How to take fewer putts with the correct putter length
Too often, golfers purchase golf clubs, including putters, directly off the shelves of their local sporting goods store, their local outlets, or from a fellow golfer. These purchases are made without thinking about whether that particular putter is right for them or their game. Just like a good suit molds to every inch of your body for an exact fit, your putter and every other club in your bag should fit not just your body but your game. Everyone is different and unique.
There is no stock set of clubs designed to fit every golfer, or even most golfers. If you were to take the measurements of 10 professional golfers’ putters, you would find that all 10 had, in some way, different measurements including length, stance angle, loft, offset, weight, and design. All combined with one purpose in mind: to help the golfer make more putts!
Can you imagine the frustration the pros would go through if they had to change their putting stroke to accommodate a different putter every time they decided to change their clubs? However, 99% of all recreational golfers purchase new clubs this way. They buy a club straight off the rack and then make adjustments with their body to compensate for this new putter.
Let’s take a look at the most important factor in putter fit and how to correct it:
putter length
The length of your putter has a direct effect on how you set up your putt. If you’re like most recreational golfers, you’re playing with a putter that’s too long or too short for your natural swing. Using a putter that is too long for you will put the ball too far from your body. This affects the way your eyes are positioned on the ball, having your eyes not over the goal line, but inside it. This will also make your arms and hands much closer to your body than you want, which will not allow your arms to dangle naturally. This causes you to manipulate your hands and arms throughout the stroke to compensate for the length.
Putters that are too short have the opposite effect. The ball is positioned too close to his body, causing his eyes to be well off his target line. Two short putters will also cause you to extend your arms further away from your body, which will cause you to “reach” for the ball during your stroke. To find your ideal putter length, you can use a very simple method from your own home.
Without a putter in hand, prepare to approach a ball as if you were going to putt. Let your arms hang naturally in front of you as you reach out and grip an imaginary putter in the most comfortable and natural way. This will place your hands in their most natural position without being influenced by gripping a real putter.
Now, without moving your hands or arms from this position, have a friend or spouse return the putter to your hands. Notice where your hands are on the club NOW compared to where you held it in the past. You’ll probably be a little surprised where your hands end up on the putter. This is the correct length you should play with. Now, with a piece of tape, mark half an inch above the hand closest to your body on the grip of the putter, if your grip is now lower than before. If your new grip is higher up on the grip, wrap the tape ½ in. under the bottom hand. This is the length of a putter you should play with.
Your local Golf Outlet or Pro Shop can take this information and make the necessary adjustments for you at minimal cost.