New Putter- How long before you break it?

[Reesedw]

Aright, I did it. After 17 years i finally put a different putter in play.. 

 

I have 2 rounds with it now.. It is a Ping B60. It feels good, my distance for the most part has been good. but i have been missing putts by Thaaat much.. including 4 from 2 feet all on 1 hole, I was so pissed.. I also seem to get a lot more hop on initial contact then my old Snake Eyes Viper SSI.. 

 

How long do I keep playing before I go back to the old one or break the new one? 

 

I am putting good they are just not falling on putts I normally would be automatic on.. 

 

Help

[TSauer]

Might just take some adjusting to get used to it. 17 years with one putter is a looooong time. What were the reasons for upgrading? Did you just want to treat yourself? If there are things that this putter is helping with that your previous Snake Eyes didn't, I say keep it in the bag and just get some practice in with it.

[cnosil]

The decision should not be base in putts made or missed. Once the ball leaves the face of the putter you have no more influence in what happens. Whichever putter starts the ball on your intended line the best should be the putter in your bag

[scooducks]

The decision should not be base in putts made or missed. Once the ball leaves the face of the putter you have no more influence in what happens. Whichever putter starts the ball on your intended line the best should be the putter in your bag

 

I would also add which ever putter gets the ball rolling quickly off the face. The longer that ball is skipping forward, the more likely it is to bump off line. That's why the Evnroll and Tour Spiders are so popular right now. Those faces do an incredible job of getting the ball rolling off the face, opposed to skipping forward for the first 8"-14". 

[StrokerAce]

depends on how much I paid for it.  If it's a fancy-dancy Scotty that bad boy ain't goin nowhere.

If it's a second hand special it's back in the trunk...

 

somewhere in between?  I'll give it about 3-4 rounds and then it's hello EBay, goodbye putter or make room in the bag boys cause this baby is here to stay.

 

really hoping that my 3rd try this season is the charm...gets here on Thursday and I actually did a fitting to make sure that I'm at least getting the proper style.

[Reesedw]

SO it was a putter Given to me, Ping B60... it had a graphite shaft in it and felt funny so I put a regular steel shaft in it and decided to give it a try.. it is probably 15+ years old so I polished it up and paint filled the lines and figured I might like it better.. 

 

Like said 17 years is a long time. 

 

an 1984 mustang is nice, quick and cutting edge in 1984.. a 2017 is nice quick and cutting edge only 33 years newer.. So I thought I would give it a try.. 

[TBT]

I don't judge a putter by the number of putts made...aim and alignment are my fault, not the flagstick.

 

I judge putters on feel, speed control and how well the ball rolls off the face.

 

That being said after 17 years with one putter it might take sometime to get used to "seeing the line" with a different putter.....if you can practice a "string drill". I have pieces of a narrow wooden dowel that are about 15 inches tall and I sharpened one end to a point and then tied some red nylon twine between the 2 pieces (about 10 feet of twine).

 

Take that to the putting green and find a flat spot and put the dowels in the ground with the twine stretching between them....take a few balls and mark a long line on them with a sharpie then align the line on the ball right under the string and aim at the one of the dowels...start with 2-3 foot putts and try to keep the line turning exactly under the twine and hit the dowel....do a few and then back up a foot or 2 and do some more.

 

This is my favorite putting drill...it lets you work on alignment, your stroke, and speed and it lets you know quickly what you are doing wrong.

[Kenny B]

SO it was a putter Given to me, Ping B60... it had a graphite shaft in it and felt funny so I put a regular steel shaft in it and decided to give it a try.. it is probably 15+ years old so I polished it up and paint filled the lines and figured I might like it better.. 

 

Like said 17 years is a long time. 

 

an 1984 mustang is nice, quick and cutting edge in 1984.. a 2017 is nice quick and cutting edge only 33 years newer.. So I thought I would give it a try.. 

I have always liked the looks of the B60 but I have never putted well with one.  They have always felt too light.  I don't know if Ping used a graphite shaft; I don't remember them using one, so it may have been changed.  By putting a steel shaft in it, you may not have matched the original shaft weight and therefore the feel of the putter.  If you want to try something interesting, head to a golf store, maybe Peutz Golf, and putt your B60 against the Ping Sigma G B60.  I bet they feel a lot different.

[Reesedw]

Alright I now have 3 full rounds and a partial round with the B60.. Why partial round well i kept my old putter in the bag as an insurance policy.. so i broke it out after my 3rd lip out this last round.. my putts were smoother, distance control was better, and 0 lip out actually had 2 I thought were 10-15 misses that caught the edge and dropped..

 

My conclusion: the lighter putter allows me to have to much "wiggle".  I also had a tendency to lose the feel of where the clubhead was, Yes I know it's putting but I just felt i had to watch the head to know where it was instead of just knowing.. MAYBE that comes from 17 years with the same putter.. I seemed to either be a little to firm or to light with the lighter putter also, not bad but leaving 3-4' instead of 1-2'.. I did adapt to the B60 which also leads me to believe that a putter fitting, while might be beneficial, is not necessary.

 

Will i get a new putter? Yeah probably, but not before a few other clubs.. 

[Brian A]

I wouldnt carry your old putter unless you're going to go back to it for good. Take 5 rounds or so with the new one and stick to it, accept a higher score. When you get used to the new putter, the score will come down.

 

When I got my new one, I spent hours with one of those 8 foot putting mats putting 3 balls, 1 a 1/3 of the way, 1 2/3 of the way and one at the end of the mat. Wouldnt move on to the next ball until I made the previous one. So to hit ball 3, I had to make 1 and 2 consecutively 

[Reesedw]

I'm leaving tomorrow on Vacation and will get in 1 maybe 2 rounds. It's going with me we'll see how it does..