Search the Community

This off season, I had been looking for ways to improve my putting. I have a putting mat and a mirror that helps me make sure my eyes are over the ball and putts start on the right line. They are better than nothing for putting practice indoors, but practicing with them is boring and perhaps even ineffective. While searching for various putting aids, I came across an putter fitting application used by Ping that is available for download for iOS devices. You can find the review for version 1.0 in MSG, here. REVIEW - iPING Putter App. DOWNLOAD/SETUP Although App is still available for free in the APP Store, they no longer sell the plastic cradle that snaps onto the shaft of your putter. If you happen to find one on ebay or similar market places, you will still need an iphone 5? to fit into the cradle. Newer iPhones will not fit in the cradle. I found that mounting putty works great. It's malleable yet holds shape and it sticks to shaft and back of the phone quite well. See the picture below. App itself is easy to install, the actual version is 3.2.1 revised as recently as May 2021. You will need to create an 'account' to use the app which mean you will need to enter your email address. FUNCTIONALITY Ping has added lie angle and shaft lean to the metrics it captures. 1.0 version already supported closing angle (arc type), impact angle and tempo. There are four modes, Guided Fit, Frit for Stroke, Live Loft/Lie, Single Putt. Guide fit: If you are interested in finding a ping putter for your putting stroke, this can recommend a ping putter for you after you take 5 10 foot putts. Fit for stroke: This is the mode that I use for practice. The app will give you a putting handicap based on how consistent your metrics are based on 5 putts. Less variance will lead to better putting handicap. I use this feature to practice 5 ft, 10 ft and 20 ft putts(stopped by a rolled up towel) and to improve consistency. Basically, I'm striving to make sure my closing angle, impact angle, tempo, lie angle and shaft lean are all consistent from stroke to stroke. iPING 2.0 app does a good job doing that. You should note that the handicap is based on consistency, not particular numbers. For example, if you are consistent in putting 1 degree open at impact, you will get a higher score than someone you averaged 0.0 impact angle but has larger variance. This make sense since this is a fitting app. A fitting can correct for tendencies as long as the strokes are consistent. Live Loft/Lie: This was useful to check that my iphone's gyroscopes are working. I can check that when the lie angle is flat and shaft is straight up, the angles read neutral. See the picture below. Single Putt: It is what it sounds like. You can take one putt and it will give you metric on your putt PROS A free app that captures on putting metrics. Awesome I believe the data to be accurate after using it for over a 2 weeks taking 100s of putts You can make a game out of beating your handicap which can be motivating CON Having a heavy phone stuck to your shaft must change your stroke in some way. Am I making anything worse? I don't believe so, but, it's a legitimate concern. Cannot buy the plastic cradle anywhere, particularly that will fit recent versions of iPhones. VERDICT This is obviously a personal opinion, but this is probably the best putting practice gadget I've gotten free or otherwise. It gives me instant feedback on my putting stroke and helps me work on consistent tempo, set up and stroke. I like it a lot! This was my first attempt at a review of any kind. I hope it was useful in someway to someone. Feel free to ask any questions, I'll be happy to answer them. pakman92

Golfworks has released an interesting new counterbalance putter shaft under the Maltby line. The shaft is appears to be a heavy aluminum shaft on the butt end that transitions into steel for the final few inches. The stock shaft is 38" and the heavy aluminum portion represents 32" from the butt. According to Britt Lindsey's comments on the Maltby Forum, it appears the shaft is designed for putter heads ranging from approximately 360 - 390 grams but must be at least 350 grams to have any feel. The shaft itself weighs 265 grams which is considerably heavier than the roughly 130 gram standard putter shafts. I find this shaft to be intriguing and wonder if anyone has ordered one yet. I can't seem to find much else like it on the market but I'm sure it's not alone. Maybe it's a ripoff of something else out there but I can't seem to find much. There are the BGT Stability shafts but they don't seem to have the same weight to them and they cost around $300. I'm curious if anyone has any insights on these shafts. The idea of counterbalancing a putter using a shaft that distributes the weight more evenly through the length of the club than just shaft butt weights and heavy grips seems interesting.

Anyone have any recommendations on where to get fitted for a putter in the Albany NY area? Shot a 90 with 42 Putts last week (obviously its all my equipment's fault)

PXG Blackjack Putter fitting with Miguel from Brown Bear Golf. Looking for an updated mallet putter brought us to PXG Headquarters in Scottsdale, AZ. We get to use hogh speed cideo and computer algorithims from Quintic putting lab. The fitter found some ways to curomize rhebputter to help me hitt better putts. We discuss competitors like TaylorMade Spider X and Odyssey Stroke Lab #10. As amazing as the Blackjack putter looks how did it perform? Is it a hit? Or is it a stand? Find out with Brown Bear!

PGA Tour Superstore Putter Fitting with Miguel for Brown Bear Golf. This video leads to a big gamble, as Miguel will order a putter spending the most money he's spent on any club ever! This video explores data, the Science, and the Physics of putting. Data is acquired using the Science and Motion or S.A.M. putt lab. So why another putter fitting after conducting one at PXG headquarters? Unlike PXG I get to try multiple brands and styles of putter. We try Ping, Odyssey, and Taylormade. You might be surprised what I pick based on all the data I got.

PXG Blackjack Putter fitting with Miguel from Brown Bear Golf. Looking for an updated mallet putter brought us to PXG Headquarters in Scottsdale, AZ. We get to use hogh speed cideo and computer algorithims from Quintic putting lab. The fitter found some ways to curomize rhebputter to help me hitt better putts. We discuss competitors like TaylorMade Spider X and Odyssey Stroke Lab #10. As amazing as the Blackjack putter looks how did it perform? Is it a hit? Or is it a stand? Find out with Brown Bear!

Found this pretty slick video on Edel's putter fitting process... I'll have more on this Monday - it's a pretty in-depth process that looks at things you wouldn't think of, and it examines putting from a very unique standpoint. May not be for everyone, but it certainly is one of the most unique and innovative fitting processes out there...