So does 1* of loft really make a difference?

[Daves]

I am looking at having my putters checked for alignment, loft etc. I am also considering getting a putter with 4 to 4.5* of loft. Either having one of my existing bent or buying one with that spec. There is a Red X on the bay that is close to my specs that I have an eye on. Scotty's seem to come standard at 4* of loft

My main gamer is an Odyssey White Hot #5. Odyssey's generally come standard with 3* degrees of loft as I understand it. I also recently bought a Carbite mallet which is of similar shape and specs as the Odyssey.

I have read in a few places that putters should have a higher loft for slower bermuda/couch greens. The thinking being the higher loft helps put a better roll on the ball on these grainy greens, and as Raz comments in another thread helps to break the friction and get the ball rolling correctly.

So any experience with different putter lofts on non bent greens? and what is your putter loft?

[MegaWatty]

Try this one Ds.

http://www.ozgolf.net/forums/showthread.php?t=17802&highlight=putters+greens

[oncewasagolfer]

who can you get to check/adjust the loft of a putter? I had a new grip put on my yes putter a while ago at drummonds and the guy commented that the putter looked delofted like someone had whacked it on the ground. This guys way of fixing it he said would be to give it a whack on the floor which didn't sound to scientific and if I wanted him to do this he would take no responsibility if it broke. Good one drummonds surly there would be a device that would accurately adjust the loft of a putter?

[Ferrins]

Working on the answer

[simmsy]

buy a RIFE!

[MegaWatty]

Are RIFE adjustable?

[razaar]

Dave, there are many differing views on this subject. My view is that with less loft the ball needs to be played more forward in the stance, almost hit up on it to launch it so that it will roll when it hits the ground. The higher lofted putters allow some tolerance if contact is in a slightly downward direction.

The best bet is to find a putter with the loft that gives you a centre of gravity strike for your putting stroke. There is a vertical COG as well as a horizontal COG. A putter with too much loft will give a strike below the COG (encourages a downwards action)while too little loft will be above the COG.

Distance putting is all about hitting the COG all the time; so spending some time on this is well worth it IMO.

[virge666]

Go to a clubmaker with a putter bending machine...

Easy.

[mike]

This guys way of fixing it he said would be to give it a whack on the floor which didn't sound to scientific and if I wanted him to do this he would take no responsibility if it broke.
Wow. Find a different clubfitter.

[haysey]

Wow. Find a different clubfitter.


Reminds me of the "clubfitter" I know whos method of determining the flex of a shaft was to stand on it:shock:



Coincidentally, he used to work for Drummond as well.

[mike]

:-s

Initals CB?

[haysey]

Yep.

[Scoot]

If I was off +5 then I might think about getting my putter checked.

Seeing that I'm off 11, I have plenty of other things to blame for shit golf.

[Daves]

I will get over and see Richard at Mr Tees when I get a chance and get him to take a look. I am not confident the grip is square to the face on the #5, it looks like it might have been knocked or bent out of alignment slightly. Will see what he says about the loft at the same time.

Having played on some very slow and bumpy greens lately the higher loft option seems to be something worth exploring. Those with Scottys seem to be able to keep the putt online and up to the hole a tad better is my observation.

From what I have researched so far, standard brand lofts are;

Scottys - 4*
Taylormade - 3.5*
Ping, Odyssey, Bettinardi - 3*

Raz, I do play the ball further forward on slow greens but I am not convinced that is the best solution for the putting stroke in the long term. I would prefer to have the right equipment for the job. Any of the variable weight putters worth looking at? I assume they enable you to fine tune COG?

Ultimately I would like to order a putter from Kari in the right specs for me, but I have some experimenting and trial and error to complete first to settle on those specs. I am not big on multiple putters, the recently acquired Carbite is my only other putter other than a couple old cheap blade putters I haven't yet thrown/given away.

[Daves]

I should add that this is the post that sowed the seeds on this subject for me sometime ago;

http://www.ozgolf.net/forums/showpost.php?p=343630&postcount=17

[razaar]

I will get over and see Richard at Mr Tees when I get a chance and get him to take a look. I am not confident the grip is square to the face on the #5, it looks like it might have been knocked or bent out of alignment slightly. Will see what he says about the loft at the same time.

Having played on some very slow and bumpy greens lately the higher loft option seems to be something worth exploring. Those with Scottys seem to be able to keep the putt online and up to the hole a tad better is my observation.

From what I have researched so far, standard brand lofts are;

Scottys - 4*
Taylormade - 3.5*
Ping, Odyssey, Bettinardi - 3*

Raz, I do play the ball further forward on slow greens but I am not convinced that is the best solution for the putting stroke in the long term. I would prefer to have the right equipment for the job. Any of the variable weight putters worth looking at? I assume they enable you to fine tune COG?

Ultimately I would like to order a putter from Kari in the right specs for me, but I have some experimenting and trial and error to complete first to settle on those specs. I am not big on multiple putters, the recently acquired Carbite is my only other putter other than a couple old cheap blade putters I haven't yet thrown/given away.
Not quite sure why you are worrying about this for Dave? IMO you are a very good putter. In your case it may be a case of picking a target longer or shorter than the actual target (slow or fast) and keeping your tempo for the target distance you have selected. Keep it simple and trust your judgement.

[Hawkers2008]

The loft is also affected by how you place your hands of course. According to Dave Stockton some players don't have enough loft and they compensate by getting the hands behind the ball. Stan Utley reckons most players don't have enough loft although he doesn't actually say why.

An exception to this is the teardrop faces which have a rollface (curved face) which gives you a constant loft of roughly 4 degrees no matter where your hands are. I really liked their milled face putters but sadly teardrop went titsup a long time ago.

[Daves]

Not quite sure why you are worrying about this for Dave? IMO you are a very good putter. In your case it may be a case of picking a target longer or shorter than the actual target (slow or fast) and keeping your tempo for the target distance you have selected. Keep it simple and trust your judgement.

not so much worried about it Raz, as just exploring the variables to better understand. Plus hey it's raining and until I go to the range I don't have anything better to do.:mrgreen:

That is how I handle different paced greens, uphill and down hill putts now, pick a spot short or long as the case may be and try to hit to it by feel rather than aim at the hole itself.

For some grist if you are interested, a few vids I found on youtube;

An argument for no loft;

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[just]

And you blokes have a go at me for thinking too much!:razz:

[simmsy]

Are RIFE adjustable?


yeah totally!

i had the good man TourFit check out both my RIFE's and get them set up to suit me. Best $5 i've ever spent on golf.

RIFE get away with having 2* loft with their face grooves, similar to Yes putters. I have putted on everything from slick 12+ greens to shaggy hairy things and had no dramas with the loft.

[razaar]

not so much worried about it Raz, as just exploring the variables to better understand. Plus hey it's raining and until I go to the range I don't have anything better to do.:mrgreen:

That is how I handle different paced greens, uphill and down hill putts now, pick a spot short or long as the case may be and try to hit to it by feel rather than aim at the hole itself.

For some grist if you are interested, a few vids I found on youtube;

An argument for no loft;


On second thoughts Dave, treat yourself to new putter or two.:) I recently bought Hawker's Bettinardi and yesterday bought a rare Bettinardi BB6 from Jimmy Source at Bettinardi Ltd in Chicago. No shortage of putters at my place, as it should be. ;)

[TourFit]

Are RIFE adjustable?

Pretty much ALL putters are adjustable in a putter bending machine MW, (which I happen to have !). Even the double bend type shafts are adjustable, although not quite as much.

...well having said that cast zinc alloy (cheaper) putters just snap.

I have bent Scotty Camerons, TaylorMade, Odyssey, Rife, Yes - pretty much all the same at the end of the day.

[TheNuclearOne]

On second thoughts Dave, treat yourself to new putter or two.:) I recently bought Hawker's Bettinardi and yesterday bought a rare Bettinardi BB6 from Jimmy Source at Bettinardi Ltd in Chicago. No shortage of putters at my place, as it should be. ;)

HO HO HO!

[oncewasagolfer]

so should my yes tracey II putter only have 2* of loft like the rife putters?

[simmsy]

2.5* according to their site


http://www.yesgolf.com/store/models.php?model=160

[Ned]

I suffer from Lack Of F****** Talent all the time!!!!:smt021

[oncewasagolfer]

I suffer from Lack Of F****** Talent all the time!!!!:smt021

hehe good one:)

[TheNuclearOne]

The loft is also affected by how you place your hands of course. According to Dave Stockton some players don't have enough loft and they compensate by getting the hands behind the ball. Stan Utley reckons most players don't have enough loft although he doesn't actually say why.

An exception to this is the teardrop faces which have a rollface (curved face) which gives you a constant loft of roughly 4 degrees no matter where your hands are. I really liked their milled face putters but sadly teardrop went titsup a long time ago.

Fine post! Billy Bloggs has a pronounced forward press and turns 4* into 2 while John Smith has no forward press and perhaps even a lil flip and makes it 5*. Phil M. decided to bring a forward press back into his stroke at one time and Scotty Cameron had to adjust the loft for him to compensate.

Where the low lofted putters and delofting strokes often struggle is around the light fringes off the green itself. I had a low lofted Rife and it was noticably worse than other putters in this regard.

[razaar]

There is two degrees loft difference between the 1-iron and the zero iron, 16 and 14 respectively. I bet those two degrees would make a difference.
:wink:
http://i384.photobucket.com/albums/oo283/bennie_065/zeroiron.jpg

[henno]

Is a 12 degree iron a -1 iron? :-P

[Daves]

Took the Odyssey to Mr Tees yesterday and got Richard to look at it. He did not have a putter loft machine, he could not justify the cost for the amount of use it would get. He did identify that the grip was not on correctly and the shaft had potentially been "pulled" at some stage (apparently not unknown for the head to fall off some Odsseys!). The grip issue was effectively closing the face a couple of degrees, which of course would also slightly deloft the face. A new grip is now fitted and the putter alignment now looks much better than it did. I will give it a run tomorrow and see if there is a noticeable difference?