Putter fitting: length, lie and balance
Three measurements decide whether a putter helps you, and none of them is the name on the sole.
The putter is used on close to 40 per cent of your shots and is the club most often bought on looks. Three measurements decide whether it helps you: length, lie angle and head balance. None is expensive to check, and all three matter more than the name on the sole.
Length: most putters sold are too long
The standard 34 or 35 inches was set for a taller posture than most golfers adopt. Too long a shaft pushes the hands away from the body, puts the eyes inside the ball and aims the face left of where you believe it points. You compensate, and the compensation is what you take onto the course.
Set up as you normally do and have someone measure from your hands to the ground. If a shorter putter puts your eyes over or just inside the ball with the arms hanging, that is your length.
Lie angle: the sole tells the truth
Toe in the air means the face aims left at impact. Heel up means it aims right. Either way the ball starts offline before the stroke begins, and no amount of rehearsal corrects a static aim error. Lie is adjustable on most steel-shafted putters and any workshop with a bending machine will do it in minutes.
Balance: match the head to your stroke
Balance the shaft on a finger. Face to the sky means face-balanced, which suits a straight stroke. Toe hanging down means toe-weighted, which suits an arc. Most golfers have some arc, and a face-balanced mallet has them fighting it all day. It is the simplest thing a fitting session settles.
Head shape is aim, not fashion
Blade or mallet is less about forgiveness than about what you can aim. Some golfers point a single-line blade perfectly and cannot aim a large three-line mallet at all; the reverse is just as common. Have your aim checked with a laser on two or three shapes and buy the one you aim straight.
Where to buy
American Golf has putting studios in most of its larger stores and will adjust length and lie on site. Clubhouse Golf and Scottsdale Golf both carry a wide range and offer custom options at order. Independent fitters, easily found through your county golf union, tend to spend longer on aim and stroke type than a retail bay does.
For second-hand putters, Golfbidder grades condition, photographs the actual club and takes trade-ins, which makes it realistic to try a shape for a season. Your club professional is often the quickest route to a simple length or lie adjustment, and many keep demo putters behind the counter.
Panxis Golf has no commercial relationship with any of these retailers and takes no commission on what you buy.
Before you spend anything
- Check the lie of the putter you already own on a hard floor.
- Have your aim measured before you shop. It narrows the choice quickly.
- Try any new putter on greens running at a pace you actually play.
A fitted putter you already own beats a new one that does not fit. Start with the measurements and look at the rack afterwards.
