What's the effect of adding weight to my putter?

[rehmwa]

So I had added a TON of weight to my Ghost Spider (from 2x4g weights to 2x12g weights).  I was a tentative putter and adding mass helped me hit it farther. 

I've since fixed my putting stroke and I'm wondering if there is 2ndary issues.  I'm not certain how ramping up the weight matters here, if too much might affect the onset of good roll, is something exasperated since the weight is back in the rear of the putter.  (I also wonder if the weights are for balance heel/toe and if I should have been keeping the total load the same and not increasing.......)

anyone knowledgable here about this.....?

 

[boogielicious]

48 minutes ago, rehmwa said:

So I had added a TON of weight to my Ghost Spider (from 2x4g weights to 2x12g weights).  I was a tentative putter and adding mass helped me hit it farther. 

I've since fixed my putting stroke and I'm wondering if there is 2ndary issues.  I'm not certain how ramping up the weight matters here, if too much might affect the onset of good roll, is something exasperated since the weight is back in the rear of the putter.  (I also wonder if the weights are for balance heel/toe and if I should have been keeping the total load the same and not increasing.......)

anyone knowledgable here about this.....?

 

If you only added to the head, then the swing weight will increase and make the head feel heavier. As to the effect on your putting, only you can report that.

I increased the weight on my putter but also added counterweight by getting a heavier grip. I was using a Superstroke grip but switched to a Golf Pride tour SNSR 140cc grip which is about 120g. The effect is my putter has the same swing weight, but is heavier overall. I feel I have a bit more control and don't have to swing quite as long for longer putts.

[Mr. Desmond]

How long has it been since the change, and are you putting better?

Are counterweights in the grip?

Is there an in-between weight you can use?

[Pretzel]

I switched from the Newport 2 to the Newport 2 Notchback because I liked the heavier weight of the head of the Notchback (as well as the way the notch kind of framed the ball from behind). I also went ahead and put in some hefty weights into my Notchback (went from stock 10 gram weights to 20 gram weights) to make it even heavier because I like a putter with a lot of swingweight to it. 

It helped a bit with my distance control simply because I prefer heavier putters, so odds are any changes were almost entirely due to something in my head. So long as you aren't seeing something bad happening, it's not a bad idea to tweak your weights around and give different things a try.

[rehmwa]

1 - It's been quite a while - a year or two.  But I'm putting better due to a grip and technique change.  I can now swing firmer and still maintain my bead and contact.  So the extra momentum isn't needed anymore other than I prefer it.

2 - I haven't counter weighted anything for the added weight, just swapped the heel and toe weights for the heavier ones.

3 - I have a whole set of TM weights from 2g - 14g - I can do whatever I like.  It might be tricky as they all aren't match pairs and I don't see anything to indicate I want heel and toe inbalanced....

I'm more concerned on whether or not the total weight might be adverse to getting a clean roll for longer putts.  I could rig a pendulum and play around with it......

(I'm thinking it's not an issue, but maybe someone has a better grasp of the engineering aspect of these putters how the weight disty affects the roll - it's not like the CG affect of a driver or the like).

I'm a fan of heavy putters.  Maybe consider if counterweighting the grip is something fun to try.

Edited April 30, 2018 by rehmwa

[Pretzel]

4 hours ago, rehmwa said:

I'm a fan of heavy putters.  Maybe consider if counterweighting the grip is something fun to try.

Do you like physically heavy putters or putters that feel heavy? If it's the latter, which is the case for me, then you'll get the opposite effect by counterweighting the grip.

[billchao]

4 hours ago, rehmwa said:

I'm more concerned on whether or not the total weight might be adverse to getting a clean roll for longer putts.  I could rig a pendulum and play around with it......

(I'm thinking it's not an issue, but maybe someone has a better grasp of the engineering aspect of these putters how the weight disty affects the roll - it's not like the CG affect of a driver or the like).

Your roll is affected by loft and the AoA of your stroke. Whether a heavier putter affects that for you I can't say. Changes in weight affect distance control because you feel the head differently. 

You're overthinking the other stuff. The forces involved in a putter swing are too small to be affected by weight distribution, face balancing, etc. You're not going to gear effect draw your putter if you have the CoG too close to the heel or whatever.

34 minutes ago, Pretzel said:

Do you like physically heavy putters or putters that feel heavy? If it's the latter, which is the case for me, then you'll get the opposite effect by counterweighting the grip.

I think people can get better at distance control just from increasing the total weight of the putter and keeping the swingweight the same (by increasing head weight and adding a counterweight), but I'm not a fitter so don't quote me on it.

I don't have a counterweight in my putter, either.

[Patch]

I just recently changed from a regular weight putter to a Heavy Putter, model M-1. Now I don't know what the exact weight of my old putter was, but it might have been under 300 grams, head weight. .

The new Heavy Putter has a 450-475 gram head weight. It also has a counter weight of 250-275 grams in the upper shaft for balance. Info I have been able to find says the Heavy M-1 putter has a total weight of 900 grams. This, I am sure is more than double my old putter. 

Info goes on to say the extra weight is designed to utilize the larger muscles above the wrist to stroke the ball with a smoother, straighter stroke. It also stated the heavier head absorbed more of a off center hit on the club face, while still sending the ball straight. Not much twisting. I verified this on my own. However, contacting the ball on the extreme ends of the putter face did show pushes, and pulled putts. 

While getting use to use to this heavier putter, I found more distance, with less back stroke. Less back stroke meant less room in the forward stroke for something to go wrong. Also my set up is my normal stance, except for more weight on my front foot. I also impact the ball with my wrists in front of the club face, much like a short iron impact position. 

Now I also compared my Heavy Putter with a 500 gram Cash putter head on a regular 32" inch shaft. This was the same as if I added another 200+ grams to my old putter. There was no comparison. The Cash putter head was ok on short <3' putts. Anything over 3', it was useless. I suspect this was due to no counter weighting in the shaft, and not allowing more control from the larger muscles above the wrist.

I am still getting use this new Heavy Putter, but so far I am happy with it's performance. I am finding myself not missing my old putter as much as I thought. 

Hope this helps. 

[rehmwa]

15 hours ago, billchao said:

Your roll is affected by loft and the AoA of your stroke. Whether a heavier putter affects that for you I can't say. Changes in weight affect distance control because you feel the head differently.

These are pretty much my thoughts.  I just wanted to vet out any other thoughts as the first few rounds I'm seeing odd performance (bouncing/skidding).  (I suspect it's mainly the crappy greens at the very start of the season more than anything.  And putting on a couple nicer greens lately kind of vets that out).

I think just cleaning up my stroke on longer putts (the AoA can certainly be less consistent for me when going for distance lags) is the big win.
 

Quote

You're not going to gear effect draw your putter if you have the CoG too close to the heel or whatever.

and that's just silly, I hope I wasn't giving the impression of worrying on that kind of thing.  I even said explicitily it's nothing like concerns with full swing clubs... heel/toe balancing on putting is a different thing and I'm not really sold on it personally.  Thanks a ton, good validation and thoughts

Edited May 1, 2018 by rehmwa

[tuanton]

Just to add another 'dimension' to this interesting topic conversation....  I also much prefer heavy putters but also prefer to play with 'blade' like putter. I have experimented with adding weight to head/using Superstroke counterweighted grip etc. etc.  but never really found satisfactory end result - in terms of better performance stats.  However, 6 months ago I tried something slightly different and filled the shaft of my much loved and almost vintage Teardrop TD21 with sugar and fitted a scotty Cameron 80 gram grip making the overall total weight of the putter 594 grams.. Improvement for me has been considerable.

[Patch]

Just a note on my M1 Heavy Putter I switched to a few months ago. This critter weighs in at 900 grams. 

I am lagging my longer putts closer. I am making more longer putts. Shorter putts, 5' and under are almost automatic. 

I can actually feel the muscles in my forearms, above the wrists, working during the back, and forward strokes. 

Heavier is good, with the proper counter weight above the Putter head. 

[GOATee]

For sure the addition of 18g to a putter head will have a lot of effects on the total weight, swingweight, toe balance, AOA, loft and left-right openness of the face at contact.  Not to mention distance control and muscle activity.

Regarding the roll in particular, the additional weight may affect your shaft lean, causing lofting or delofting and change in AOA.

However, this is not a problem as it is probably something that can be adjusted with practice and technique.

The important thing is if your stroke feels natural and smooth and distance control is good with that weight.

Taylormades have the Pure Roll insert with 45 degree downward grooves that help impart topspin anyway.

Edited June 27, 2018 by GOATee

[GOATee]

OK what I said was too unclear.  What I mean is some change in roll is likely from weight change, but experimenting with shaft lean can help get any lost roll back.

Edited June 27, 2018 by GOATee

[Hacker James]

for me, it has not made a lot of difference in  changing the overall weight of a putter. I have had fairly good luck with an Odyssey Metal X 7 Mid belly putter when I cut off six inches from the grip end. I believe the weight of the original putter was 400g and I was concerned about balance, but it feels just fine. I did stick on a hinged-lid bottle cap on the end to which I could add a little counter- weight inside if I choose to. (The bottle cap was just something I had laying around and it happened to be a perfect fit. Would make a good place to hide a ball marker too)

 

Edited June 30, 2018 by Hacker James

[altos]

I added a LOT of stick-on lead weight to my Bettinardi Inovai 3.0 center shaft.   (see member photo to the left.....).  Getting used to it didn't take long.  The affect, for me, was stabilizing the path of the putter head... less prone to "wander", I suppose.  Regardless, absolutely do not regret it.   

[Buckeyebowman]

The only question I would ask is, how are you putting with your modified set up? If you're happy, don't change anything. If you're not, keep experimenting!

[desdevdep1]

Adding weight can make the club feel heavier and throw your shot off. Especially if the weight is added to the head.

[altos]

This easy answer is.... go into your garage.  Find some large nuts/bolts and some paper tape.   Apply to the putter in a position that would logically appear balanced (whether it is or not).  Take all the parts you don't use and put them in a small bag with the tape.   Go to where ever you practice putting.  Try it out.  Add more, take some off, move it around... it's a simple, quick and effective trial and error.  Don't worry about aesthetics.  When you have something that appears to work, remove the added hardware and weigh.  Find some equivalent  "pretty" lead stick-on's, apply, repeat.   Tune as necessary.    Asking how it will work on a forum won't do as everyone is different.   It's like buying a set of clubs that Bubba uses.  Is your swing a duplicate of Bubba's?  No...  Hummmmm....

Have some fun with it !  Lug nuts work well...