Being Fit for an Edel Putter

[Golfingdad]

Just read a story on reddit about a new putter that Dustin Johnson used at the TOC last week and it describes his fitting process (emphasis added by me):

Quote

In 2017, Dustin Johnson used a TaylorMade Spider Tour Black that had no sightline on the crown. At the 2018 Sentry Tournament of Champions — where he happened to win by 8 strokes — DJ had two, perpendicular sightlines on his Spider putter; TaylorMade calls it a T-line. And if the reason why he changed putters doesn’t explain why you need to get fit, I’m just not sure what does.

Here’s what happened in an account from TaylorMade:

“[Dustin Johnson] was struggling with his putting end of last season, punctuated by his lost lead in China after struggling on the greens. Keith Sbarbaro [his fitter and VP of Tour Relations] met with him in Carlsbad at the putter lab to solve his woes. The Tour team built 12 identical Spider Tours, each with different sight lines (long, short, dots, etc.). He hit 5 putts (flat, 15 footers) with each sightline in the lab. The putters with the long lines he was aiming upwards of 10 inches left of the hole. The short line model(s) he lined up left edge. The one he used all last year with no line was 1 inch left of center, but the “T-line” model was right at dead center nearly every putt…”

It’s amazing to me that the World No. 1 golfer, who won four times in 2017, could be aiming upwards of 10 inches left of the target. I don’t care if it’s an old-school 8802-style putter with no sightline, that’s eye-opening to hear a golfer of his caliber can be that far off with his aim from 15 feet. It just goes to show how much the look of a putter, and the alignment lines, can have an affect on your aim. And it also explains to us mortals that we should be doing the same test for ourselves before buying a putter.

Apparently, DJ needs a “T-line” to aim properly. But every golfer is different. Next time you have access to a putter fitting, or any alignment feedback device, take advantage of it. Try different putters, models, styles and sightlines to see what works best for you… it just may save your putting.

The description of what DJ went through in finding which sight line worked best for him is basically identical to what my Edel fitter had me do, with the only difference being that it was 8' putts, not 15'.

[iacas]

4 minutes ago, Golfingdad said:

The description of what DJ went through in finding which sight line worked best for him is basically identical to what my Edel fitter had me do, with the only difference being that it was 8' putts, not 15'.

It may have been an 8' putt, but if you were using the laser, it was basically a 16' putt as far as the measurement in how far off you were is concerned.

And yeah… some Tour players can't find the 3' wide mat with the laser from 8' (16' laser distance). 10" isn't "horrible" from what I've seen.

[Golfingdad]

17 minutes ago, iacas said:

And yeah… some Tour players can't find the 3' wide mat with the laser from 8' (16' laser distance). 10" isn't "horrible" from what I've seen.

Also, its relative anyway, right?  Meaning, it's not really as bad as it sounds because if he can consistently aim in that exact spot 10" off the hole, then he's doing it while he practices too, and has likely calibrated his stroke to compensate somewhat.

I mean, it's obviously bad, but it's not "hmmm, I wonder why he keeps missing all of his putts 10" to the right" bad. :)

[iacas]

1 minute ago, Golfingdad said:

Also, its relative anyway, right?  Meaning, it's not really as bad as it sounds because if he can consistently aim in that exact spot 10" off the hole, then he's doing it while he practices too, and has likely calibrated his stroke to compensate somewhat.

It's not great, though, no. Particularly on shorter putts, where your eyes/brain and your body might have different levels of conscious and subconscious stuff going on.

The yips can seemingly be brought on because you mis-aim short putts, and your body makes a last-ditch effort to try to "help" you steer the putt back online. When your body and mind disagree, bad things can happen.

And maybe on that straight 15' putt he aims 10" right consistently, and that's… about 3° right, but what if on short putts he aims 1° right, and on left-to right putts he aims 1° left? It's easier to build a stroke that returns the putter square, and that works if you have a putter you can aim squarely to begin with.

[billchao]

1 hour ago, Golfingdad said:

The description of what DJ went through in finding which sight line worked best for him is basically identical to what my Edel fitter had me do, with the only difference being that it was 8' putts, not 15'.

So what you're saying is, DJ would have won at Chambers Bay if he was a TST member 

[klineka]

Is there a way I could simulate the laser/aiming test with my current putter at home to make sure I am lined up properly? I feel like I am and I make most of the 8 footers I do on my putting mat but I'm sure theres a decent chance I'm not lined up 100% accurate since I bought my putter off the rack after trying a bunch and picking the one that felt/looked the best.

Edited January 10, 2018 by klineka

[iacas]

2 hours ago, klineka said:

Is there a way I could simulate the laser/aiming test with my current putter at home to make sure I am lined up properly? I feel like I am and I make most of the 8 footers I do on my putting mat but I'm sure theres a decent chance I'm not lined up 100% accurate since I bought my putter off the rack after trying a bunch and picking the one that felt/looked the best.

Just point a laser at a little thin mirror stuck squarely/flat on your putter face.

Ideally you will want someone else to move the ball out of the way and to see where you're aiming without you looking.

[dennyjones]

I'm considering an Edel fitting.   Is it better to get fitted during good weather so it can be done outside utilizing a putting green  for speed?  

[Golfingdad]

5 minutes ago, dennyjones said:

I'm considering an Edel fitting.   Is it better to get fitted during good weather so it can be done outside utilizing a putting green  for speed?  

I don't think indoor or outdoor would matter too much.  My guess would be that the faster the green is the better, no matter if its real or artificial, because your margin of error is smaller.

[allenc]

15 hours ago, dennyjones said:

I'm considering an Edel fitting.   Is it better to get fitted during good weather so it can be done outside utilizing a putting green  for speed?  

 

15 hours ago, Golfingdad said:

I don't think indoor or outdoor would matter too much.  My guess would be that the faster the green is the better, no matter if its real or artificial, because your margin of error is smaller.

I did an Edel fitting a couple years ago on artificially turf.  The green was so incredibly fast that I suspect I was fit into too heavy a putter, which may help your distance control on fast greens.  It took several months for me to get used to it on the normal greens I play.   Now it’s good though, so maybe it wasn’t too heavy after all.

You could bring it up at the fitting if it’s a concern.  I didn’t think of it until I got my putter and realized I couldn’t stroke a 40 footer on 9 stimp at all.  

[nevets88]

17 minutes ago, allenc said:

 

I did an Edel fitting a couple years ago on artificially turf.  The green was so incredibly fast that I suspect I was fit into too heavy a putter, which may help your distance control on fast greens.  It took several months for me to get used to it on the normal greens I play.   Now it’s good though, so maybe it wasn’t too heavy after all.

You could bring it up at the fitting if it’s a concern.  I didn’t think of it until I got my putter and realized I couldn’t stroke a 40 footer on 9 stimp at all.  

Aren't there adjustable weights? I'm not as familiar with the models, it looks like they have inserts.

[iacas]

19 minutes ago, nevets88 said:

Aren't there adjustable weights? I'm not as familiar with the models, it looks like they have inserts.

They have those models, if you want to pay for that.

Generally speaking, the right weight putter is more about you controlling your distance, not as much about the speed of the greens. A 16-footer on a stimp 8 is hit as hard as a 24-footer on stimp 12.

[Golfingdad]

1 hour ago, iacas said:

Generally speaking, the right weight putter is more about you controlling your distance, not as much about the speed of the greens. A 16-footer on a stimp 8 is hit as hard as a 24-footer on stimp 12.

That's what I thought, and that's what I was getting at.  Assuming the variations in your stroke to be the same, the variations in the distance traveled of putts on slower greens will be less than those on faster greens so the same amount of error will look better.

[allenc]

2 hours ago, iacas said:

They have those models, if you want to pay for that.

Generally speaking, the right weight putter is more about you controlling your distance, not as much about the speed of the greens. A 16-footer on a stimp 8 is hit as hard as a 24-footer on stimp 12.

So you don’t think there is anything to the idea that a heavy putter may, for some people, be ideal for a 3” backstroke but harder to control for a 15” backstroke?

[iacas]

1 minute ago, allenc said:

So you don’t think there is anything to the idea that a heavy putter may, for some people, be ideal for a 3” backstroke but harder to control for a 15” backstroke?

I wouldn't say there's not anything to the idea.

And generally speaking heavier putters are a bit easier to control - they're not as subject to the smaller forces which can make a lighter putter move offline, etc.

My point is that the weight of the putter is generally consistent across a range of green speeds, because it's the putter that fits YOU the best. It's the best for your 12" backswing and your 30" backswing… how far those hit the ball is dependent on the green speed, but changing the weight of the putter to suit your green speed is, IMO, looking at it backward. It's more a matter of fitting the weight of the putter to YOU so that YOU can control it.

And Allen if you're making a 3" backswing, I hope you're talking about a tap-in  or else you really need to read this topic:

 

[allenc]

21 minutes ago, iacas said:

I wouldn't say there's not anything to the idea.

And generally speaking heavier putters are a bit easier to control - they're not as subject to the smaller forces which can make a lighter putter move offline, etc.

My point is that the weight of the putter is generally consistent across a range of green speeds, because it's the putter that fits YOU the best. It's the best for your 12" backswing and your 30" backswing… how far those hit the ball is dependent on the green speed, but changing the weight of the putter to suit your green speed is, IMO, looking at it backward. It's more a matter of fitting the weight of the putter to YOU so that YOU can control it.

And Allen if you're making a 3" backswing, I hope you're talking about a tap-in  or else you really need to read this topic:

 

The bold is actually what I’m getting at.  I did a fitting on an artificial green that was so fast, I had to use my tap in stroke to hit it 12 feet to the string.  So did I end up with the weighting that is best for me in general, or the best weighting for me to control a tiny stroke that nevertheless still goes over 12 feet?

[iacas]

45 minutes ago, allenc said:

The bold is actually what I’m getting at.  I did a fitting on an artificial green that was so fast, I had to use my tap in stroke to hit it 12 feet to the string.  So did I end up with the weighting that is best for me in general, or the best weighting for me to control a tiny stroke that nevertheless still goes over 12 feet?

I’m having a hard time grasping that. Were you fit on a billiards table? Solid wood floors?

[allenc]

13 minutes ago, iacas said:

I’m having a hard time grasping that. Were you fit on a billiards table? Solid wood floors?

I guess “tap in going 12 feet” is an exaggeration and this was 2 1/2 years ago so my memory is fuzzy.  But they were very fast.  Maybe more like what feels like an 8 footer goes 12 feet.