Ban Belly Putters?

[Shorty]

Originally Posted by Valleygolfer

I say keep em. Ban the anchor point. Club should not be in contact with the body.

So you don't like belly putters, but chin and chest ones are Ok. Why is that?

[Jmdmbike]

Only if it matters - on this topic either you think these putters should be banned or not. Just wade right in. What's your view? Ban them or not?

[Valleygolfer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Valleygolfer

I say keep em. Ban the anchor point. Club should not be in contact with the body.

So you don't like belly putters, but chin and chest ones are Ok. Why is that?

They would be included dink

[sean_miller]

As far as equipment that looks non-traditional (i.e. embarassing) I'd be okay with banning belly putters . . . right after they ban 460 cc drivers.

[Snakey]

They should be treated the same as the groove issue.... ban them after a certain period to give a transition period. When you use a belly or broomstick putter you have lost the battle,it's like bowing to the inevitable and wearing sweat pants all day. Instead of fixing the problem people take the easy option.

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by Snakey

They should be treated the same as the groove issue.... ban them after a certain period to give a transition period. When you use a belly or broomstick putter you have lost the battle,it's like bowing to the inevitable and wearing sweat pants all day. Instead of fixing the problem people take the easy option.

Oh yeah, I forgot that belly putters were allowing players to approach the game in such a way that a lot of classic courses are becoming obsolete.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by sean_miller

Oh yeah, I forgot that belly putters were allowing players to approach the game in such a way that a lot of classic courses are becoming obsolete.

That's not why the grooves were changed. They were changed to re-shift a little more emphasis back to driving accuracy.

Also, this thread isn't about the grooves. :)

[ApocG10]

Originally Posted by pixel5

I voted yes because I just think they look dumb. I don't see many winners using long putters as compared to guys who use normal ones, so if there is an advantage it must have more to do with the head than the game itself.

You couldn't have been watching very closely.

[ApocG10]

Ban em everywhere but the champions tour and senior tournaments.

[BMac0223]

Has there ever been a study to show that anchoring a putter results in more accurate putts?  I don't believe that it gives you any sort of advantage.  The best players in the world putt traditionally and I think they always will.  Can you imagine Tiger being any better with a broomstick?

[x129]

If Tiger started with a broomstick at 4 and spend the past 30 years with it, sure I can imagine him being better. One of the putting guys (I wish I could remember who) has come out saying the top guys  like Tiger and Luke Donald strokes are better from a repeatibility point of view than the best anchored putter. Is that because the traditional stroke is better if you master it or is a result of if your an insanely good putter, you don't waste time looking at belly putters. I am guessing it is more of the latter than the former.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BMac0223

Has there ever been a study to show that anchoring a putter results in more accurate putts?  I don't believe that it gives you any sort of advantage.  The best players in the world putt traditionally and I think they always will.  Can you imagine Tiger being any better with a broomstick?

[iacas]

Originally Posted by BMac0223

Has there ever been a study to show that anchoring a putter results in more accurate putts?  I don't believe that it gives you any sort of advantage.  The best players in the world putt traditionally and I think they always will.  Can you imagine Tiger being any better with a broomstick?

The people who use it clearly feel it's an advantage to them or they wouldn't be using them. Additionally, you could be a lousy putter with a regular putter but an average putter with a belly putter, so you'd see no "advantage" when looked at from the wide perspective but you'd have to look at individual results.

Regardless, advantage or not, that's not why I would ban them. I don't think it's a true "stroke" in the golf sense.

[bplewis24]

Originally Posted by sean_miller

As far as equipment that looks non-traditional (i.e. embarassing) I'd be okay with banning belly putters . . . right after they ban 460 cc drivers.

[WUTiger]

As people get older, many start to have occasional hand tremors. This forms the physiological basis of the putting yips which many senior tour golfers complain of, as did retirees I once caddied for.

Golf has a problem of falling participation, over and above the discretionary-income shrinkage triggered by the recession. If golf wants to grow, it must make itself more attractive to participants.

Many early US golf holes emphasized bunkers toward the side and back to gather in gather shots which golfers rolled through the green.  Golf had much more of a ground game in the early 1900s than it does today. Then, US courses took a turn toward favoring a more lofted shot. This didn't destroy the game, it gave it more variety - US vs. British style

Circa 1930, Gene Sarazen invented the sand wedge: This clubhead carried a metal flange that allowed the club  to skim the surface of bunker sand rather than dig in. This made bunker shots less terrifying, but it did not destroy the game. Just ask Tiger and Graeme McD if bunker shots are still challenging.

Taking lofted shots a step further, golfers now have lob wedges of up to 64* or so to pop the ball up in the air from desperate lies of all varieties. This was a response to the arms race to make courses tougher with deeper bunkers, more plateau greens, and rough that gets fertilized and watered. I would cut off wedges at 56* loft to discourage the construction of overly brutal holes, but I don't have much support in the view. And, I don't lose sleep over it.

Now there's the issue of longer shafted putters. No evidence indicates that longer putter players are suddenly winning all the pro tournaments. And, longer putters evidently stabilize the stroke of older players, and players of lesser athletic ability. Maybe more fun on the greens will increase golf participation, increase number of rounds each year, and help stem the game's decline.

IF someone knows of 17th Century murals in which townfolk stone a golfer for having too long a club, please let us know the location.

If you really think longer putters make the game too easy, and more people playing golf - and playing longer - is ruining your enjoyment of the game, why not sell your clubs and try another sport?

[mlf16507]

Long live belly putters!  3 out of the last 4 major winners used belly putters-Bradley,Simpson and Els

[iacas]

Originally Posted by WUTiger

Now there's the issue of longer shafted putters. No evidence indicates that longer putter players are suddenly winning all the pro tournaments. And, longer putters evidently stabilize the stroke of older players, and players of lesser athletic ability. Maybe more fun on the greens will increase golf participation, increase number of rounds each year, and help stem the game's decline.

"Suddenly winning all the pro tournaments" is not the point many people who support banning them are making.

And the old people with the yips can learn to overcome them without resorting to a belly or long putter. Or should we just let them throw the ball down the fairway because they've lost length, too?

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by iacas

Quote:

Originally Posted by WUTiger

Now there's the issue of longer shafted putters. No evidence indicates that longer putter players are suddenly winning all the pro tournaments. And, longer putters evidently stabilize the stroke of older players, and players of lesser athletic ability. Maybe more fun on the greens will increase golf participation, increase number of rounds each year, and help stem the game's decline.

"Suddenly winning all the pro tournaments" is not the point many people who support banning them are making.

And the old people with the yips can learn to overcome them without resorting to a belly or long putter. Or should we just let them throw the ball down the fairway because they've lost length, too?

No, of course not. We all chip in with higher fees and build them an extra set of tees so they can still continue to have birdie putts.

[Valleygolfer]

Originally Posted by WUTiger

As people get older, many start to have occasional hand tremors. This forms the physiological basis of the putting yips which many senior tour golfers complain of, as did retirees I once caddied for.

Golf has a problem of falling participation, over and above the discretionary-income shrinkage triggered by the recession. If golf wants to grow, it must make itself more attractive to participants.

Many early US golf holes emphasized bunkers toward the side and back to gather in gather shots which golfers rolled through the green.  Golf had much more of a ground game in the early 1900s than it does today. Then, US courses took a turn toward favoring a more lofted shot. This didn't destroy the game, it gave it more variety - US vs. British style

Circa 1930, Gene Sarazen invented the sand wedge: This clubhead carried a metal flange that allowed the club  to skim the surface of bunker sand rather than dig in. This made bunker shots less terrifying, but it did not destroy the game. Just ask Tiger and Graeme McD if bunker shots are still challenging.

Taking lofted shots a step further, golfers now have lob wedges of up to 64* or so to pop the ball up in the air from desperate lies of all varieties. This was a response to the arms race to make courses tougher with deeper bunkers, more plateau greens, and rough that gets fertilized and watered. I would cut off wedges at 56* loft to discourage the construction of overly brutal holes, but I don't have much support in the view. And, I don't lose sleep over it.

Now there's the issue of longer shafted putters. No evidence indicates that longer putter players are suddenly winning all the pro tournaments. And, longer putters evidently stabilize the stroke of older players, and players of lesser athletic ability. Maybe more fun on the greens will increase golf participation, increase number of rounds each year, and help stem the game's decline.

IF someone knows of 17th Century murals in which townfolk stone a golfer for having too long a club, please let us know the location.

If you really think longer putters make the game too easy, and more people playing golf - and playing longer - is ruining your enjoyment of the game, why not sell your clubs and try another sport?

So can I play golf wearing this:

Since anchoring the putter is legal....