Putters for Noobs

Any recommendations for putters for beginners, as well as any guidelines when choosing one?

Thanks!

2-ball or mallet type of putter will be a good starting block....just my 2cents.

Again there is no right or wrong. But if you were to ask, what should a noob focus on in putting, then my comment will be lagging.....

BTW, I use a mallet....and I am a seasoned beginner

Any second hand putter... till you know what you want then buy good one...

Erm, unlike other clubs, I think putters got no advance putter and beginner putter.

Some feel more confident with mallet, some are more confident with blade. I have seen on TV, pros using mallet and have many beginner friends who are better with blade.

Just buy the best putter you can afford and use it for a long time rather than buy a cheap one then upgrade, then see another one then upgrade which may cost you more over time.

Of course, you can just go straight to the ZEN putters. with its superior technology, you'll ever only need 1 putter in your life. Just drop by BFG and you can see how the whole putter is made in stages and you will be amazed at the effort put into it.

ifatfat wrote:

Any recommendations for putters for beginners, as well as any guidelines when choosing one?

Thanks!

I would think it's better to try out putters with different necks..eg..slant..plumber..centre etc.
And see at address which are you more comfortable with.
Length of putter varies..usually most will go for 33' or 34'.
Once you've got the kind of necks u prefer, proceed to try the types of heads..eg..blade..mallet etc.

Try different combis of the above and you might just find one that you are most comfortable with.

When your game progess and enough poison is in your system, then look into investing in a new putter or try putter fitting.
Like Gray mentioned, the ultimate ZEN range of putters at BFG..fully customizable from shaft to grip.

Have fun

Go try out the different putters...
I'm sure you can find one that will give you a good feel when hitting..

there are 2 ways to go about it i pesonally feel.

1. choose something that gets you the results. something that gets the ball in the hole. somehow you just click with the putter or the putter gets you better results.

2. go with the design that you can stand or like. feel comes to you later and you get used to the putter. after that you are used to the feel and you can get very good with it.

I have moved from 1 to 2 recently and its a great feeling.

Gray wrote:

Erm, unlike other clubs, I think putters got no advance putter and beginner putter.

Some feel more confident with mallet, some are more confident with blade. I have seen on TV, pros using mallet and have many beginner friends who are better with blade.

Just buy the best putter you can afford and use it for a long time rather than buy a cheap one then upgrade, then see another one then upgrade which may cost you more over time.

Of course, you can just go straight to the ZEN putters. with its superior technology, you'll ever only need 1 putter in your life. Just drop by BFG and you can see how the whole putter is made in stages and you will be amazed at the effort put into it.

Kinda agree with Gray. Putters is something very personal. Even more personal than irons.

I never knew this until I worked with golf companies. Till I learnt alot about putters.

If you have a putter now, stick with it until you know what you are looking for. There are several factors you need to consider when buying a putter....

1. How do you "swing" your putter. Do you rock your putter back and forth?? or do you sway it in a semi circle movement.?

2. From How you swing, do you fit into which kind of neck of the putter, there's a offset, direct, center , heel, bent, etc...

3. The comfortable height you play with. I'm about 169 cm but I prefer playing with a short putter... about 31 inches.

4. Do you prefer playing with a conventional putter, belly, or broomstick

5. Do you prefer playing wth a Blade or mallet or in between?

6. Do you prefer insert or without? For insert, hard or soft.

After deciding all these questions, you should enjoy your putter. However, please bare in mind, you will go through a learning curve with some putters.

For example, I'm using the original 2 ball.. as in the very 1st series. and still using it. But when I first got it, I loved it straight away as I was lining up putts and sinking them. but then... all of a sudden, I could not even sink even 1 meter putts... grew over confident. 1st instinct was to change putters. However, my coach and a friend who i got my putter from the shop told me that this putter has a very funny learning curve. and i'm currently at the bottom. So I needed to work with my putter for it to take me up the slope.

I continued to work with it and now, after 8 years, i'm very comfortable and confident with my putter and now i hardly miss anything 1 meter and in.

Just some experience from my own. Hope it helps.

You should look for DGman @ Big Fish Golf.
He will be able to find something suitable for you.
Try the Zen

Partly agree with Gray's comments....

I dun think you should get the best you can afford because if this is your first putter, you will not know what you like.

Before I got my putter, I thought I like a mallet. My first putter is a heel-toe blade putter. and now I cannot putt with a mallet... just find them too bulky...

It is only after I got my first putter then I know what I would like to use

Just another 2 cents..

I feel that the results you need to get with a putter is the ability to hit a putt that is
1. in the right direction
2. with the right distance

many factors affect this so I can't really put it down here, but personally, the feel you develop helps you get the distance right. the direction thing I still screw up sometimes.

When i had my beginner lesson with my coach, he let us try out different types of putter, mallet, 2 ball, half mallet and a Scotty Cameron Newport 2.

I liked the newport 2 and have went the blade route for my own putter choice.

You can just head to any GH, Pan West or golf shop with a putting surface and different putters for sale, try a few out and see which putter feels right to you.

Hmm....do what I do......buy putter A at sale price......try, not good.....buy putter B during sale.....and on and on......till you find the right one.

And for me, the right one is ZEN putter.

Bottom line is, it's very personal in terms of feel, touch and even looks.
You won't know until you try.

Thanks for all the replies!

Really a wealth of information here...
I'll try both blade and mallet and decide... but it seems like ZEN is really popular...

Just to add my newbie experience in helping you. (Some may say confuse you)

I cannot put with an insert putter to save my life. Just cannot get the "feeling". Have tried all the odyssey putters with inserts. work perfectly fine for my friend but for me, hopeless.

Finally found a Nike unitizied LEO. blade / anser design putter. Milled face. Works wonders for my game. I am now on a mission to find a putter with horizontal lines on the face.

But then, it also helps that I am taking lessons.

Winston wrote:

I am now on a mission to find a putter with horizontal lines on the face.

Hi Winston

are you looking for the new Zen putters?

does the type of ball affect the type of putter, face wise?

cause with a distance ball (Cally warbird and Top Flite XL), i get a click sound feeling and the ball seems to jump forwards faster. When using a softer ball (TM TP Black), its a mutted sound and feeling and the ball rolls 'more normally'.

using an old steel putter with hard chrome surface.

Also tried those putters at the shops with their cheap distance balls, the SC feels crap and the Odyssey with insert feels nice.

Tronos,

For putting, it's more to do with the hardness of the ball's cover and not the entire ball itself. That is, surlyn, ionomer (surlyn mix), or urethane covers.

I'm guessing that with a hard surlyn cover and all steel surface, it would make sense that the ball skids more cos of the rebound facor, which is why you feel that the softer urethane covered ball skids less with a more immediate roll.

Hard cover ball (2 piece distance w Surlyn cover) + hard face (Steel) = hard clicky feel

Hard cover ball (2 piece distance w Surlyn cover) + insert face = harder muted feel

Soft cover ball (3 piece spin w urethane cover) + hard face (Steel) = medium clicky feel

Soft cover ball (3 piece spin w urethane cover) + insert face (Steel) = muted feel

FYI - the inserts on most Odyssey putters is the same material used for the cover of their golf balls

Personally, I'm not very much for insert putters. I feel that non-insert putters work better for the slower moisture laden greens in our part of the world, since the ball rolls much less than for the greens in the drier temperate regions.

To me, insert putters kill a ball's feel off the putterface, but the softer roll would make more sense on US PGA tour conditioned glass slick greens where lag putting is crucial.

Also, I question how many years an insert putter will last. A bull's eye putter can be passed on from father to son as a classic. But I wonder if the insert will still be on the face of current putters years down the road. (Think of athletic shoes you don't wear for a year and what happens to them)

nice write up Birdman.. think i better sell of my insert putters before the insert breaks down.. hehe

question for you also. remember odyssey putters used to have steel insert within polymer insert? that felt nice on putts with both soft balls and hard balls. wonder why now no more this type?

X-Man wrote:

Winston wrote:

I am now on a mission to find a putter with horizontal lines on the face.

Hi Winston

are you looking for the new Zen putters?

Hi X-Man,

The ZEN is one option I have in mind. I have read many many reviews here in the Forum and say great things about it. I most certainly would like to try it. However, me being a beginner, I most certainly wont be able to tell the difference.

I think Rife putters also use HOrizontal lines.

Winston wrote:

X-Man wrote:

Winston wrote:

I am now on a mission to find a putter with horizontal lines on the face.

Hi Winston

are you looking for the new Zen putters?

Hi X-Man,

The ZEN is one option I have in mind. I have read many many reviews here in the Forum and say great things about it. I most certainly would like to try it. However, me being a beginner, I most certainly wont be able to tell the difference.

I think Rife putters also use HOrizontal lines.

i asked a lot of members here to try out two putters, a Scotty Cameron Newport 2.6 and Zen Zac one after another, everyone could tell the difference.

@ mizzy, thanks. Just my thoughts. I never did try those putters with both steel and polymer inserts. You are right that they would be an easier transition from non-insert to insert putters. The underlying steel would give a hint of a click versus pure inserts. I don't know why also why no more.

I can only surmise that perhaps they didn't sell well or more likely it was end of product design life and time to move on to so called "newer and improved" designs to keep our hopes alive of finding that magic wand year after year. Corporations with highly paid executives serve shareholders first and foremost so guess what they are really interested in when it comes to us golfers? Improving our golf is a priority but certainly not "the" priority. A company's all time best product is hardly ever the latest that they roll out.

One company springs to mind that is different. They still produce some of its classics, albeit in different iterations. It's still in the hands of the family and that could possibly be a reason why. His dad set the standard, and every putter designer and golf company has copied his design (the answer to competitors putters) in one form or another. The company innovates with new designs yet the original designs of the founder (since 1959) are still sold to this very day. Quite amazing when I think about it too. (If you are reading this and wondering who, the company was named after the sound his first design made when it struck the ball.)

and ends with "ING"

and if i remember correctly, every major winner using this putter will get a gold? putter head made of that model they used.. or something like that.. geezz.. must have lots of them by now..

my dad has a ping anser 2 but it doesn't sound musical though..