Understanding The Putter

Putters are used for one basic purpose and that is to get the ball into that little hole on the green. Plain and simple.

Like all golf clubs, putters have a club head, a shaft and a grip area but the putter is probably the most "individual" pick of all the golf clubs a player will ever use. You will find the traditional blade putter , the heel-toe clubhead, or the mallet clubhead style used but even there you will find a great deal of difference from putter to putter. And you will also find belly putters, between the leg putters, broom handle style putters and so on. You can even get different lofts, from 2-4 degrees, if you desire.

As far as the putter head goes, you are best to look for a smooth, flat face so you will strike the ball flush. Quite often you will see a mark on the top of the putter head or a little down the face as you look down. This is to indicate the direct center of the club face, the optimum place to strike the ball. Most putter heads are made of steel, with stainless steel lasting the longest. Other manufacturers use softer carbon steel blends for putter heads which can give the player a softer feel on his/her put. The good part is that both types of steel can be milled perfectly flat on the putter face. Aluminum has been used for putter heads as well because the light weight metal allows you to use a very large head in comparison to steel. They do have a tendency to get banged up or dinged, however, and that could ruin the club face if you're not careful. Manufacturers have taken to putting harder steel inserts into the face of aluminum putter heads to combat this problem.

But the bottom line to putters is very simple, it is not the material, the type of shaft, the style of grip or the size of the head that matters. What really matters is how you feel when you putt. When you consider that you are not swinging to try and drive the ball up to 300 yards. You are not trying to swing properly to get it over water hazards or sand bunkers. You are basically looking to keep the ball on the ground running right into that little hole. That is why there are so many different types and styles of putters. This is one area where a great deal of individual preference can really matter. Try out different putters to see what works best for you. More than any other club, the putter is probably the one where you see the pros making changes to their game to get to the top of the leader board and money winners.

Pixl created a putter [see below] with an insert while Ping has probably created 70 to 80 different models of putters of various shapes and sizes.

Heel to toe putter

Pixl putter with insert

Tiger Woods has used  a "Scotty Cameron" putter.

Tim Clark, Stuart Cink, Fred Couples and Billy Mayfair are PGA pros who have used belly putters.

Long putters [shown below] have shafts as long as 45 inches where standard putters are 32 to 36 inches in length.

Jim Furyk has used the aluminum headed Big Ben putters [see below]

Big Ben putter