Cfhandyman

I’m a bit biased as I have been using a BGT Stability shaft for the last 5 years and love it. Having said that my order of preference with respect to the putter shafts offered by L.A.B. would be TPT, then Stability, then Accra and finally steel. TPT makes great shafts and then I would rely on L.A.B.’s assessment as they would have done extensive testing with all the shafts and have the corresponding data to back it up. The downside, the cost. Both the TPT and Stability are on the pricier side. The Accra shaft offers good value as its significantly less than either the TPT or Stability

Oh there is a definite relationship. If you have a good approach game or good short game you can save yourself a lot of shots. Even if I miss the green, I know that if I can chip the ball to within 5 to 6 feet, I’ve got a reasonable chance of making one putt and escaping with par.

You had to go and do it, but I love the combinations, EE & X as well as EE & Z. This is the official response from the two Chris’

I'm looking to not only test but to practice as well and hopefully improve. So as part of this test, I need to know what my data is. Then how do I compare or where do I fall against other golfers. Where do I need to improve to get better and ideally to a lower handicap. So for me, I currently sit in the 0-6 handicap group based on my Arccos data, so this will be my reference group to compare to. How good or bad am I? So what does the data show? Well it depends upon the source of the data, (Arccos, Shotscope, Trackman, etc.) so there will be slight discrepancies between the data sets depending upon total participants, year, etc. When, I look at my data for putting, the first thing I look at it the total number of putts and then how many were: a) One putt b) Two putt c) Three putts or worse Below is Arccos data looking at total putts broken down by 1, 2 or 3 or more putts by handicap. The higher handicaps 3 putt or worse far more than a scratch or low handicap golfer. Correspondingly, the low handicap golfer makes far more one putts. So one of the key metrics for me is reducing the number of 3 putts and increase the number of one putts. So according to Arccos, the 0 handicap makes on average 32.1 putts per round of which 5.2 holes were one putt, 11.5 holes are 2 putts and 1.3 holes were 3 putt. See below. Another way of looking it is for the 0 Hcp: One putts - 16.2%, Two putts - 71.6%, and three putts - 12.2% Below is tour + Shotscope data looking at the make percentage by distance and by handicap. The average tour pro makes 98% and 80% of their 3 foot and 5 foot putts. For an LPGA player its 95% and 76%. The scratch or very low handicap golfer makes about 70% of 5 foot putts whereas the mid handicap (12 – 18) is down to about 50%. If you don’t have your data, you can use these as a rough indicator of what the averages are by handicap. So, other key metrics for me are the percentage of 5 and 10 foot putts made and how close can I get it to a 0 handicap or better player. So as part of the test, where do I fall? What's the difference if any between the L.A.B DF3 and my comparators? From this, I will then know the areas I need to work on.

I second this from @jbern. Excellent introductions by all and this will be a fun test. I'm not part of the pushcart mafia yet as I'm still rehabbing my replaced hip, but the cart is ready to go in the garage and if my wife has input, were both walking.

A good morning to all on a sunny but coolish Saturday morning from the greater Toronto area. Playoff hockey starts tonight, so excited to see that. @EnderinAZ glad to hear surgery went well and you’ll be golfing in no time. Sorry about the Coyotes moving to Salt Lake City, but with no NHL arena, not really surprised, but it still sucks for the fans @Dead Solid Bogey something to ease your “porcelain” pain, from one of the finest collections. Have a great day.

I am now officially conflicted. I had my choice down and then created the spreadsheet with all the options. Now that I can see the variety of options all I can say I have a favourite from each group. Yikes what have I done. From minimal, it’s the logo, from simple the T line, the wider 2 lines, the three lines that extend all the way to the back of the putter and the pointer arrow. Colour wise red and blue still lead the way. Hopefully, I get my fitting data soon so I’m forced to make a decision.

Attempted to play golf this morning despite the rain. Rain gear - Check, cart cover - check. Steady rain before we left, but forecast predicting it would ease up in a couple of hours. Steady rain all the way there. Entering the golf course, no one in sight on either course. My wife - this doesn't look good. Me - courses will be wide open. No one to hold us up. Almost no one in the parking lot (am I nuts?). More often than not, by the time you get to the course, rain has eased up and you can get a round in. Moment of truth time. Forecast now showing more rain for at least a couple of more hours. Course looking quite "soggy" . My wife - I'm not playing in this ...., so decision made. Went in and cancelled. Rain on the way home. Silver lining, on the drive home we stopped for a lovely breakfast, but I couldn't help but think. If I was a member there, I would have at least played 9 holes. lol Corollary - this afternoon, beautiful sunshine, warming up nicely and a lovely spring day. Argh, range it is then. I need the practice

Going through the L.A.B. website ( https://labgolf.com ) on the custom side they offer a staggering 33 options for alignment as well as 8 colour options so you can really dial this in the way you want. So, I've tried to group the choices from Minimal alignment (none, one line or dot), Simple alignment (one line or 3 dots), Two lines, Three lines and the Pointers. What's your favourite? The standard model in black with T line alignment SURVEY: What's your favourite alignment or group and which colour would you order. For more information see https://labgolf.com

Great to hear about the ExPutt. To our resident technology guru, this L.A.B. putter will be tested in more ways than thought possible. The One putt, Two putt, Three (oh hell no) putt Test

Bring it on. But Jim, you are correct, the Bruins have "schooled" the Leafs consistently over the years. This year maybe different. It all depends which team shows up in the playoffs. Either way, should be a great series and who doesn't love playoff hockey.

A good morning to all this Friday morning. Enjoying my espresso catching up to all the posts. Golf later today the rain gods be willing. @CFreddie happy anniversary @Josh Parker new deck looks good @EasyPutter some of us were just a wee bit jealous of you golfing during the community call. Well done. @Jean D love your new setup, but yes don’t take out your projector with your driver. @Dead Solid Bogey keep your deadly sense of humour coming. Enjoyed by many. Message of the day

Gravity grip is about 110 gms in weight, so will definitely affect swing weight (lighter). The L.A.B. Grips are anywhere from 58 to 78 gms in weight. Gravity should work with L.A.B. But that’s a question for my fitter after testing on Quintic. Great looking combination. Nice choice with the Accra shaft and great to hear you’re loving it. We’re still awaiting our fitting results before we order

@sirchunksalot thank you for your kind words. I had a lot of fun doing this. It helps that I know Ian and Mike well and have been going to TXG for years and implicitly trust their advice and recommendations.

Another option to consider is the use of a counter balanced putter grip, like the Evnroll gravity grip. The Evnroll gravity grip is a counter balanced grip. It has an EVA foam body molded in a deep V shape. A 70 gram 10” steel rod is installed in the bottom of the V running the entire length of the grip. According to Evnroll, by positioning the weight directly under and a half-inch away from the shaft, the hands can feel the position of the putter face. Tying the hands to the putter face promotes keeping the putter’s face angle square thru the entire hitting area. This virtually eliminates face rotation at impact. This heavier-than-usual grip weight allows for more weight in the putter head. The result is a greater overall weight for increased stability and accuracy, while maintaining an ideal swing weight for optimum feel and distance control.

Nobody has seen a pink build. I personally don't have a problem with the "Bubba" model, but boy oh boy, I can just hear the razzing on the golf course. Mind you when I consistently make those 5-6 footers, that will shut them up. Look, if enough people demand it, I'm open to getting and testing it. So who wants to see me in pink?

Oh, oh, the secrets out. I guess I need to fess up.

Chris, @CFreddie, excellent introduction. Well done and I enjoyed reading it. We have such a great and diverse group of testers on this one. As we await the fitting results from L.A.B., this currently is my preferred option (red, white pistol grip and TPT shaft) with the 3 alignment bars. Proper alignment is important to me, so I really value putters that have good alignment aids. Fortunately, L.A.B. has dozens of option for alignment and several great colour choices. These are the next favourites. What do people think? Now if I let my wife choose, this is what I would get. Honey, keep your hands off my putter.

Good morning to all on a lovely Thursday morning. Today will be a practice day on the range. Rumour has it, that it’s someone’s birthday today. Happy birthday to Matt, @GolfSpy SAM. L.A.B. called because they heard you were dreaming of this. Enjoy your day.

Javs, thanks for sharing. Good points raised by all. Here are my 2 cents with 2 options. Option 1. 1. With respect to lessons, find a good golf coach/teacher that you can relate to. Be open to suggestions and practice those changes between lessons. Take putting and short game lessons. Make sure your fundamentals (grip, setup, alignment and stance) are solid. Start slow with slow half speed swings. 2. Go to a reputable fitter and invest in fitted equipment. Don’t forget to get fitted for your wedges (scoring clubs) as well as putter (35-40% of your strokes). You don’t have to buy everything at once. 3. Dedicated Practice (have a plan) and practice some more. Don’t play all the time. Build regular practice into your schedule. Concentrate on shots from 100 yards and in as that accounts for 65-70% of your shots. You can save yourself a bucket load of strokes by deploying a good short game by hitting the ball to within 5 to 6’ from the hole and then making 1 putt. Develop a wedge matrix where you know how far a half swing, 3/4 and full swing go. Practice your putting and develop a feel how far a 10’ goes vs a 20 or 30 footer. 4. Course management. Work from the green back and calculate which distances you are more comfortable hitting as an approach shot. E.g 75 or 100, 125 yard full swing club vs a 42 yard shot. If you don’t hit the fairway with your drive, Don’t go for the hero shot, rather hit the shot you can repeat 8 times out of ten. I.e. Play for the bogey and avoid the double, triple or worse. 5. Invest in Arccos or Shotscope - the data provided is invaluable as you will reliably know how far you hit each of your clubs and where you are losing strokes. An alternative is to spend an hour of time indoors using Trackman or GCQuad and hit 10 shots with each club and email the report to yourself. Eliminate the outliers and you will have a good idea of your carry and total distances for each club. 6. Use the winter (for us northern folks) to set goals and practice and work on your swing Option 2 - don’t take lessons, learn from your buddies, buy what’s on sale, don’t practice and then be surprised your game hasn’t improved (in 30 or so years of playing).

Michael, absolutely loved your introduction. Well done and I admit I’m envious of the tech toys you’re bringing to the party. Hack, exputt, Stack, Blast and the Edel putter. Sweet setup. I will definitely have to pick your brain on what you like best.

Hi all, as I work on my putter testing protocol for the L.A.B. test, the science guy wanted to know what does the data show and what should be our benchmarks for some of the putting metrics? So I looked at a variety of data (Arccos, Shotscope, etc) and set up a spreadsheet to look at it. I know, I'm nuts. Some of the things I will be looking at will be number of 1 putts, 2 putts and 3+ putts as well as my actual make percentage from 5, 10 and 20 feet with the L.A.B. DF3 versus my comparators (Evnroll tour, Scotty Camerson Phantom X11, Odyssey Exo 7). I have Arccos, so I have my baseline data, but if you don't know your stats, you now have a rough guide to help you. Caveats: Please note, the numbers vary slightly year to year, so this is a rough but good approximation. But it also begs the question, what's most important to you with respect to putting? What matters to you and what do you look for?

As part of the process, all the testers have submitted their fitting videos and we are awaiting our results. The process is as follows: Remote online fitting – L.A.B. requires you to send in a very short video of 5-10 seconds recording you in your golf shoes, making a putt with a vertical wall or door jamb in the background. They will also require your height as well as length of your current putter from the centre of the putter face to the end of the grip. I have included my 5 second clip. LAB putter fit - short Trim.mp4 Send in your video to L.A.B. and they will use their video fitting software to analyze your stroke and calculate your ideal length and lie angle. They will then send you an email confirming your specifications. https://labgolf.com/pages/remote-fitting Now the fun begins, selecting from the various colour options, alignment aids, shaft, grip, etc. To follow.

Good morning to all on a fine but wet Wednesday morning. Forecast is rain, rain and more rain. So no golf today. As a result, the Espresso machine is working overtime. Plan B is installing some pot lights in the basement or maybe heading to the indoor golf facility. Liking that much more. May everyone have a wonderful day. Welcome to the forum, @Jazzdrummer420 and @Jessica Adams

If we don't knock it out of the park, there will be hell to pay. But seriously, we want to make this fun, informative and answer all questions people have. This is a very intriguing putter and test. The testers are currently awaiting their online fitting results before we can order and proceed. Be prepared to see some great putter combinations. And now a bit of humour.