My Edel Putter Fitting

[amac]

Had a great visit yesterday with my Edel fitter.  I hit several putts outdoors and he immediately said "something doesn't sound right!"  He covered the face with erasable marker and I hit some more putts.  Clack, clack, clack.  I was hitting the top 1/3 of the putter face every time.  Nothing in the center.  Back to shop.

We checked the loft vs the spec sheet and found the putter to be at 4* vs 2*, as ordered.  Made a quick adjustment and went back to the putting green.  Everything changed!  The sound had a soft, sweet ping and the ball kissed the face at impact and went rolling to the hole.  More marker on the face and more putts to hole.  Impact was now dead center, inline and between the heel and toe dots.  This is the feeling I was looking for.  Problem solved!

I did ask him about the article I read and why he put me in this particular putter.  He gave me the subjective line of reasoning.  Rules of thumb are just starting points, not absolutes.  I felt better after that.  I then asked about my current putter grip vs. the Edel stock.  As for weight, he said my Winn Lite grip is probably lighter than the stock Edel and that it shouldn't have any impact on my putters performance.  He had me hit 5 putts from 30' and I had them all within 2'.  10 footers went in the hole or just by.

What I learned…  Trust your instincts.  If you've custom ordered something and it doesn't feel right, then it probably isn't.  Have it re-checked for accuracy.  Second, if you get fit for Edel clubs, you should return to your fitter after you've played with them for at least 4 rounds and them have them checked.  As for their putters, my fitter said the metal is very soft and can get out of spec pretty easy - think throwing your bag into trunk and putter at the bottom, bag falling on ground and landing on exposed part of putter, leaning hard against your putter while on the green.  He mentioned all these as possibilities that will put stress on this metal.  He suggested I come back every 3 months to have it spec tested.

Hope this helps and I'm back to being a proud, loyal Edel club player!

[boil3rmak3r]

He suggested I come back every 3 months to have it spec tested.

Did the fitter recommend a checkup every 3 months for Edel putters specifically, or imply that all putters should be checked periodically? I drove 2 1/2 hours for my fitting. There's no way I would be willing to travel that far for a checkup. It seems strange to me that Edel would manufacture putters that are that much more susceptible to bending than other, high quality manufacturer's... I'm glad the putter is working better now. When I received mine, I loved it from the get-go. I, too, have 2* loft and counterbalance weighting. The ball just rolls so much better than it ever had before. It's scary to know that I probably have a 5* or 6* lofted putter sitting in my garage that I bought off the shelf years ago.

[iacas]

Did the fitter recommend a checkup every 3 months for Edel putters specifically, or imply that all putters should be checked periodically? I drove 2 1/2 hours for my fitting. There's no way I would be willing to travel that far for a checkup. It seems strange to me that Edel would manufacture putters that are that much more susceptible to bending than other, high quality manufacturer's...

I've had my putter a long time and it's not fallen out of spec. I think visiting every three months is overkill. Checking up on things every three years isn't. But three months is ridiculous. It sounds like they just want him back every so often.

[amac]

I agree with iacas. However, I will be more mindful of how I treat my putter.

[amac]

Putter has been sounding and feeling great ever since I had the tweak done!  I've made more 5 footers the last two rounds that have lead to lower scores. : )  Also, I changed out my grip to one that closely resembles the old GP Pride Special.  I love this grip.  It gives great feedback and I believe has increased my touch on short putts.  Previously, I had a Winn oversized pistol grip.  I just couldn't get a feel for it.  All of the foam padding between your hands and the shaft equals NO FEEL.

[Stretch]

Got my putter today from the fitting at the PGA Show. It is quite choice, in my opinion, and works well on the practice green. Tomorrow on the course!

[RFKFREAK]

Got my putter today from the fitting at the PGA Show. It is quite choice, in my opinion, and works well on the practice green. Tomorrow on the course! [URL=http://thesandtrap.com/content/type/61/id/92437/] [/URL] [URL=http://thesandtrap.com/content/type/61/id/92438/] [/URL] [URL=http://thesandtrap.com/content/type/61/id/92439/] [/URL] [URL=http://thesandtrap.com/content/type/61/id/92440/] [/URL]

So, how do you like it? :)

[Stretch]

Like it a lot. Distance control is decent and my confidence over the short putts is good. Can't quite decide if the stock, round TackiMac grip is for me or not in the long run. It's a little firm. Might put a SuperStroke Mid Slim 2.0 on. But otherwise I can't see myself changing putters for a while. (Never say never, obviously.)

[iacas]

Like it a lot. Distance control is decent and my confidence over the short putts is good. Can't quite decide if the stock, round TackiMac grip is for me or not in the long run. It's a little firm. Might put a SuperStroke Mid Slim 2.0 on. But otherwise I can't see myself changing putters for a while. (Never say never, obviously.)

Just be wary of the way the weighting and feel will change… as will your distance control.

[Stretch]

Yeah, I'll talk to the Edel guys first and see what they recommend to keep the counterweighting the same etc. Have a good club fitter here who can do the necessary. May also just never make the change.

[darksen]

Anyone have experience in AZ fitting?

[shakogolfer78]

Just read an article in GolfWeek about counter weighting and I guess I am not too familiar with the concept. When I got fit for my Edel (5 yrs ago) they added weights to the bottom of the shaft and to the grip end of the shaft until I was consistently controlling my distance. I have since changed from the standard round grip to a Winn grip. How much of an effect would this have on the performance of my putter. Could I just go back to my fitter if I wanted say a super stroke and they could have me test my distance control and add weight to the grip to balance my putter out if needed?

[GolfGuns]

You were probably fitted with a round Tacki Mac which I think is about 50g. Not sure what your Winn is but my Edel Lamkin is about 73g. I was fitted with the Tacki Mac and had the Lamkin on since new. Given the shaft is counter weighted and more weight is toward the grip I think the difference in weight between different grips is less noticeable.

[newtogolf]

Just curious, how long does a Edel putter fitting take?

[iacas]

Just curious, how long does a Edel putter fitting take?

Ours take about 45 minutes.

[newtogolf]

Ours take about 45 minutes.

I have to find a few days to get to your place so I can get fitted and take an AimPoint class.  I like my current putter but I'd feel better knowing that what I was using was fitted for my exact putting motion.

[Ernest Jones]

I have to find a few days to get to your place so I can get fitted and take an AimPoint class.  I like my current putter but I'd feel better knowing that what I was using was fitted for my exact putting motion.

I had a mini version of the fitting process, about 15 minutes. Long enough to be a real eye opener. I "thought" I could aim my putter just fine, turns out I close the crap out of the face at address and then hit pushes that keep it online. Problem with that is your consistency sucks because you need to subconsciously manipulate the crap out of the putter to hit your lines. I was a little nervous in Erie so, needless to say, I couldn't hit my lines to save my life. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go putter shopping. :-(

[Golfingdad]

Since Erik posted on the forum sometime back about Edel putters and the way you are fit for them, I have wanted to go get one. The thing is they aren't cheap. They aren't much more than an off-the-rack Scotty but still, not cheap and on top of that the closest place to be fit was 2 1/2 hours away so not exactly close either.

Anyways, thoughts of getting one had been in my head for a while and when the "Seemore v. Edel" thread popped up it kind of renewed my interest in them, especially since I currently use a Seemore putter. In that thread, Clambake talked a little about his fitting and after PMing back and forth with him a bit on the subject, I was convinced it was a good idea for me so I managed to set aside the necessary funds and convince the wife that it was a good idea and made my appointment with Sheri at the San Diego Golf Institute to get a fitting.

My fitting was yesterday and I must say that I was very impressed. To start, Sheri rolled out the fitting cart to the practice green and set up a black screen with a white disk the size of a hole in front of it. Starting with my putter (which had a mirror attached to the face) I aimed a golf ball at the "hole" which was shooting a laser at the ball. Sheri would remove the ball and see where the laser was being returned to on the screen. We discovered that with my putter I was a left aimer. However I had the toe WAY up off the ground which she showed me in some video and pictures that she took. After changing my setup a little so that the toe was more down I went from a left aimer to a right aimer. From there we tried 4 of the 6 different head shapes (she only tried one mallet with me and left out one of the blades) and played around with different hosel styles until I started to get the ball closer to the hole. I should note that through this entire time I wasn't looking at the screen to see where I was aiming as she said doing so would make me try to get it right. We narrowed it down to two different head shapes (the last two in the picture) and she said from there it was really my choice as I had aimed them both equally well. I went with the slightly thicker one as the other looked two thin to me. From there she used a stencil to draw different combinations of dots and lines on the top and in the cavity of the putter to fine tune the aim. We settled on two lines on the top. Throughout the process, she also changed the face of the putter to change the loft. She said with my current putter, I wasn't getting the ball rolling quick enough (she showed me this on video) and on the screen my aim was too high. We also messed around with the length of the putter and ended up going with something shorter than I had (I already was down to a 33").

After the aiming process was done we worked on getting the weight correct and she had me putt to a string about 15 feet away with the goal of trying to stop it on the string. I couldn't do it with any combination; heavy, light, weight in the butt, shaft, or head. I struggled getting the balls to stop on the line. However, she noticed that all of my balls were at least stopping in the same place with the heavier combinations, just well beyond the line and and decided to have me putt to holes instead. She mixed up the lengths of the putts and after changing weights a few times we found one that put me at the hole nearly every time (and I made quite a few as well).

So the putter I ended up with is the second one from the right in the picture above with two lines on top... It will have 2° of loft and is 32" long. The head weight it 370g with no weight added to the shaft or butt of the club. I also opted to have the Pixl insert on my putter. Sheri had me put with hers for a few minutes to make sure that I liked the feel of it, which I did. I'm going to have the dancing "EDEL" stamped on one side with "TH85" on the other. I chose black and red for the paint fill and TH will be in one of those colors with "85" in the other. However, I couldn't decide which one for each so I told Sheri to choose and surprise me, so I'll know when the putter gets here. I chose the red headcover, however she said that one may be out of stock so if they don't have it, I'll end up with the black.

I was very impressed with Sheri and the entire fitting process. She worked very hard to find the right combination for me even though I made things somewhat difficult (she said that I was kind of backwards with my aim in that what normally makes people aim more right had me aiming more left and vice versa). If you are in the market for a new putter or constantly switch putters I'd recommend doing this process. If you are anywhere in SoCal, go down to see Sheri at SDGI as I can say without a doubt that she'll do an excellent job for you.

I know that this is kind of a long post, but it was a very in depth process and I wanted to try to convey the amount of work that is put into finding the right putter. I'll update this thread later with pictures of my actual putter when it arrives, but if you have any questions for me about the fitting or whatever, let me know.

Well, I finally did it.  The wife was very supportive and we decided it was my Father's Day present.  The guys (Sheri and Jack) in San Diego are no longer Edel fitters, so I ended up going to Brent Mann, in Beverly Hills.  He has a small studio in the basement of a doctor's office building right near Wilshire/Santa Monica/Rodeo Drive, and it was kind of hard to find.  I think they might have some celebrity clients down there (there was also a gym down there) that prefer to be out of the way.

Anyways, the process was pretty similar to Tristan's so I'll go a little quicker.  We started with my current putter aiming at the laser from about 8', and surprisingly, I was consistently about 4" right of the hole and even more surprisingly, about 16" up off the ground. So after several iterations, we ended up in blade head with the concave back (4th from left in Tristan's top pic), with an "L" shaped hosel with some offset.  I still wasn't quite right ... until he switched out to a shorter shaft.  34 1/2" I think ... about 1" shorter than my current putter.  We then tinkered with some different aiming lines, and I ended up the most consistent with no lines at all.

After this we went over and started messing with weights in the club to dial in some distance control.  Lastly, I tested out the difference between the solid face and the face with the pixel insert.  I loved the feel of the insert (a little softer) and liked the idea that it was providing me a little "forgiveness" on off-center hits.

I'm not terribly creative, so when it came time for the stamping/personalization stuff I didn't have a lot of ideas.  Went with red and blue paint fill, and "DREW" on the hosel.

All in all, I was pretty pleased with the process and cannot wait until my putter arrives!!  (He guessed 3 or 4 weeks)