Bryson DeChambeau's New Putting Stroke (Side-Saddle)

[David in FL]

13 hours ago, iacas said:

I don't think it actually has to do with the center-shafted nature.

I think it has to do with the rules re: the lie angle, as I previously noted.

From the article...

DeChambeau first used the sidesaddle method at the Franklin Templeton Shootout in December. He told reporters at that event: "I'm concerned if I start doing well with it, what will they do? It's within the rules. It's legal. Will they make a new rule? We'll fight it all the way."

Apparently he had some concerns himself that it might not be conforming before even submitting it.  He's very mechanically/technically oriented.  I'd think that the technical standards for conforming would be pretty easy for him to understand and ensure.  He had to know...

I like the "if I start doing well with it" remark.  So far he hasn't.  I'm wondering if he wouldn't be better off working a little harder on his game, and a little less on product development.

[iacas]

26 minutes ago, David in FL said:

Apparently he had some concerns himself that it might not be conforming before even submitting it.  He's very mechanically/technically oriented.  I'd think that the technical standards for conforming would be pretty easy for him to understand and ensure.  He had to know...

From the USGA:

Quote

the projection of the straight part of the shaft on to the vertical plane through the toe and heel must diverge from the vertical by at least 10 degrees (see Fig. II). If the overall design of the club is such that the player can effectively use the club in a vertical or close-to-vertical position, the shaft may be required to diverge from the vertical in this plane by as much as 25 degrees;

I think that's the part of the rule that got him, not this:

Quote

Except for putters, all of the heel portion of the club must lie within 0.625 inches (15.88 mm) of the plane containing the axis of the straight part of the shaft and the intended (horizontal) line of play (see Fig. IV).

…

The shaft must be attached to the clubhead at the heel either directly or through a single plain neck and/or socket. The length from the top of the neck and/or socket to the sole of the club must not exceed 5 inches (127 mm), measured along the axis of, and following any bend in, the neck and/or socket (see Fig. VI).

(figure here)

Exception for Putters: The shaft or neck or socket of a putter may be fixed at any point in the head.

In other words, I still think the lie angle bit is what tripped him up, not the center-shaftedness. That makes no sense at all and feels like lazy journalism to say it is the reason.

Hell Paul Azinger putted with "The Thing".

[David in FL]

2 minutes ago, iacas said:

From the USGA:

I think that's the part of the rule that got him, not this:

In other words, I still think the lie angle bit is what tripped him up, not the center-shaftedness. That makes no sense at all and feels like lazy journalism to say it is the reason.

Hell Paul Azinger putted with "The Thing".

Thanks, interesting.  Sounds like there's some subjectivity in that.  Still sounds like he knew he was probably on the ragged edge...

[iacas]

13 minutes ago, David in FL said:

Thanks, interesting.  Sounds like there's some subjectivity in that.  Still sounds like he knew he was probably on the ragged edge...

Virtually certain the lie angle thing is what got him:

That putter doesn't look like it's designed NOT to be used vertically. I'd previously said that maybe it could, but the USGA must have felt that the way he used it disproved that it wasn't designed to accommodate it.

For example, my putter I could putt vertically, but the heel would be WAY off the ground and I'd risk scuffing the toe on the putting surface all the time just to hit the ball. His putter didn't have those problems so it could be used nearly vertically.

On 12/15/2016 at 9:19 AM, nevets88 said:

Another view

 

 

On 1/9/2017 at 3:51 PM, natureboy said:

Yeah, I'm not sure that cut it, especially since the back of the putter may look more angled than the front. Clearly he can use it nearly vertically, so I'd wager a lot of money it was the lie angle thing that got him.

---

Seriously… this does the opposite to reinforce that he's a smart guy.

[Missouri Swede]

On 12/7/2016 at 7:02 PM, iacas said:

Wait… does Bryson's putter have an 80° lie angle or less?

Well, my my my ...

http://www.golfchannel.com/news/golf-central-blog/one-dechambeaus-side-saddle-putters-deemed-non-conforming/

Quote

The USGA declined to say why the putter was non-conforming, citing confidentiality standards when it comes to specific clubs and manufacturers.

 

[iacas]

1 minute ago, Missouri Swede said:

Well, my my my ...

What?  I feel like I'm missing something.

[natureboy]

13 hours ago, iacas said:

especially since the back of the putter may look more angled than the front. Clearly he can use it nearly vertically, so I'd wager a lot of money it was the lie angle thing that got him.

Even from this angle it looks to be well under 20 degrees. More in the vicinity of 9, though the camera angle may be distorting it slightly.

From the rule that was quoted, the rules imply that swinging vertically is not permitted, but only stipulates that such a swing creates a larger minimum lie angle on the club. Seems like the intent was to prevent vertical strokes, but I read 'as much as' as an upper limit to the required lie angle. Why didn't they just ban the vertical stroke?

It's possible a 25 degree change (shown in 2nd angle below) may effectively put the clubhead in an awkward spot for contact, but DeChambeau's model is pretty narrow.

[krupa]

Does anyone know if he went back to a traditional stroke this week?

 

 

[iacas]

9 hours ago, natureboy said:

Even from this angle it looks to be well under 20 degrees.

The rule is 10 degrees. Or 80, if you want to measure it from horizontal.

9 hours ago, natureboy said:

From the rule that was quoted, the rules imply that swinging vertically is not permitted, but only stipulates that such a swing creates a larger minimum lie angle on the club. Seems like the intent was to prevent vertical strokes, but I read 'as much as' as an upper limit to the required lie angle. Why didn't they just ban the vertical stroke?

Because people would violate it on tap-ins, and you can't have people out there with protractors during a round checking to see whether someone's stroke was vertical. You've argued that the rules are turning people away from the game and that's what you come up with?

The rule says that if a putter can be used more vertically, it may be required to have an even flatter lie angle.

[David in FL]

1 hour ago, krupa said:

Does anyone know if he went back to a traditional stroke this week?

 

 

If he did, it ain't workin' either....

[boogielicious]

Next he will move on to this style of putting.

 

[iacas]

I still think it might be the lie angle of the putter more than anything, but this is possible, too, perhaps:

Quote

(iii) Putters (see Fig. IX) 

When the clubhead is in its normal address position, the dimensions of the head must be such that: 

• the distance from the heel to the toe is greater than the distance from the face to the back; 
• the distance from the heel to the toe of the head is less than or equal to 7 inches (177.8 mm); 
• the distance from the heel to the toe of the face is greater than or equal to two thirds of the distance from the face to the back of the head;

I bolded two things that may be questionable. I don't know if the putter conforms in those ways (depending on what they consider the "face" - are the far corners part of the "face"?).

[Golfingdad]

1 hour ago, boogielicious said:

Next he will move on to this style of putting.

 

Ty wears the correct hat.

[colin007]

He's such a tool. Seriously. The wife has never seen him before but saw his cover pic on a recent Golf Magazine and said something hilariously inappropriate about him. What a nonce.

[natureboy]

12 hours ago, iacas said:

The rule is 10 degrees. Or 80, if you want to measure it from horizontal.

Understood. From that photo his putter looks to have 10* or less from the horizontal as implemented for the stroke. The other yellow line in my posted pic represents what a 25* angle from the horizontal (red line relative to a vertical shaft) would be.

12 hours ago, iacas said:

Because people would violate it on tap-ins, and you can't have people out there with protractors during a round checking to see whether someone's stroke was vertical.

Good answer. I figured it was something like that.

Edited January 28, 2017 by natureboy

[65ross]

Well he missed cut Farmers so he have plenty time to practice side saddle, may be go over to England a get some tips from the crocket players, sure the old ladies give him some tips. 

[Golfingdad]

18 hours ago, colin007 said:

He's such a tool. Seriously. The wife has never seen him before but saw his cover pic on a recent Golf Magazine and said something hilariously inappropriate about him. What a nonce.

I read somewhere recently where somebody called him golfs hipster.  Seems apropos at this point - quirky under the guise of being innovative but really just quirky for the sake of being quirky.

[colin007]

1 hour ago, Golfingdad said:

I read somewhere recently where somebody called him golfs hipster.  Seems apropos at this point - quirky under the guise of being innovative but really just quirky for the sake of being quirky.

I can kinda see that...But hipsters are more annoying than anything else. Harmless. But Bryson just comes off as a douche nozzle. There's something smarmy about him. Like he really thinks he's better than everyone else.