I've always used a blade putter, it just looks natural to me. I switched to a mallet style a couple of years ago, but that didn't last long.
Mallet vs blade?
razaar
Well-known member
Doesn't really matter that much to me if it is a mallet or a blade. The stroke is the same. 20+ years ago I was a member of a golf forum called "Putter Talk". One of the Mods "Bruce" was a golf pro who specialised in putting. He was a great help to me in understanding the putting stroke. One of the keys for me was that the putter head moves on two arcs - a horizontal arc and a vertical arc when the shaft stays on plane.
Blade putters tend to disguise (for want of a better word) the vertical arc, while the mallet head disguises the horizontal arc. My technique is to emphasise the vertical arc for the stroke with a blade making it the same feeling with both putters.
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I’ve always had Anser blades or Squareback/Double Wide mid-mallets that simply look like large blades basically. I forced myself to buy a mallet (Rossie) and after some bad outings for my first 2 outings with it I got into a groove..like a real groove. I switched because so many great players seem to prefer a mallet and while I’m not trying to imitate any of them (Rahm is far from a favorite of mine but I do like watching him play or did at least) I figured it would probably be better for me too. So far it’s been a wonderful experiment and I think I found my rest of my life putter.
ohioglfr
Member
Mallet for me, with double-bend shaft. I like the longer alignment lines on them, helps me line up better. Played a blade for many years, a Tommy Armour T-Line.
- Thread starter
- #56
I finally found a mallet I love. LAB DF3
For me, it's mallet vs mid-mallet, but I'm finding myself preferring the stability and longer alignment line of the mallet. I find my putts stay in my intended line more consistently.
I have heard it before that nobody putts in a completely straight line, that everyone is still somewhat of an arc. While this may be technically true, I must be as close to a straight line as it comes. CS face-balanced putter. I play the Odyssey Eleven and have used a fang and a CS heavy putter mallet before as well. The one shocking thing is that I can putt with a Scotty Newport 2 pretty well (although I think I find myself taking more of an arc subconsciously). The Eleven just feels automatic to me. If I miss a putt it's usually a terrible read not a bad stroke/face issue.
I feel like my 7CH has actually improved my putting with my NP2. Once there’s a different neck involved, it’s a mess.
I think the neck is nearly as important as toe hang in a putter and is often overlooked. Depending on stance height, hands, etc, a different neck can make a huge difference. I can putt lights out with a CS, but really struggle with a plumber's neck or heel
In my opinion the neck everything. It does effect the toe hang, but it’s part of the mechanical timing and delivery of the face. When people get a DB mallet after using a blade then say they can’t putt with the mallet I think they hampered themselves out of the gate with the wrong set up. That’s just my take after burying myself in the garage with 3 different necks on 7’s and figuring out what I could make go straight repeatedly.
If there’s more to it than that, I don’t want to know.
Recently switched from a Scotty Studio Select 2.5 to a TM Spider Tour X. Both are great putters, but the more face balanced TM with the runway sight lines are a huge plus with my aging eyes! One constant for me is the slant neck. I just dont like the offset plumbers neck or double bend.