Putter Weight Effects on Stroke

[Antnee94]

Question for the group. 
 

I’m in the market for a new putter. 
I’ve been gaming the Odyssey Versa 90 #7 Black since it came out. I bought it at 35 inches. Then cut it to 33. Obviously it became very light. I never did anything to add the weight back to it, but I have always added weight on a few other putters I own and have tinkered with. 
 

I like the feel of a heavier putter but never knew what the added weight does to my putting stroke.
Can anyone explain what it could do?

 

I also went shorter back in the day, but as I age my back could use the longer putter, which will be heavier. 
 

I’m about to buy the Scotty Phantom 7, which for the most part is the same putter. But not sure if I custom order it with the standard weights or the 15 or 20. 
 

So, what does the heavier putter do to my stroke. I putted with the standard one and liked it and it was heavier than my 33 inch Versa because of the length. 
 

 

[hammergolf]

I can’t speak for what a heavier head might do for you, but for me it gives me a much better feel, more control, and better speed control. When I have tried lighter heads in the past I struggled with path and speed control. 

[JAM01]

FYI - the Super Select Golo versions do have a stock retail heavy version too if that shape/style works for you. 

[Stuart_G]

17 hours ago, Antnee94 said:

I like the feel of a heavier putter but never knew what the added weight does to my putting stroke.
Can anyone explain what it could do?

 

It's super subjective.  How feel changes the stroke can be different for everyone and you just have to go out and do some actual testing to find what will work best.   It can have a big effect on rhythm and tempo and even how you accelerate the putter into impact or even the path the putter takes in the backstroke and through stroke.

 

But Howard wrote up this post about putter weight fitting you might find helpful.

Ignore the thread title - it's the 8th or 9th post that covers the putter.

 

 

 

 

Edited July 24, 2024 by Stuart_G

[Ger21]

When I went from a 330g Newport to a 375g Piretti, my stroke got much smoother, especially on short puts, and the putter stays on line better when I take it back.

[Mark_Tha_Tinkerer]

9 hours ago, Stuart_G said:

How feel changes the stroke can be different for everyone and you just have to go out and do some actual testing to find what will work best.  

Aint that the truth!!!  In total desperation, I started tinkering around with more than a dozen putters I had accumulated over the years.  As a last resort, I went totally bonkers and played around with building some long putters: broomstick, armlock and whatever I could think of.  I finally ended up with a putter that I would never have dreamed of paying good money for to try out. 

 

Total weight = 700 grams

 

Head = Wilson Infinite West Loop comes stock at 365 grams but I added around 30 grams of lead tape to the head to make it around 395 grams.  (I repainted the head to cover up the lead tape and also created my own alignment aids -- Looks like sh*t to some I play with who preen around with their new Scotty's to show off).  

 

Length = 38 inches using a shaft extension for the shaft it came with which was 34 inches.  I grip down approximately 4 inches so its play length is still 34 inches or thereabouts with about 4 inches of shaft above the hands. (For the OP, having 38 inches helps my back as I can grip the club at any play length I want on any particular day depending upon how my back feels that day and not suffer much in performance).  

 

Counterweight = 70 grams (50 gram weight + 20 grams for the ball picker upper I put on the top to save my back)

 

Grip = 93 gram Superstroke 17 inch putter grip. 

 

Shaft + extension = approx. 142 grams. 

 

Swing weight = No idea as my scale gives me an error message that it’s too heavy to measure.

 

For me, it was not just head weight or total weight that made the difference.  A 700 gram putter built to 34 inches with counterbalance weights felt horrible to me.  Yes, I tried building and using a putter like that too.  The configuration I am using  just plain feels good to me (for now anyway) and my putting is getting better and better the more I use it.  The extra length and accumulation of weight above the hands feels as good or better to me than any putter I’ve used over the last 40 years.  I suspect that every golfer has a unique configuration that “feels” best to them but finding what that configuration might be is not easy.

 

There is no substitute for “actual testing” as stated by Stuart.  AND…keep an open mind as to what might work.  Try everything even if you think it is a stupid idea and will likely be a total bust. 

[MattM97]

The Ping philosophy is based on tempo so faster stroke go lighter, slower stroke go heavier. But that's their philosophy and not law. 

 

Weight can do various things, for some overall heavier help if they're very shakey but that can also hurt some. Others like the head to feel very heavy and less in the hands, some like more weight in the hands which will also make the head feel lighter. 

 

On the other hand some like very light because they say they can feel the head more. 

 

The one good thing with Scottys is you can buy cheap weights online if you're not happy 

[AzRoger]

I picked up a used Scotty X7M putter, the putter felt heavy but assumed that's the way it was built. Decided to check what the standard weights were for the putter and at 35" it's spec'd for 10G weights, the weights installed were 25G. Picked up a set of 10G weights and the putter felt much better, easier to control.

[Antnee94]

I ordered my putter today. 
the 35 inch Scotty Phantom 7. 
 

I split the difference and ordered the 15 gram weights. If i want heavier I’ll add some lead tape and then buy the 20 gram weights and be done. 
 

I'm so excited and can’t wait for this to get here. I also got the large grip. If I don’t like that I’ll just throw my superstroke 2.0 mid/slim and be done. 
 

thank you everyone for the replies. 

Edited July 25, 2024 by Antnee94

[jarediogolf]

As mentioned… subjective. 
My putter experience.

 

Ping B60 with light shaft. Good distance control but… path, stroke, strike erratic. Other smallish putters, same. 
 

2 ball, 2 ball blade, and other mallets. Distance control went to crap, sometimes I felt head lag and ball would push, otherwise, easy to start online. 
 

Put a heavy aluminum shaft with a big grip in the Ping B60 head. Very happy. 
Better path, no issue with distance control. 

[Mark_Tha_Tinkerer]

Just wanted to follow up by sharing a picture of my 700 gram Frankenputter described in my post above.  Stunning is the word....right?  

 

[Stuart_G]

2 hours ago, Mark_Tha_Tinkerer said:

 Stunning is the word....right? 

 

That's certainly a word 😁

[AzRoger]

Is that a cigar holder on the grip end of the fraken?

[DYOS4]

I put lead tape on the sole of my Ping Tyne C with hopes of smoothing out my stroke on putts inside of 10 feet. It was terrible. Peeled it off. I've put 35g and 40g weights into my Scottys and at first it was ok, but eventually went back lighter. 

 

Experiment and see what works for you. Also the total weight didn't drop much cutting off 2 inches. 5-7 grams ish from a 500 ish gram putter.