Anchored Pros Switching - How Are They Doing?

[Golfingdad]

Rules of this thread:  It is not about the merits of the proposed rule change.  It is not about the rule at all, so let's not digress into any arguments that belong in this thread.

OK, now that that is out of the way, here is my thought:  I am interested in following along with the guys who need to make a change over the course of the next 19 months, and how they are going about doing it.  So if you read a story about Adam Scott practicing with a short putter, or something like that, post it here.  I may be the only one, and this thread will die a quick death, but if anybody else finds it interesting, maybe this will take off.

I'll go first:

I just read yesterday that Keegan Bradley went "anchorless" for the first round of the Memorial on Thursday. ...

Quote:

Bradley did not use a belly putter for the first time in his PGA Tour career, and it worked out just fine. He knocked in a 12-foot birdie putt on his opening hole, added four more birdies for a 5-under 67 and was one shot out of the lead among the early starters at Muirfield Village.

"I'm totally in a trial period here," said Bradley, whose best score in eight previous rounds was a 71. "I'm not in any way saying I'm switching for good from now on. This is just for right now and this week."

Whole story here: http://www.chron.com/sports/article/Belly-free-Keegan-Bradley-shoots-67-at-Memorial-5513772.php#photo-6372187

[Gunther]

I found it interesting Keegs used the exact same putter but 6" shorter or so. Same set-up, same stroke. I've always thought that he is one who would improve with a short putter cuz that would force him to get his eyes more over the ball. This was not the case and as such, his putting was mediocre, as it is with the belly.

[mvmac]

  Golfingdad said:

I just read yesterday that Keegan Bradley went "anchorless" for the first round of the Memorial on Thursday. ...

Yeah it was a counter balanced Sabertooth. He'll be fine, good for him for trying something different.

[Golfingdad]

  mvmac said:

Yeah it was a counter balanced Sabertooth. He'll be fine, good for him for trying something different.

Yeah, I suspect that all of these younger guys will be fine.  Especially the belly guys like Keegan and Webb because it's such a small change.  Guys like Adam Scott or Kevin Stadler, though, are having to make a much bigger change, so it'll be interesting to see how it works out for them.

Although looking at strokes gained putting, Kevin Stadler ranks 165th on tour yet is still in the top 20 in Fedex points and has a victory, so maybe it's not going to be much of afactor for him.

Adam Scott ranks 16th.  So it'll be interesting to see if that is the equipment/stroke, or perhaps just his talent with a little help from Aimpoint. ;)

[flopster]

I think in the second round though he looked a little uncomfortable and was missing putts in the 6-10 foot range pretty badly.

[JetFan1983]

Yea, they're all gonna go counter-balance. The word is out now that those are great.

Ernie switched too and already said the counter balance is better for him than the belly was.

[mvmac]

  Golfingdad said:

Yeah, I suspect that all of these younger guys will be fine.  Especially the belly guys like Keegan and Webb because it's such a small change.  Guys like Adam Scott or Kevin Stadler, though, are having to make a much bigger change, so it'll be interesting to see how it works out for them.

I would tend to agree that it's going to be a bigger change for Scott. Obviously he did play for a number of years and win tournaments with a "standard" length putter. Not a huge difference going from a belly to a counter balanced, going from a long putter to a shorter putter (if that's what he chooses to do) may be a bit tougher because the weight, length, height you're standing at and stroke type are different. He could stick with the same putter and just not anchor it against his body, have the handle just in front of his sternum rather than into his sternum. I know a good player that uses a broomstick that is planning on doing this.

  Golfingdad said:

Although looking at strokes gained putting, Kevin Stadler ranks 165th on tour yet is still in the top 20 in Fedex points and has a victory, so maybe it's not going to be much of afactor for him.

Yep, ball striking is really important, read that in a book recently

[boogielicious]

  mvmac said:

Yep, ball striking is really important, read that in a book recently

Tease!

[Golfingdad]

  mvmac said:

He could stick with the same putter and just not anchor it against his body, have the handle just in front of his sternum rather than into his sternum. I know a good player that uses a broomstick that is planning on doing this.

Yeah, I've heard this mentioned elsewhere too.  Has your friend actually experimented with this yet though, or is he just talking about it at this point?

I have no knowledge of how it works, but I always pictured that the ONLY reason why the broomstick style was effective was because of the anchoring.  It seems to me, at first glance, that a broomstick unanchored would be a horrible way to putt.  Two moving parts that far apart screams 'inaccurate' to me.

But again, I have no knowledge of broomstick putting so I'm just making assumptions.

[flopster]

  mvmac said:

I would tend to agree that it's going to be a bigger change for Scott. Obviously he did play for a number of years and win tournaments with a "standard" length putter. Not a huge difference going from a belly to a counter balanced, going from a long putter to a shorter putter (if that's what he chooses to do) may be a bit tougher because the weight, length, height you're standing at and stroke type are different. He could stick with the same putter and just not anchor it against his body, have the handle just in front of his sternum rather than into his sternum. I know a good player that uses a broomstick that is planning on doing this.

Yep, ball striking is really important, read that in a book recently

Is he going to have his left elbow against his ribcage? I have experimented with this type of method and think it's not that much different than completely anchored.

[mvmac]

  boogielicious said:

Tease!

Yeah off topic but got to edit it last week and it's really good.

  Golfingdad said:

Yeah, I've heard this mentioned elsewhere too.  Has your friend actually experimented with this yet though, or is he just talking about it at this point?

I have no knowledge of how it works, but I always pictured that the ONLY reason why the broomstick style was effective was because of the anchoring.  It seems to me, at first glance, that a broomstick unanchored would be a horrible way to putt.  Two moving parts that far apart screams 'inaccurate' to me.

He's experimented with it, not sure if he's played a round doing it. I agree it's more stable if you anchor it into your sternum but he's used to that style of stroke and standing tall.

  flopster said:

Is he going to have his left elbow against his ribcage? I have experimented with this type of method and think it's not that much different than completely anchored.

As far as I know, no, left elbow won't be against the body.

[mvmac]

http://www.golfchannel.com/news/golf-central-blog/stadlers-answer-anchoring-ban-putt-left-handed/

Quote:

Kevin Stadler plans to switch to a regulation-length putter, but he's also taking things a step further: the right-handed Stadler will soon putt left-handed.

"Just going backward with a little short one," Stadler told the Associated Press .

Stadler has become a mainstay on the PGA Tour and notched his first win at the Waste Management Phoenix Open last year, but those successes have come in spite of continued struggles on the greens. Using a broomstick putter anchored into his chin, Stadler finished the 2013-14 season ranked No. 163 on Tour in strokes gained putting and he hasn't been inside the top 150 in the category since ranking 138th in 2009.

Stadler was seen experimenting with a left-handed putter during practice at the Travelers Championship in June, and now he plans to put the unorthodox strategy into action.

"I've putted my whole life as a kid cross-handed, and when I was a really little kid, I played left-handed for a little bit. It feels comfortable," he said. "That's probably what I'm going to do."

[Golfingdad]

  mvmac said:

http://www.golfchannel.com/news/golf-central-blog/stadlers-answer-anchoring-ban-putt-left-handed/

Bottom line:  He's a shitty putter already, so how much worse can he be switching styles?

[CarlSpackler]

  mvmac said:

http://www.golfchannel.com/news/golf-central-blog/stadlers-answer-anchoring-ban-putt-left-handed/

Maybe @missitnoonan should try this.

[turtleback]

  mvmac said:

http://www.golfchannel.com/news/golf-central-blog/stadlers-answer-anchoring-ban-putt-left-handed/

Let's hope he doesn't get confused and putt in the wrong direction.

[boogielicious]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mvmac

http://www.golfchannel.com/news/golf-central-blog/stadlers-answer-anchoring-ban-putt-left-handed/

Quote:

Kevin Stadler plans to switch to a regulation-length putter, but he's also taking things a step further: the right-handed Stadler will soon putt left-handed.

"Just going backward with a little short one," Stadler told the Associated Press .

Stadler has become a mainstay on the PGA Tour and notched his first win at the Waste Management Phoenix Open last year, but those successes have come in spite of continued struggles on the greens. Using a broomstick putter anchored into his chin, Stadler finished the 2013-14 season ranked No. 163 on Tour in strokes gained putting and he hasn't been inside the top 150 in the category since ranking 138th in 2009.

Stadler was seen experimenting with a left-handed putter during practice at the Travelers Championship in June, and now he plans to put the unorthodox strategy into action.

"I've putted my whole life as a kid cross-handed, and when I was a really little kid, I played left-handed for a little bit. It feels comfortable," he said. "That's probably what I'm going to do."

I played with a pretty good golfer (6 - 7 HC) who did this.  I remember him being a decent putter to.

[CarlSpackler]

  boogielicious said:

I played with a pretty good golfer (6 - 7 HC) who did this.  I remember him being a decent putter to.

I've picked up some lefty putters at golf stores and putted lefty. It's not that bad actually. Kinda proves the point about the importance of putting over the full swing in golf if you think about it.

[Dave2512]

Can't wait to see lefty Kevin. Hope it does't turn into a Rob Lowe commercial.