jlund

I'll second tempo... As a beginner, you have to get it through your head that a smooth, even tempo will lead to cleaner contact.

This putter has changeable weights. The normal headweight is 350g and most belly putters have headweights of 400g. I had Odyssey send me a heavier weight and I now have the option of either. Putters all come down to feel eventually... I tested this set up ( with a normal 350g weight ) next to 5 different belly putters and for me personally the difference in feel, while certainly there was not something that threw me off dramatically. The loft is something that I have not found to be an issue with this putter specifically. It will take some time to tell, but I did play a round 2 days ago and I putted very well with this. We'll see if it works out in the long term, but I see no harm in doing something like this for the vast majority of guys who have a spare putter in the basement, are curious about belly putting and don't want to pony up the $$$ for a putter they are not sure if they will like. My $0.02 of course.

As a follow up, in case anyone is interested moving forward. Because the loft and lie of a belly putter is either identical or nearly identical to a traditional putter ( vs. a sternum putter ), I decided to make a belly putter to try out. I took my spare Odyssey putter to my local golf shop... They added an 8" extension making it a standard 43" belly putter length. I purchased a Winn grip there and he put it all together for me. It took 15 minutes and less than $20 and I now have a beautiful belly putter ( on the cheap ) to give a whirl. :)

^^ That's what I was thinking. Will it be a feel thing in regards to adding weight, or is there some way to determine how heavy the head should have been if it was originally designed to be the head of a chest putter?

Hello all, I have been using 35" putters my entire adult life but I am becoming more and more intrigued by the idea of a chest putter. I don't really want to spend the $$$ on a new putter for something that I just want to play around with so my question is: I have an Odyssey Black Series i 2-ball 35" sitting in the basement I found this auction on eBay selling pulled 53" putter shafts: http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Long-Belly-Putter-Shaft-Scotty-Cameron-Red-X-370-1-bend-53-straight-49-5-/160668170184?pt=Golf_Clubmaking_Products_US&hash;=item256891b7c8 I am not worried about pulling and installing the new shaft itself. But any thoughts on whether or not this will work? What I mean is I have no clue if putter heads are matched to specific shafts ( weight, etc ). Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks!

I hear you there. We bought them a couple of beers... I just felt bad I guess.

I'll make this short... I was invited to play aat a local club with a friend. I love this track and usually play pretty well there. I typically play to an 8 handicap. This day I played out of my mind and went 1 under par for a 71 (2 bogeys and 3 birdies). The net of it is that I was accused of sandbagging my handicap. It's not a huge deal in terms of $$$ as we were only playing for $10. It seemed that my buddies friends were actually a bit upset at him & that is what has me bummed out. I have played as low as a 6, but right now I am truly playing to an 8. I just had a great day. How would you handle this? I'm not expecting an invite back anytime soon :(

I've got one in the bag this year... I /emoticons/c3_clap.gif">

That is great to hear. Good for you. I didn't even want to dive into his point that you may be being discriminated against based on your race because of his thoughts on the potential color of your skin due to an avatar on a golf forum...

I cannot believe that this thread got to 2 pages without someone replying to this post. You sir, are everything that is wrong with this overly-litigious society that we live in. Every golfer in the world that calls a muni his or her home has had more than a few bad days on the course, and the OP's examples are no worse than any other bad day story out there. What you do is suck it up and move on... Not contact a lawyer to see if you can do something about it... Jesus.

I use to keep a 5 wood in the bag. After 1.5 seasons and about 5 shots with it I took it out of the bag and made room for an extra wedge. If you have clubs you are not using in your bag it really does make sense to take them out of play and put something in its place that will be more useful to your game.

I probably lose 1 ball every 2 to 3 rounds. However, I probably take a ball out of play ( and throw it in my shag bag) 1 to 2 times per round. Once the ball gets a mark on it I usually take it out of play.

That's actually not a bad idea. I have a large yard. I can probably manicure one section of my yard on the side to work as a mini grass range perfectly. Thanks for the idea!

Yeah, that will go over really well with the wife... lol

I have found that the guys who run these courses get to know you when you are there pretty much every day. I took lessons with the Pro, who also runs my home course ; so naturally we had a good relationship... At the beginning of last year's season I worked a deal with him where I paid ' X ' dollars for unlimited range use. Maybe you could try something like that at your local course to try to alleviate the $$$ burden?? For me, that made it much easier to practice every day, because I could go to the course without having to spend any money. Much better then buying a couple buckets each time at $8 or $10 a piece.

I live in New England, so obviously things change during the Winter months. But late March through the middle to end of November I practice/play 6 to 7 times a week. I usually play a full 18 once or twice a week. I usually play an evening 9 once or twice a week as well. I am at the range 5 or 6 times each week ( including the practice green ). I am pretty fortunate in that I live 90 seconds from a fantastic public track that has a pretty decent practice area ( although it is mats only ) and a course that is very well maintained. I would say that on average I am at the course pretty much each day after work. I usually spend an hour or two practicing and then play a quick 9. And like I said, on the weekends it is a mix of full rounds and extended practice. ... I practice and play a lot, so you may ask what has it done for my game... I picked up golf the Autumn of 2008. So I have a couple months of hacking ( Autumn 2008 ) and two full seasons under my belt now and am down to roughly an 8 handicap. Not the best, but not terrible either.

No doubt... It just depends on your philosophy around gear. I have friends who still play drivers from the early 2000's and irons from who knows when, and they are great players. Some people just like to take full advantage of the technology that newer gear offers. That's all I meant.

Sure it's cheap, but the technology is several years old at this point.

There are many threads on the use of mats, why they are worse than hitting off grass,etc. However I want to know what you do in the event that ranges with mats are your only option... How do you make the best of the situation? I am certain that I am not alone. There are several courses local for me, however none of the practice facilities offer the ability to hit off grass. It is easy to say "Just practice your short game & driver, etc." But everyone needs to practice their iron game... So how do you go about making your practice worthwhile when the only option is hitting off of mats day in and day out?

Good luck man!

Thanks for the advice guys. I have struggled this season unfortunately.... Hopefully seeing my mistakes and your tips will help me get back on track.

This is my home range. I spend hours every day staring at the same pole in the distance. I know just by the placement of my feet that I am aimed directly at it. I didn't stop and look at the target in between each swing because I didn't want to post a super long video, so I did speed up my normal routine a bit. Aside from your worries about my aim, any constructive criticism on my swing? As I look at the videos over and over ( I am going to get a better quality vid this week ) it seems that my hips are really moving through the ball aggressively... I don't know though.

I can retake the videos without someone holding the camera. Do you know how to make these slo-mo. I tried and don't see a feature for it in Windows Movie Maker..

I have struggled with my driver a bit this season & I can't quite put my finger on what I am doing incorrectly so I wanted to see if you guys can help me out. Sorry the video is a bit shaky; let me know if I need to try to get a better quality video. As an FYI - Swings #1 & #3 were dead straight. Swings #2 & #4 faded 15-20 yards. Any advice is welcome! Thanks!