]

  tatertot said:

Have you thought about a YES! or Rife putter? The grooves get the ball rolling sooner - and bouncing or skidding less. Plus, the Rife has very low loft.

I would suggest taking a trip to Denver, CO and visiting the YES! putter factory. You can buy a putter there or take one that you bought elsewhere in. They'll adjust anything you like and they are the same guys there that travel and take care of the pros on tour that use their products. The YES! does roll the ball faster so that will help you, but so will the fitting. I did it once after purchasing a YES! used, they were amazing so was the experience! I would take a trip, play some golf and visit the Rocky Mountains. You won't be sorry!