Post by e***@gmail.comPost by "R&B"Post by e***@gmail.comHello,
I'm looking to get a new putter this season, and like the Anser C
for
Post by "R&B"Post by e***@gmail.comits balance and clean lines.
I'm debating whether to go with the G2 Anser C or the G2i Anser C.
I
Post by "R&B"Post by e***@gmail.comcurrently have a White Hot #1, and am having trouble controlling
the
Post by "R&B"Post by e***@gmail.comlength of the lag putts. As most pro's can do this so well, I
think
Post by "R&B"Post by e***@gmail.comthis is more a fact of my lag putting skills than the putter.
I've read that insert putters are harder to control the distance
than
Post by "R&B"Post by e***@gmail.commilled putters, is this really true? I like the feel of the G2i as
it's closer the White Hot, and from demos in the store I can
control
Post by "R&B"Post by e***@gmail.comthe distance better than the White Hot.
What's the consensus out there, should I go with the non-insert
putter
Post by "R&B"Post by e***@gmail.comor the insert putter?
Brian
I think it's less an issue of what's between the heel and toe of the
putter
Post by "R&B"and more an issue of what's between the ears.
A putter that's balanced in such a way to be in harmony with your
putting
Post by "R&B"stroke is the issue that's most critical. The material used in the
face of
Post by "R&B"the putter is strictly a matter of personal taste: Does it produce
the feel
Post by "R&B"you prefer or not? Personally, I like the crisp feel of the Cameron
putters. But I feel like I can putt with just about anything, given
a few
Post by "R&B"minutes on the practice green to get a feel for the speed. As long
as the
Post by "R&B"putter's balance compliments my stroke, a difference in the material
on the
Post by "R&B"face has about the same effect as the speed of the greens being
faster or
Post by "R&B"slower. I just take a longer or shorter stroke to compensate.
That said, I don't dismiss the importance of the "look" of a putter,
as
Post by "R&B"different "looks" can inspire different levels of confidence in the
player.
Post by "R&B"But once again, that gets back to what's between the ears.
Randy
So you're saying, if I like the Anser C for balance the look during
setup, then I should get the Ping G2 AnserC and save myself the extra
money. As there's no real technological improvements between the G2
and G2i line of putters.
I'm not saying there's no technological improvements in the G2i. Frankly,
I'm not all that familiar with the G2i putters from Ping as I haven't been
in the market for a putter in a while. (I know, to some, that's big news.)
:-) What I'm saying is this: If you're looking for technology to make a
few extra putts for you, you're looking in the wrong place. All the new
insert material can do is give the putter a somewhat different weight,
balance and feel. If it agrees with your stroke, great. But what matters
most is whether it inspires confidence in you, either by how it looks or by
how it imparts a feel in your hands that is consistent with what you're
looking for in a putter. What *I* like in a putter is of no consequence to
you AT ALL.
Look, you're gonna make some putts and you're gonna miss some putts. That's
how it works. No matter how good or bad you are, that's how it always
works. You make some. You miss some. The putter doesn't make putts, the
player does. The putter doesn't miss putts, the player does. I hate to be
the one to break the news to ya, but if you're gonna blame the putter for a
bad putting day, you can't take credit for the good putting days -- it was
the putter, not you. Of course it's not the putter at all, it's you. So
stop looking for a "magic wand." They don't exist.
That said, there are certainly putters that are better suited for certain
types of players. But that has more to do with how the putter is balanced
(heel shafted, face-balanced, quartering, etc.), and how that type of
balance is or isn't in harmony with the type of putting stroke you use. If
you have a "swinging gate" type of stroke, a heel-shafted putter is best for
you. If you have a straight-back, straight-through stroke, a face balanced
putter would agree with you. And if you're like most of us and your stroke
is somewhere in between those two extremes, then a putter with "quartering"
balance is probably most in harmony with your stroke. The key is finding a
putter that doesn't FIGHT WITH your natural stroke. Whatever material is
used in the face will only affect the putter's feel, not its balance as it
relates to bein in harmony with your type of stroke. Certainly the issue of
finding a putter with the right balance for you has nothing whatsoever to do
with what the latest exotic concoction of plastic/urathane/whatever material
is that some chemists dreamed up to pour into a cavity in the face of the
putter and shave it down flush with the metal part of the putter face. It
could be dried-out oatmeal or concrete or hardened Jell-O that's used in the
insert cavity. It doesn't matter. Whatever yields the feel that you like
best.
The face is flat, right? It's hard enough to propel the ball when it
strikes it, right? Is there any more that needs to be known about it, other
than how it feels in YOUR hands as it makes contact with the golf ball? You
like a softer feel? Go with the insert that feels softer. You like a
crisper feel? Go with the one that has the insert with the crisper feel.
This is not rocket science, man.
I could tell you what putter I swear by, but if it doesn't feel right in
your hands, what good is that information? In case you want to know,
though, my putter of choice is the Scotty Cameron Studio Stainless, Newport
Beach. I'm not a fan of inserts. I've used 'em, I don't particularly like
them. I prefer to feel the ball come off the face, not have that sensation
dampened even to the slightest degree by some plastic material in the face
of the blade. Those putters with inserts in the face feel "dead" to me (the
lone exception being the old Terrylium inserts in the Cameron putters, circa
1996-98). I like a livelier feel with the blade, as though the ball comes
off the face a little hot...probably because my stroke is more fluid, less
of a "pop" than some. But then I prefer faster greens and do my best to
avoid slow greens (I hate 'em). On the few occasions that I let myself play
on slow greens where I had to pop the ball more, I didn't mind insert
putters because as hard as I was having to hit the ball, the "deadness" of
an insert putter didn't allow me to feel like I was hitting it off the
world.
Randy