SAM Putter Fitting Experience

[ephmen]

Hello all,

Fitting done last week on SAM puttlab at Club Champion in Philly with Jim Yenser (great guy, knows his stuff). I have been transitioning from my belly putter which I loved. Last year had a DLL which was okay on short putts but I struggled mightily with distance control on long puts. SAM data showed us I have a moderate arc, and may do better with some toe hang. Also, the counterbalance in the DLL was working against my stroke, which was much better without a counterbalance. Ended up debating between a Golo mid head and BB32 400g head. Ended up with a BB32 , superstroke 3.0, no counterbalance, 35.5 inches. I went in expecting a face balanced, counterbalanced putter and came out with something totally different which feels much more comfortable in my hands. Morale: GET FIT! Here's to draining more putts in 2014.

 

Cheers.

[backtees]

Most golfers may never smash a drive like Bubba Watson or Garry Woodland, hit an approach like Tiger Woods or Rory McIlroy or play a lob or flop shot like Phil Mickelson or Henrik Stenson.

But every single golfer can sink a 10, 15 or 10 foot putt and keeping in mind that putting makes up about 40% or all strokes it definitely makes sense to get fit on such a vital piece of equipment to enhance the chances to gain strokes putting, to save a par or to avoid a worse.

I went through a putter fitting with SAMs 2 years ago with a putting coach on the European LPGA Tour. I was lucky that from a technical point of view everything seemed to be fine and we only had to change the lie (2 degrees). What seems to be minuscule or even negligible helped me a lot to putt more steady and constant although putting belongs to my strengths.

The putting fitting was a bit pricy but worth every cent and just like OP I can only recommend to get fit on the putter.

[pat007]

The putter fitting is expensive because there's about $10,000-$15,000 dollars of machine to pay for.

[PuttingDoctor]

[quote name='pat007' timestamp='1394548651' post='8847067']
The putter fitting is expensive because there's about $10,000-$15,000 dollars of machine to pay for.
[/quote]

Pat, I've got a bridge for ya'...

Actually SAM prices including a full day of on site training are $7995 for Standard and $8995 for Pro models. Now if you add a Putting Perfection Platform you can spike the bill another $6500.... how much do you want to spend?

[Graymulligan]

What's a SAM session run nowadays?

[Timanator]

This is where I get warry, how many people drop HCP after a club fitting? How come people can put so good with their old crappy putters. Is it s a skill you learn by practicing and get used to, or is it an equipment race like taylormade want you to believe?

[FullOfBrushMan]

[quote name='Timanator' timestamp='1394591578' post='8852519']
How come people can put so good with their old crappy putters. Is it s a skill you learn by practicing and get used to, or is it an equipment race like taylormade want you to believe?
[/quote]
How come I hit my 10 year old 8-iron 10 yards past my buddies juiced lofted 7-iron on the driving range? Time. Research. Practice. I practiced and put the time in doing the correct methods learned by others. My friends haven't and complain when their new clubs don't perform as good as my "Fogey Forgeds".

Oh. That's right. I use multiple methods. I pick the parts/feels from multiple swings from multiple pros/amateurs that work for my swing in order to produce the most consistent and efficient method. Don't just copy A swing. Make a Frankenstein that is yours and yours alone.

Equipment race is a ploy to sell their product to the masses. Very rarely is there "breakthrough" technology. Hell, Crossfield did a video where the Big Bertha and Big Bertha Alpha were nearly identical in almost all shot statistics.

[PuttingDoctor]

Most SAM instructor / fitters will agree that the average putter is too long. We seem to shorten a great many of the stock 35" majority. The result of correcting length will of course change lie angle flatter too.

Once we fit a putter to the golfer not the other way around we can expect a number of things to happen as a result.
1. The player can target better being closer to the target line.
2. The player can make a more natural stroke.
3. Once the stroke becomes more natural we can build in the automation that brings best results.

The putter has always been given less attention in fitting but when using SAM we also get to see the natural tendencies that lead us to make better choices for head style and offset. You can do as simple as Putting Selection and pick the putter with the highest overall score or you can drill down into the details with a trained instructor/fitter to make your putter selection and your stroke dynamics the best they can be.

The market is the price driver so it varies from SAM location to SAM location. Some operations will discount a portion of the SAM time with a purchase of a putter while some will simply sell the service as a value added.

As to handicap improvement fitting properly is the first step. Then it's a matter of coaching for success.

GrayMulligan in your area you might reach out to Coach Bob Simms at St. John Fisher who is a Level 1 SAM Certified Instructor (I personally trained him) or you might want to join me at Turning Stone Resort next month when I do their on site training day. PM me for Coach Simms contact info if you like. He's also a SeeMore fitter.