Why doesn't everyone putt sidesaddle ?

[JA17]

3 hours ago, BigEx44 said:

 

It's a nice putter.  It was just too light for my taste.

Funny you should say that. I felt the same. I took off the top grip, filled the shaft with sand, corked it, and put a grip back on. Swings beautifully.

[BigEx44]

1 minute ago, JA17 said:

Funny you should say that. I felt the same. I took off the top grip, filled the shaft with sand, corked it, and put a grip back on. Swings beautifully.

Nice!  Good solution.

[GoGreen72]

After two full months of committing to side saddle style with a 46” F22 ( height is 6’3”),  I keep coming back the question of ideal length and set up. Can the most experienced side saddlers weigh in on the topic of having a slightly bent right arm vs fully extended at set up? Also, my initial impressions are that the lower you get your right hand on the shaft, the more control you have of “face squareness”, which seems to favor a shorter putter, but that requires a more bent over posture which is not as comfortable. Seems to be a choice of comfort vs functionality. 

[BigEx44]

5 hours ago, GoGreen72 said:

After two full months of committing to side saddle style with a 46” F22 ( height is 6’3”),  I keep coming back the question of ideal length and set up. Can the most experienced side saddlers weigh in on the topic of having a slightly bent right arm vs fully extended at set up? Also, my initial impressions are that the lower you get your right hand on the shaft, the more control you have of “face squareness”, which seems to favor a shorter putter, but that requires a more bent over posture which is not as comfortable. Seems to be a choice of comfort vs functionality. 

 

I have a slightly bent arm at setup.  Let's my right arm "piston" a bit.

 

Not sure about the real low right hand low thing.  Might be good for very short putts.  But would wouldn't seem ideal for one's back OR longer lag putts.

[GoGreen72]

Thanks BigEx44, I’ve looked at the pics you’ve posted and your set up posture looks much more comfortable with the longer putter. I know there are advocates for shorter putters ( Juan Putters, “getting low to go low”), and although that feels more stable, especially on windy days, it doesn’t seem practical for a 65 year old who intends to practice a lot.  I think I’ll try a bit longer putter. 

[Ripper212]

On 2/27/2023 at 4:25 PM, BigEx44 said:

 

I have a slightly bent arm at setup.  Let's my right arm "piston" a bit.

 

Not sure about the real low right hand low thing.  Might be good for very short putts.  But would wouldn't seem ideal for one's back OR longer lag putts.

I think my right arm is the reason I can't be consistent with SS putting. Won't hang straight because of prior rotator cuff injury and elbow is a little externally rotated at rest. Makes it too hard to consistently deliver putter face on chosen line. Of course I can't choose proper line anyway so sometimes it works out just fine, LOL. And sadly that's why by BG is now in the BST.

[golfer3411]

On 5/3/2021 at 3:28 PM, Krt22 said:

 

 

Edited May 4, 2023 by golfer3411

[sui generis]

I had Tom Slighter build a center-shaft 500g low loft head for me about ten years ago. I built a long putter and putted side saddle for a time, then drifted to an unanchored conventional stroke,

 

The Slighter didn't work for me, so a Yes Natalie servrd me well for the next few years. I began to miss left and couldn't cure it, so back to the Slighter and side saddle. 😉

[mshills]

Side saddle here, I am a bit over 6’1” and use a 43” Grace F22. What works for me:

 

R foot forward

Ball one putter width R and one putter width in front of my R foot

The longer the putt, I’ll have the ball start creeping back towards me; the distance R of my foot is constant. 
Claw grip with R hand

I do not try to keep my L arm pinned or locked in place — that makes me feel like I’m using all small twitchy muscles down my R arm. Not sure how to articulate this — I just let that side relax and feel “fluid.”

 

I was SS most of last season, and at some point lost all feel on long putts, so I went back conventional in an attempt to get the feels back, then back to SS this summer. I have about six weeks of quite good putting going, hoping it sticks. 

From 12’ and in SS is just fantastic for me. Longer putts are not as intuitive but this is my second season with this method and it is much improved. I still have the odd lag putt that comes shockingly short about once a round, but I can’t really blame the method for that, it is the man using the method. 
 

One nuance I run into from time to time. I’m an adaptive player and in many tournaments there are two upper arm divisions — assisted and unassisted. Unassisted means “the impaired arm never touches the club while making any stroke” and the course yardage is much shorter for this division. The issue is my L hand touches the club for SS putting — in an event I entered this winter, doing that would have made the course 500 yards 😯 longer. That’s a lot more golf course, and considering the unassisted was already 6100 yards I was not about to tee it up at 6600. So in those events I go back to a 35” conventional putter unless an exception is made for putting.