Putter fitting best practices

[DB Golf]

Another recent thread about zero-torque putters got me thinking about my recent putter fitting. I went to a place that literally wrote the book on putter fittings, so I figured I was in good hands.

 

My fitting consisted of hitting a test putter at 34, 35, and 36 inch lengths to find the most comfortable, accurate, and precise length. Then I tested different putters at that length to see which felt and performed best. Putts were indoors, 10 feet, and straight. I found one that spoke to me and couldn’t miss. I walked out the door with putter in hand, another happy customer. No in-store loft/lie adjustments were measured or made to my new putter.
 

Performance on the course has been spotty. The head felt light compared to during the fitting. Now it has 3 inches of lead tape underneath, and I finally practice every day—in part to justify the purchase. 
 

In hindsight, I can’t help but wonder if the fitting I received was representative of current best practices. That leads me to two questions for the experts on this forum:

 

1. What are current fitting best practices?

 

2. Would it make sense to pin a new Fitting Best Practices thread to this forum?

[B.Easy]

Who "literally" wrote the book on putter fittings?  Genuinely want to know.  And when?

 

No offense, but this doesn't sound like a fitting at all.  It sounds like a purposeful test drive.  Did they use Quintic or SAM Putt Lab or anything?  Did you learn anything about your stroke?  Path or AOA?  How long your stroke stays in the "zone?"  Where you naturally align your body in relationship to the target? 

 

I can confidently tell you that if you did not come away with at least the information above, you did not have a putter fitting at all.  I could take you into my local golf shop and give you the exact same thing.  Probably any Dicks Sporting Goods.

 

I would purchase a Quintic or SAM to add to my fitting equipment and get the training, but I guarantee the masses wouldn't use it and it would be a total waste.  Outside of a few crazies on this site, people still think of a putter fitting like the OP above.  

[DB Golf]

17 minutes ago, B.Easy said:

No offense, but this doesn't sound like a fitting at all.

None taken. Like I said, I wondered if I received a proper fitting. I won’t call out the company, but suffice it to say they wrote a book on fittings and taught training courses for years. 

 

But this thread isn’t about yet another bad fitting. This is about improving fittings. 

 

@B.Easy, your post describes what seem like best practices. Wouldn’t knowledge like yours be viewed by more readers if housed in a thread dedicated to putter fittings?

As the science and technology advances, it seems like books would become obsolete. Shouldn’t there instead be a place online to share, debate, teach, and update best practices?

 

With as much as industry experts preach that golfers should get fitted, and as many times as we read on GolfWRX about bad fittings, wouldn’t it make sense for the experts on GolfWRX to lead the way by sharing best practices and teaching the rest of us what we should expect from fittings?

 

Those of you who are/were in the profession, are you satisfied with the status quo? If not, is there a better way to utilize GolfWRX to do something about it?

 

Is it time for a forum dedicated to fittings, with separate threads for each club or group of clubs?

 

Would GolfWRX ever consider spreading the knowledge from such a forum via traditional and social media?

[B.Easy]

There are very few places that perform true fittings, because--like I said--  nobody (consumer) is interested enough to make it a viable business model, even to add to existing businesses that already have Quads and Trackman.  The full equipment set up is 10's of thousands of dollars.  That investment does not make sense when the vast majority, including most on this site who are most serious about the topic, still treat the putter like jewelry.

 

Unfortunately, best practices include this very expensive equipment and someone well trained on the topic.  Also, putter look, feel and confidence on the course will override whatever is recommended in the studio.

 

It is my belief that you get roughly close (90%) in the studio. Primarily finding the putter style you like the look of- that performs the closest to perfect and then proceed to fine tune on the course.  This will then allow your practice sessions to yield successful results.  Primarily confidence.  Confidence will translate on the course.  And then the cycle of positive reinforcement can commence and begin to reproduce itself.  

 

It is also my belief that you should pretty much NEVER change a putter you've had sustained success with.  Those feels are what you rely on under pressure. 

 

If people did get properly fitted and then proceeded to actually follow through with the fine tuning and practice-- it would likely collapse the putter market, or at least cause it to retract from where it's at today.  People that have success with a properly fitted putter rarely, if ever, switch.

 

My oldest boy went through this with his Scotty Cameron when he was a sophomore in high school.  He won two tournaments shortly after, got a scholarship for golf, and is now graduating in the Spring after a very successful amateur career.  Has never switched putters.  We've been tracking his stats in ARCCOS since High School and he picks up almost a stroke a round in tournaments on tour pro averages.  My youngest son is a junior and on the exact same track.  He will not change.

 

Long winded way to say, it's not a profitable endeavor.  Putter fitting equipment is too expensive and not enough people are interested.   IF you actually want a perfectly fitted putter, then you will have to head to your favorite manufacturers HQ.  Spend about 2-4 drivers worth on the finished product and stick with it.  Do the work and stick with it.

 

[AzRoger]

The problem with many of these indoor putter fittings is that everyone putts from basically the same spot to the same hole and a groove gets worn in the carpet, so they tend to make you look better than you actually are so best not to get hung up on the one you made a lot of putts with. The video analysis can help with path and club head angle at impact.

Edited November 30, 2024 by AzRoger

[nosil]

24 minutes ago, AzRoger said:

The problem with many of these indoor putter fittings is that everyone putts from basically the same spot to the same hole and a groove gets worn in the carpet, so they tend to make you look better than you actually are so best not to get hung up on the one you made a lot of putts with. The video analysis can help with path and club head angle at impact.

Fittings with tools like Capto, Puttlab, Quintic don’t care about making the putt.  Fittings without those tools should also really do the same since how the ball rolls on the green and the read itself are independent of the putter.   A fitting assess the stroke and ball launch conditions at impact.  Good fitters then use that information to determine the characteristics of a putter that will help those initial conditions.   

Edited November 30, 2024 by nosil

[3step]

A constant goal of any equipment selection is to remove the need for the golfer to compensate.

 

One year I was watching Michael Breed at the PGA Show, on the main stage, give a presentation on putting, and the first part of his talk was about putter selection. So he asked the audience- “What’s the most important part of a putter fitting?” The guesses came quick- “Head?”, “Length?”, “Feel?”, “Weight?”

But I shouted out - “AIM!”

Michael replied - “Yes, AIM!”

 

Michael Breed likely knows way more about the golf swing and than he does about equipment. However, he is smart enough to understand that if you start your putting effort being aimed away from your correct line, everything that follows must be compensation in order to have a chance at putting success.

 

So- a putter selection method should include “best practices” for fitting a putter for ideal weight, shaft, length, loft, lie, feel, etc., but the manufacturers go to a lot of trouble making heads with different shapes, colors, lines, and dots for alignment help. And every putter fitting should include at the start-  comparing these features to see if the golfer can at least start their putting with a club that gives them the best chance at correct aim, and fewer compensations.

 

3step

[hammergolf]

In my opinion, if quintic, SAM, or other camera technologies were not used then there is still lots of questions and potential performance improvements. 

[TKS]

1. Aim feature 

2. Length

3 Total Weight

-Head feel

-Back weight

4. Grip size

5. Loft and Lie 

A good start.

 

Edited November 30, 2024 by TKS

[Jeff58]

My two fittings.

 

SAM lab. Correctly identified the appropriate length, lie, and loft. Later work didn’t change these results. However, at a single distance on a flat surface, I can make a high percentage of putts with a 7 iron. IMO any “fitting” of this type is roughly equivalent to a static fitting for other clubs. This fitting also failed to identify the effects of grip size, both on my mechanics and on a specific putter’s twist rates.

 

A 15 yard putting mat/studio. Basically, the results at 8’ may have no correlation to those at 20’ and beyond. Short putt success is tied to visual alignment. Virtually any putter will produce results that mimic your wrist position. It’s only when you begin to apply additional force and length that the variables of weight, mass distribution, and grip come into play.

 

”The other site”, in their putter recommendations, use a distance sequencing, and IMO they are correct in doing so. The main drawback from their approach is that your individual results will vary depending on your mechanics.

 

[Jtgavigan]

I was pretty impressed with the Edel putter fitting process. Saw a few videos about it in YouTube. Ended up counterbalancing my putter because of what I saw with speed control. Helped me immediately with my gamer. 

[StoutKing]

12 hours ago, DB Golf said:

Another recent thread about zero-torque putters got me thinking about my recent putter fitting. I went to a place that literally wrote the book on putter fittings, so I figured I was in good hands.

 

My fitting consisted of hitting a test putter at 34, 35, and 36 inch lengths to find the most comfortable, accurate, and precise length. Then I tested different putters at that length to see which felt and performed best. Putts were indoors, 10 feet, and straight. I found one that spoke to me and couldn’t miss. I walked out the door with putter in hand, another happy customer. No in-store loft/lie adjustments were measured or made to my new putter.
 

Performance on the course has been spotty. The head felt light compared to during the fitting. Now it has 3 inches of lead tape underneath, and I finally practice every day—in part to justify the purchase. 
 

In hindsight, I can’t help but wonder if the fitting I received was representative of current best practices. That leads me to two questions for the experts on this forum:

 

1. What are current fitting best practices?

 

2. Would it make sense to pin a new Fitting Best Practices thread to this forum?

PING probably would be considered the first to customize their putters.  Did you get fit there?

[golftech]

14 hours ago, DB Golf said:

Another recent thread about zero-torque putters got me thinking about my recent putter fitting. I went to a place that literally wrote the book on putter fittings, so I figured I was in good hands.

 

My fitting consisted of hitting a test putter at 34, 35, and 36 inch lengths to find the most comfortable, accurate, and precise length. Then I tested different putters at that length to see which felt and performed best. Putts were indoors, 10 feet, and straight. I found one that spoke to me and couldn’t miss. I walked out the door with putter in hand, another happy customer. No in-store loft/lie adjustments were measured or made to my new putter.
 

Performance on the course has been spotty. The head felt light compared to during the fitting. Now it has 3 inches of lead tape underneath, and I finally practice every day—in part to justify the purchase. 
 

In hindsight, I can’t help but wonder if the fitting I received was representative of current best practices. That leads me to two questions for the experts on this forum:

 

1. What are current fitting best practices?

 

2. Would it make sense to pin a new Fitting Best Practices thread to this forum?

I suggest you read everything that Bruce Rearick (bargolf on here) publishes on putting.  It will change your view on what a true personalized fitting entails.  From the optics to see alignment to target correctly, to match-ups between the source of motion in your stroke, posture and stroke patterns.  
 

i now always start with head/eye position first before each round to see straight lines, then build the posture and stroke around that.  Trying to copy any instruction that only teaches one way is what destroyed my putting for years.  Now I’m feeling freedom and confidence like a teen again!!  Part of this was discovering what putter shape, hosel design & positioning, head weight and shaft flex that fit my setup and stroke (vs trying to fit a stroke to a putter)!

[PedronNiall]

2 hours ago, Jtgavigan said:

I was pretty impressed with the Edel putter fitting process. Saw a few videos about it in YouTube. Ended up counterbalancing my putter because of what I saw with speed control. Helped me immediately with my gamer. 

 

I got the best of both worlds with an Edel fitting to get balance and grip options in my hands to see what was most comfortable and helped produce a consistent stroke along with SAM Lab testing to make sure I was setup with the face square to the target, had an appropriate lie angle, had good pathing, was delivering the face with correct loft, and so on. 

 

For both the full bag and putters a lot of people do themselves a disservice by not finding grips and lie angles that accommodate their hand size, setup, and delivery. Was very impressed with the improvements I saw in consistency after going through those fittings.

[golftech]

Shame David Edel is no longer part of the company he founded.  Innovative, data driven and talented designer - from putters, to wedges, to fitting system to mechanics.

[RSLP]

Jeff Lhee, Annandale Golf will sort you out.  Make sure you catch him when none of the kids are taking lessons.

[Bad9]

On 11/30/2024 at 2:04 AM, DB Golf said:

None taken. Like I said, I wondered if I received a proper fitting. I won’t call out the company, but suffice it to say they wrote a book on fittings and taught training courses for years. 

 

But this thread isn’t about yet another bad fitting. This is about improving fittings. 

 

@B.Easy, your post describes what seem like best practices. Wouldn’t knowledge like yours be viewed by more readers if housed in a thread dedicated to putter fittings?

As the science and technology advances, it seems like books would become obsolete. Shouldn’t there instead be a place online to share, debate, teach, and update best practices?

 

With as much as industry experts preach that golfers should get fitted, and as many times as we read on GolfWRX about bad fittings, wouldn’t it make sense for the experts on GolfWRX to lead the way by sharing best practices and teaching the rest of us what we should expect from fittings?

 

Those of you who are/were in the profession, are you satisfied with the status quo? If not, is there a better way to utilize GolfWRX to do something about it?

 

Is it time for a forum dedicated to fittings, with separate threads for each club or group of clubs?

 

Would GolfWRX ever consider spreading the knowledge from such a forum via traditional and social media?

 

Sounds like I had a better fitting with Dan Upshaw 15yrs ago, I still use the putter he fit me with to and use the same specs on the other two putters I bought since. Judging solely on your post here I wouldn't touch whatever book this company wrote on putting fitting.

[GDB67]

Go to a store. 
Grab a putter you like. 
On the practice area/green, putt a ball. 
If you make the very first one. 
Buy that putter. 💵

It’s as easy as that. 
How legends are made. 
 

[AllDunn]

I’m in the market to go get fit for a putter and stumbled across this thread. I’ve rotated putters pretty much strictly based off of what I like the looks of for the last several years. I don’t really necessarily have a bias but would love to hear from you all what I should be doing and where I should be looking to get properly fit. 

[driveandputtmachine]

On 12/1/2024 at 6:02 PM, Bad9 said:

 

Sounds like I had a better fitting with Dan Upshaw 15yrs ago, I still use the putter he fit me with to and use the same specs on the other two putters I bought since. Judging solely on your post here I wouldn't touch whatever book this company wrote on putting fitting.

Boy do I miss Dana.  I learned everything I know about fitting from him, granted I know little compared to many on this site, but I STILL use some of his fundamentals in my current fittings of myself and a few friends.  It was sad when he retired and even worse when he passed as he still delved out info to others after his retirement.

 

He was the first person to REALLY fit me, even though Mizuno fit me in college, he noticed my wonky lengths, and that the lead tape I had on my irons had been added in such a way that got me very close to MOI matched, which I knew nothing about at the time.  My first fitting, he brought in the clubs, and then worked his way up and down from there with length and lie and everything adjusted.  Luckily I lived in Atlanta at the time(I am here again now) and I was able to drive down to see him three times as we really dialed everything in.  After some swing changes, and body changes(surgeries) and quite a few years, he saw me again right before retirement and showed me where I had gone wrong with my setup at the time.  

[Bad9]

1 minute ago, driveandputtmachine said:

Boy do I miss Dana.  I learned everything I know about fitting from him, granted I know little compared to many on this site, but I STILL use some of his fundamentals in my current fittings of myself and a few friends.  It was sad when he retired and even worse when he passed as he still delved out info to others after his retirement.

 

He was the first person to REALLY fit me, even though Mizuno fit me in college, he noticed my wonky lengths, and that the lead tape I had on my irons had been added in such a way that got me very close to MOI matched, which I knew nothing about at the time.  My first fitting, he brought in the clubs, and then worked his way up and down from there with length and lie and everything adjusted.  Luckily I lived in Atlanta at the time(I am here again now) and I was able to drive down to see him three times as we really dialed everything in.  After some swing changes, and body changes(surgeries) and quite a few years, he saw me again right before retirement and showed me where I had gone wrong with my setup at the time.  

 

I stopped in on the way back to Atlanta airport after a week in Hilton head. Has lots of contact with him after and read all the stuff he used to post on GEA back in the day. Still the best golf club $ I ever spent.

[PedronNiall]

On 2/11/2025 at 9:04 PM, AllDunn said:

I’m in the market to go get fit for a putter and stumbled across this thread. I’ve rotated putters pretty much strictly based off of what I like the looks of for the last several years. I don’t really necessarily have a bias but would love to hear from you all what I should be doing and where I should be looking to get properly fit. 

 

Hard to go wrong by choosing anywhere that has a SAM Lab if you want to know all the details. Main things would be I'd expect anyone serious about fitting you to work with you to make sure you have the correct perception of when your face is actually square to your setup, and secondly, to figure out whether head offset or none and different line options or none play with your ability to align the face correctly to the target and to feel like you're aligned once you step in. A better fitting will also go into trying different head weight and counterweight options, but might have to look around more to find someone who does that depending on where you live.

 

At least some PGASS locations offer Edel fittings, which should include most everything you'd look for short of a full SAM session, so if you're in a decent sized city or near one you can check the store nearest to you.