Putter Fitting Help

[Blueberry_Squishie]

To those who do putter fittings or have had a great experience with one:

 

What sorts of things should I be asking a fitter about before a putting fitting? What sort of equipment is a minimum for them to do an effective job? Anything that can be commonly overlooked in a fitting?

 

Just want to make sure that I'm going to get an effective fitting from my time and money.

 

Just in case, if there anyone has recommendations for a fitter in Melbourne (I already have an option or two), that would be helpful too.

Edited April 23, 2020 by Blueberry_Squishie

[cnosil]

I would want to understand their process. Fittings that just statically look at lie, lift and length are a waste of time.

The best fittings are with Quntic and puttlab. These devices will measure you stroke and how the ball rolls to help find the putter that will suit you the best and have the most consistency.

If you want to see what a fitting is like look at the TXG YouTube fittings, they use quintic and discuss the process in depth.

[Blueberry_Squishie]

11 hours ago, cnosil said:

The best fittings are with Quntic and puttlab.

One of the fitters I have checked out uses Capto. How does this system compare to those ones?

Edited April 24, 2020 by Blueberry_Squishie
Grammar

[Nova.Golfer79]

I agree that using some form of device such as SAM puttlab can be helpful, however putting is so feel based that some people can get wrapped up to much in the numbers and not in how the putter feels, looks, sounds etc. Keep in mind that a putter is the only club you use on every hole and having one that you like the look of, can aim well and start the ball on line is what’s going to help lower scores.

 

For when doing a putter fitting I look for two things: 1) the ability to try different grips and 2) try the putter on an actual putting green. To that, since you live in Melbourne, I’m assuming Florida and not Australia, you should check out Tour Spec Golf at Lake Nona in Orlando. They have an awesome setup and can easily change head, shaft length and grip versus just trying what’s on the rack. 

[cnosil]

12 hours ago, Blueberry_Squishie said:

One of the fitters I have checked out uses Capto. How does this system compare to those ones?

Capto is a new up and coming system that measures hand wrist and arm motions as well as putter dynamics.  In the right hands it is a powerful tool.  Lots of the big name putting instructors seem to be using the system.   Obviously, the fitter matters,  but the capto system would be a great tool to use.  

[cnosil]

2 hours ago, Nova.Golfer79 said:

I agree that using some form of device such as SAM puttlab can be helpful, however putting is so feel based that some people can get wrapped up to much in the numbers and not in how the putter feels, looks, sounds etc. Keep in mind that a putter is the only club you use on every hole and having one that you like the look of, can aim well and start the ball on line is what’s going to help lower scores.

 

For when doing a putter fitting I look for two things: 1) the ability to try different grips and 2) try the putter on an actual putting green. To that, since you live in Melbourne, I’m assuming Florida and not Australia, you should check out Tour Spec Golf at Lake Nona in Orlando. They have an awesome setup and can easily change head, shaft length and grip versus just trying what’s on the rack. 

It will depend on the player on how much information they want in their head.  I like to know the details but not for purposes of optimizations, but for understanding.  Chasing numbers is bad for all club fittings.    Looks, feel, and sound are personal preferences but have very little to do with how well it performs and I would use those as tie breakers.   

Why does an actual green matter;  probably better to say a green/mat/carpet that rolls the same speed as what you normally play.   As you stated,  can you aim the putter consistently, and can you start the ball on your intended line, and I'll add that you can control the balls speed.   Indoors or outdoors a ball will roll across the surface at a speed and is influenced by gravity; given a green speed the ball will always travel on the same line with the same ball speed.  The issue is that the energy transferred to the ball is different for almost every putter and therefore players struggle when they get on actual greens because the speeds are different.  That is not a fitting issue,  that is a practice issue.  

[ObsessiveIndecisive]

On 4/23/2020 at 11:12 AM, Blueberry_Squishie said:

To those who do putter fittings or have had a great experience with one:

 

What sorts of things should I be asking a fitter about before a putting fitting? What sort of equipment is a minimum for them to do an effective job? Anything that can be commonly overlooked in a fitting?

 

Just want to make sure that I'm going to get an effective fitting from my time and money.

 

Just in case, if there anyone has recommendations for a fitter in Melbourne (I already have an option or two), that would be helpful too.

I would try and go in with an idea of the following:

1. Try and get to know what your tendencies are with your putter. If you have a mallet putter and you tend to miss right, a straight back may help (round back tends to cause people too aim more right, straight back more left). Same goes for what aim lines you have. Generally lines cause people to aim more left so that is good to know as well,
2. Get a feel for how you like to swing the putter. Personally, I am much more comfortable and have a more stable swing with longer putts that short so I like a softer face.
3. Make sure you are happy with your current setup and stroke. If you aren't consistent with how you setup, your lie and loft will vary so fitting will only set you up for how your stroke was during that hour.
4. Get a feel for if you like counter weighting or not. In general, if your wrists break on take away, you need counter weighting.

Also, if you are in Melbourne, AU, I recently got fit by Matt Tudor at Golf Fitting Hub and I really liked him.

[Blueberry_Squishie]

Thanks to everyone for their input. I'm in Melbourne, Australia (looked it up and there are way more Melbournes in the world than I thought - 5 in the US alone) so I've got a decent short list of places to get fit. The two I'm leaning towards both use Capta, so I might go through their respective reviews to see if I can narrow them down. I would normally contact them but both are closed due to the current unpleasantness. Once things open up again I'll check the extent of the product range each has for fittings and consider that too.

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Watch this video to understand what to know before getting fit for a putter.