anyone here using "face on" or "saddleside" putting style

[danieldrieberg]

I've changed my putting style to a face on or sidesaddle putting style. Results are I rarely three putt now and any thing inside 10 feet seems like a slam dunk.

Maybe its just getting away from the traditional style. Over the years gremlins seemed to imbed themselves in that stroke. Maybe its the binocular vision. Maybe its just feel.

My putter looks somewhat like this one. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Winged-Cente-Shafr-Face-Forward-Side-saddle-Long-or-Belly-Putter-CUSTOM-BUILT-/320870662392?pt=Golf_Clubs&hash;=item4ab561c0f8 .

The putter I use has a back cavity which I filled with melted lead to get a HEAVY head. With the long shaft this loaded head allows me more feel.

[adamgoodman]

A comedian died last night, and nobody cares.  Nobody cares but me.

[logman]

Yeah, I.ve gone to the L2 putter. It's sort of side saddle and sorta not ......go to the L2 website. I'm loving the L2

[Stretch]

I think the binocular vision is the big thing. Not much doubt that sidesaddle removes a big source of aim bias/error for a lot of people.* My guess is it's going to get more popular -- but that will depend on how much stigma continues to attach to "doing it differently".

* Try this little demonstration. Find a flat 10 footer, line it up and get over the ball in address position. Then have a friend slowly push a coin or ball marker across the line of your putt somewhere up towards the hole. Tell him to stop when the coin is directly between your ball and the hole. Then repeat the exercise while standing behind your ball. Most people will be far more accurate the second time.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by Stretch

I think the binocular vision is the big thing. Not much doubt that sidesaddle removes a big source of aim bias/error for a lot of people.* My guess is it's going to get more popular -- but that will depend on how much stigma continues to attach to "doing it differently".

I have my doubts, actually. 80% of people can't even line up their lines on golf balls inside the hole from 10 feet away.

[TheShark]

Originally Posted by iacas

I have my doubts, actually. 80% of people can't even line up their lines on golf balls inside the hole from 10 feet away.

I tried it with a longish putter, bent my shaft to 10 degrees but the weights are all wrong. If they change the rule and allow straight up and down shafts then I will try it again

[danieldrieberg]

Originally Posted by adamgoodman

A comedian died last night, and nobody cares.  Nobody cares but me.

What have we become?

Another Watchmen fan. Do you see the the similarity in one of the themes Moore presents in the novel and the recent Zimmerman story? Kinda sad.

BTW your choice of quotes is by far on of the best  events in the Novel. Uttered by a black and white character ironically steeped in true irony which he is not equipped to recognize.

[danieldrieberg]

Originally Posted by TheShark

I tried it with a longish putter, bent my shaft to 10 degrees but the weights are all wrong. If they change the rule and allow straight up and down shafts then I will try it again

I tried side saddle with a left handed double bend shaft which has the effect of a straight up and down shaft when putting right handed. Done this way to get the proper amount of lie angle required by the GUARDIANS OF THE RULES. The weighting was all wrong. I had trouble keeping the head from twisting while committing to the stroke.

As far as strange looking. May I quote Lydia from the BeetleJuice movie. Well, I've read through that handbook for the recently deceased. It says, 'live people ignore the strange and unusual. I, myself, am strange and unusual." I'm pretty comfortable with that thought.

[ryanf]

I just ordered a side-saddle reverse-shaft (double bend) putter.  Can't wait to get it and do some practicing!

[zipazoid]

I'd rather see side-saddle putting than long putters. Al least side-saddle is a stroke.

[OldDuffer]

I took the plunge and purchased a face-on-style putter (Bobby Grace F-35 'Let's Face It') two months ago, and have been practcing diligently in my house.  Not ready to take it to the course yet (because it is -4 deg. F here in Northeast Ohio currently...).  I am hopefully optimistic (read: desperate), as the dreaded yips derailed my game last year.  Still refining ball/feet position, and grip, in order to consistently make solid contact.  Not ready so far to try looking at hole instead of ball when swinging (see contact issues above).

[Lihu]

Decision 16-1e/1 prevents us from standing astride our line of putt. I used to tap in my 4 footers like this with ease, and found that I could make some pretty long putts like this. "Side Saddle" sounds like a great idea, but it looks so awkward .

I know that if I could straddle the line of putt that I could easily take off 4-6 putts from my 36 per round average. . .

[OldDuffer]

It is a little weird standing with most of my weight on my right leg, and leaning to the right to get my head over/behind the ball. I can see that Sam Snead's original croquet style would have been easier.  But, per the USGA, maybe too easy.  I won't really know until I get out on the course in the Spring (whenever that finally arrives here) whether the 'binocular vision' provided by side saddle putting really helps my distance control.  But I do think this is worth trying for an old guy like me who otherwise might be driven from the game by the yips.

[DrvFrShow]

I've gone to a Michelle Wie stance directly over the ball, but I have both arms anchored to the body at the elbows. It's a split grip on the club and I checked with a couple pros in the area about "under the upcoming rule putting stroke rule", my left hand stays perfectly still and flexes at the wrist, and my right arm sets the putter in motion. I'm still working on distance control, but once I have that, it's very accurate.

[joekelly]

Own stock in the pharmaceutical sector , do we Julia?  Yes, MWie's style is much better performed by women than men, and there you have it over the stiff old boys, but in the long run, including personal age, practicing such a posture MIGHT result in serious back agony and then, a reliance on the big pharma pills to control the pain, stiffness and soreness.

I sincerely hope not but seems to me that ease of posture in golf putting is the best way to go.  Coz in no other stroke, IMO, does tension play a greater negative role.  If your back muscles, tendons, etc,  are under tension due to holding you up, like a bridge suspended by cables hooked to one tower only, that back of the body tension leaks into the shoulders, upper back, neck, etc.  This upper body tension may be due to many factors, physical and psychological, but as it increases so does the forearm and wrist stiffness increase, all resulting in a lack of fluidity, hence a 'jerky' motion and a missed putt from 3 feet.     Even the slightest of jerks will lead to no good.

[Brentflog]

How do you like the f35. I have just switched to side saddle and the f35 makes the most sense but I can't get myself to spend 375 just to try it out.

[OldDuffer]

I actually like the F-35 very much.  I had a 'conventional' Bobby Grace mallet before (the Triumph), so I was accustomed to (and very much wanted to continue having) the 'multi-rebound radial face' and the extremely high MOI.  It did take me several months to get used to 'face-on' putting, and its really only in the past few weeks that I see some significant improvement, as I have finally settled upon a preferred stance, ball position, grip, etc.  Definitely easy to get putts started on line, and I'm getting better at distance control,

[JazzFatCat]

That's a great looking putter. It looks like there is no angle to the shaft? I think that is ideal for face-on putting.

I tried face-on putting for about a year when I first got my long putter 6 years ago. It was good for putts under 10 feet but I had a hard time getting good on distance control for longer putts because I couldn't see how far back the putter head was going. When I casually hit short putts (3 feet or less) I still use the face-on method.