My GSS-Carbon-Stainless/Deep milled-No milled myth busting

[MadMex]

While cleaning my computer files, I came across some  notes from a post I made at another site.

I had read an old article in GOLF magazine were they had interviewed Scotty Cameron, he talked about many things, but one part caught my attention, FEEL.

He stated that sound has MORE to do with how we interpret "feel" in a putter, that if were to putt with several different putters, then chose a favorite one, then putted again with the same putters with it while wearing ear protection, we would not  be able to tell the difference.

Not being a Scotty Cameron fan, on a cold rainy California I decided to challenge this preposterous theory !!!

Putters Used: Byron Morgan Stainless Steel, Carbon and Copper Plated Carbon DH89's no milling (PING Scottsdale ), Byron Morgan Experimental GSS (Wilson TPA XVII) deep milled, Scotty Cameron TEI3 and Scotty Cameron Center shafted Beached  prototype, all with iomic grips, why these? It's all I had.

Balls Used:  Titleist Prov-1, Pinnacle Gold, Callaway Truvis and NIKE Platinum, why these balls? Simple, only new balls I had.

Testing no ear protection: I rolled each ball 3 times with each putter (again, it was raining and I was bored) after that I picked the 3 putters which felt the best, rolled them again and the Byron Experimental came easily on top. Could deep milling and GSS be the best feeling out there?

Testing with ear plugs and over ear protectors: I repeated the test , I was puzzled, so I repeated the ear protection test for a second time. I ate a HUGE serving of crow, Scotty Cameron was right, NO DIFFERENCE in feel. 

 

This is by no way a true scientific test since the same model in different configurations was not used, plus I suffer Tinnitus brought on by yeas of working on fighter jet aircraft ins USAF.

 

 

 

 

[RickyBobby_PR]

Feel and sound get applied to all clubs from golfers. It’s why the soft golf ball market grew. 
 

contact point on a club will change he sound as well. Hit some drivers low on the face and it could sound like an aluminum bat and will sound a lot better when struck in the center or just a bit above center and towards the toe. 
 

Feel thru the hands and arms will feel different on clubs with some sort of vibration usually felt. Flush and iron and you will feel almost nothing in the hands arms compared to a toe or heel shot. And anyone standing around can hear when an iron is flushed.

The MGS talks about feel in some old articles and iirc it’s even discussed in the ball study 

[Shapotomous]

Have you ever tried hitting full shot wearing ear protection?  It was a very weird 'feeling' and had a real effect on my ballstriking.  Maybe I'd adapt if that was my hearing condition all the time but for the short experiment I struggled.

[Dave Tutelman]

I'm just agreeing with everybody else here. There is a wealth of data from manufacturers of clubs and balls supporting the notion that more than half of what we perceive as the feel of impact is really the sound of impact. The companies knew this from actual research, good experiments that verified this every time, starting before the 1990s (which was when I became aware of it.

Here's a little supporting (but unscientific) anecdote. The best golfer in my group needs a hearing aid. We were playing a few years ago, and he was playing his usual solid game until late in the front nine. Then his game completely fell apart, and stayed bad until the end. I asked him afterwards what had happened. Seems the batteries were running low in his hearing aid. It was behaving disturbingly, so he turned it off. Then, "All of a sudden, I had no feel at all. I couldn't play because I was getting no feel feedback."

[Donn lost in San Diego]

Yep.  I tried hitting at a driving range wearing ear plugs because it was noisy and I have a noise hearing problem.  It is hard to do.  The inner ear also perceives movement and air pressure.   You can train yourself to do it but it takes conscious effort and practice.

[JeremyD]

this is awesome. I may have to try putting with my 3 putters. The last/current one I purchased was solely due to the fact I won money in a tournament and only wanted a new putter and it fit the budget. It may explain a little why I kind of enjoy putting with my Hippo putter at times, even if it's not the sexy one.

[fixyurdivot]

On 6/27/2021 at 11:58 AM, Dave Tutelman said:

I'm just agreeing with everybody else here. There is a wealth of data from manufacturers of clubs and balls supporting the notion that more than half of what we perceive as the feel of impact is really the sound of impact. The companies knew this from actual research, good experiments that verified this every time, starting before the 1990s (which was when I became aware of it.

Here's a little supporting (but unscientific) anecdote. The best golfer in my group needs a hearing aid. We were playing a few years ago, and he was playing his usual solid game until late in the front nine. Then his game completely fell apart, and stayed bad until the end. I asked him afterwards what had happened. Seems the batteries were running low in his hearing aid. It was behaving disturbingly, so he turned it off. Then, "All of a sudden, I had no feel at all. I couldn't play because I was getting no feel feedback."

Interesting.  I need to try the earplugs in at the range test.

[RobotDoctor]

Love the test TJ.  Miss that other site!