Profinity Putting Guide by Hank Haney

[bunkerputt]

I found a putting guide at Golfsmith for $12.  It seems to only contact the putter on the shaft a few inches above the hosel.  The putter can swing freely to the inside because the contact portion is perfectly straight (looking down the shaft plane).  Have any of you used something like this for ingraining a straight stroke?  AFAIK, I haven't had any problems putting the ball straight and couldn't tell if the product was working as intended, but there were no corrections required to my stroke, or was useless garbage.  Did I get away with a steal of a deal here?

Here it is:

[B-Con]

I opened the thread expecting to see a lot of censored words... Then realized my mistake. Anyway, off-topic... :D

[bunkerputt]

Originally Posted by B-Con

I opened the thread expecting to see a lot of censored words... Then realized my mistake.

Anyway, off-topic... :D

I think the funnier part is that I mentioned not having a problem putting the ball straight.  It's those masse putts that are giving me some trouble. .  I mean ingraining an on-plane stroke that rolls the ball straight down the line, not pushing or pulling it.

[Harmonious]

All profanity aside, I have tried something very similar.  The heel of the putter sits against the sloped edge.  During the stroke, the heel should not move off the device. And you can immediately tell if your putter face gets off square.

It seemed to work pretty well for me.  I found it hard to keep the heel against it for the first 10 or so tries; it got better after that. If you have an exaggerated arc stroke, it probably won't work as well.

My touring pro friend says that many of the guys on various tours use something similar to keep their stroke ingrained.

[The_Pharaoh]

Originally Posted by Harmonious

I found it hard to keep the heel against it for the first 10 or so tries

These training aids are great. I always putt better on the course when I practice using one of them beforehand. It looks easy to keep the heel on the device back and through, but as Harmonious says it is trickier than you'd expect.

I use two, one for short putts which is straight and one for longer putts which is slightly curved.

[bunkerputt]

So I went out and used it yesterday and I think it can cause some issues.  For one, attempting to keep the heel square to the plane, and consequently, the club face square to the target line has it's own issues.  You end up pulling more putts than delivering the face square.  I think other products solve this issue by having you contact a straight rail with the putter shaft instead of having the back of the heel contact parallel to a flat surface.  The straight rail allows the putter head to stay square to the intended delivery path and keeps your path from hooking or slicing the putts.  More importantly, having the right path makes it easier to get the face square, which is all that really matters in putts anyway.  This product forces you to shut the face going back and open in going through if you are going to maintain consistent surface contact with the putter heel and the plane.  For that purpose, I've found it a waste of time.  But if you just let the putter open and close naturally, the right corner of the heel is in contact on the back stroke, and the left corner of the heel is in contact on the through stroke.  I find it at least worth $12 if you allow for that unintended, albeit critical "abuse" of what they are trying to get you to do (mind you it didn't come with instructions, so I really don't know if they want the face square to the target at all times).  Probably the biggest thing it helps with is lining your feet up square to your delivery path.  It also helps you to relax because you know the stroke is square.  You can just kind of set up to it and put it on autopilot, enjoying the consistent rolls that result.

[Harmonious]

As stated earlier, if you have an exaggerated arc (open the face going back, then closing it going forward) this is not the gadget for you.  But it may show you that your putting stroke is, in fact, too much of an arc and should be changed. It may "seem" like you are shutting the face going back because you are used to it being open.

[bunkerputt]

Originally Posted by Harmonious

As stated earlier, if you have an exaggerated arc (open the face going back, then closing it going forward) this is not the gadget for you.  But it may show you that your putting stroke is, in fact, too much of an arc and should be changed. It may "seem" like you are shutting the face going back because you are used to it being open.

It takes extra muscles to do that motion.  I can feel it in my forearms.  It also takes a lot of timing to undo the contraction at the right time on the down stroke.  Do people really putt like that?  It seems obvious that it requires more effort.  If you tilt your spine a little instead of turning the shoulders during the stroke to swing the putter head it's easier to keep the heel on the device, but I never thought of my obliques as the source of speed and distance control in my putting stroke.  You can use this device with a swinging gate kind of stroke as well.  Just learn to hear the click when the heel is square at the ball.