I gotta ask, are Zero torque putters just a flavor of the month ?

[5hort5tuff]

2 hours ago, is1ander said:

Sorry for not making it clear. I'd hand him a Square 2 Square Odyssey Jailbird.

 

The Lab df2.1, df3, ande Mezz are 3 of the least elegant putters you could describe in every sense of the word.  The Jailbird, including the cover  are a much more elegant package 😂 

 

The Oz is making up for lost time imo

[10undrbogey]

I have no dog in this hunt, tried a L.A.B. briefly, not my cup of tea, but if it works for you, then great.

 

Interesting to look at Strokes Gained Putting on the PGA Tour though. I agree that what Tour players use & what we use aren’t valid comparisons, except for putters. There I think it’s more reasonable to compare.

 

There’s around 10 players on Tour using L.A.B. putters, but you have to go down to around 75th in SGP to find the first one.

 

Seems to me that if they were the revelation that the manufacturer & some are making them out to be, they would be higher on that list.

 

I agree with the sentiment that they are simply another choice, and a good one for some people, but not the quantum leap in technology that they are being touted as.

 

JMHO

[ThinkingPlus]

3 minutes ago, 10undrbogey said:

I have no dog in this hunt, tried a L.A.B. briefly, not my cup of tea, but if it works for you, then great.

 

Interesting to look at Strokes Gained Putting on the PGA Tour though. I agree that what Tour players use & what we use aren’t valid comparisons, except for putters. There I think it’s more reasonable to compare.

 

There’s around 10 players on Tour using L.A.B. putters, but you have to go down to around 75th in SGP to find the first one.

 

Seems to me that if they were the revelation that the manufacturer & some are making them out to be, they would be higher on that list.

 

I agree with the sentiment that they are simply another choice, and a good one for some people, but not the quantum leap in technology that they are being touted as.

 

JMHO

You won't see large numbers of pros switching to LAB. It is a considerable investment for an already good putter to make. Only pros that are struggling will switch. Larger numbers of pros using these kinds of putters won't occur until kids grow up using them and make it on tour.

[PNWGuy]

5 minutes ago, ThinkingPlus said:

You won't see large numbers of pros switching to LAB. It is a considerable investment for an already good putter to make. Only pros that are struggling will switch. Larger numbers of pros using these kinds of putters won't occur until kids grow up using them and make it on tour.

 

And LAB doesn't sponsor any touring pros.

[Archimedes65]

Finally played a round with someone who was actually using a LAB putter.  He said he loved it because he felt it was easy to get the ball started on his line.  Thing was, he wasn’t draining many putts, and he’s a good player tee to green.  He told me he switched from a Scotty blade, which made sense to me because his stroke looked like a blade stroke.  I asked him if he had to change his stroke, and he said no.  I didn’t have the heart to tell him that he might want to look into that.  The only conclusion that I drew from watching him was that I thought the putter was really goofy looking, and it would have to have me draining EVERYTHING before I would ever consider putting it in my bag..

[SwingBlade]

Some unrealistic conclusions.  You make a million+ every year and have made more than 80,000 practice and game putts with your current putter technology.  Knowing that you are putting well, definitely in the top 25 in putting stats, and knowing that quality putting is significantly attributable to self confidence, are you really going to toss in a LAB tech putter in your bag mid 2024 season to "experiment?"

 

No, you aren't going to do that unless winning and prize money aren't your prime motivators.  Pros like Phil & Rickie and a few others have switched to DF3's recently because they likely need to really try to upgrade their putting stats. Will it work after a few tournaments and a lot of practice and fine tuning?   We'll see.  
 

A number of top level players switched over to mallets in the last two years with it seems pretty good results.  But traditional blade to mallet isn't as much of a trust leap as switching to a LAB.  
 

In this off season,  I would hazard that a number of top tour players with good putting stats will almost undoubtedly do at least a little experimentation with LAB tech to see if it might possibly yield some degree of positive change.  Will several of them switch?   Maybe.  It will be interesting to see.   

Edited December 14, 2024 by SwingBlade

[Jc0]

2 hours ago, 10undrbogey said:

I have no dog in this hunt, tried a L.A.B. briefly, not my cup of tea, but if it works for you, then great.

 

Interesting to look at Strokes Gained Putting on the PGA Tour though. I agree that what Tour players use & what we use aren’t valid comparisons, except for putters. There I think it’s more reasonable to compare.

 

There’s around 10 players on Tour using L.A.B. putters, but you have to go down to around 75th in SGP to find the first one.

 

Seems to me that if they were the revelation that the manufacturer & some are making them out to be, they would be higher on that list.

 

I agree with the sentiment that they are simply another choice, and a good one for some people, but not the quantum leap in technology that they are being touted as.

 

JMHO

 

Tour usually lags 5-10 years behind current trends. Tour players play with what they grew up with and know to work. The only ones who are switching are those that are struggling. That's why you usually see lab putters in the hands of players that have been changing a lot. 

 

When precision and feel matter change is slow. This is why most tour players use steel shafts and some stick with the same irons for extended time rather than upgraded year to year. If it works they don't change. 

 

 

[cocolamb22]

2 hours ago, 10undrbogey said:

I have no dog in this hunt, tried a L.A.B. briefly, not my cup of tea, but if it works for you, then great.

 

Interesting to look at Strokes Gained Putting on the PGA Tour though. I agree that what Tour players use & what we use aren’t valid comparisons, except for putters. There I think it’s more reasonable to compare.

 

There’s around 10 players on Tour using L.A.B. putters, but you have to go down to around 75th in SGP to find the first one.

 

Seems to me that if they were the revelation that the manufacturer & some are making them out to be, they would be higher on that list.

 

I agree with the sentiment that they are simply another choice, and a good one for some people, but not the quantum leap in technology that they are being touted as.

 

JMHO

To be fair, Adam Scott (LAB poster boy) is 27th. But that’s nitpicking. 

[10undrbogey]

24 minutes ago, cocolamb22 said:

To be fair, Adam Scott (LAB poster boy) is 27th. But that’s nitpicking. 

Good catch, I missed that one

[is1ander]

3 hours ago, 5hort5tuff said:

 

The Lab df2.1, df3, ande Mezz are 3 of the least elegant putters you could describe in every sense of the word.  The Jailbird, including the cover  are a much more elegant package 😂 

 

The Oz is making up for lost time imo

By operationally elegant, I meant they are the most natural to swing. And that's all zero torque putters, not just LAB. Which will mean we're going to see a little ecosphere of zero torque putter golfers who start there and only shop in the zero torque category. I think this may be why Odyssey and others are jumping in so quickly. They see it's a whole new thing.

[TNwanabe]

5 hours ago, StoutKing said:

I respect LAB's performance but elegant would be the last adjective I'd use to describe their looks ha ha

 

Edit: just holed a few with my patina carbon DS72.  Now that is an elegant putter, or maybe beautiful.  I'm sure LAB designs will only get better looking in time.

Pic of that would be awesome. Putter porn is fun.....

[Jraallen]

1 hour ago, is1ander said:

By operationally elegant, I meant they are the most natural to swing. And that's all zero torque putters, not just LAB. Which will mean we're going to see a little ecosphere of zero torque putter golfers who start there and only shop in the zero torque category. I think this may be why Odyssey and others are jumping in so quickly. They see it's a whole new thing.

Have you tried LAB vs odyssey zero torque vs center shaft face balanced? I’m curious to hear from people who’ve tried all 3 how they feel/swing differently.

[StoutKing]

1 hour ago, TNwanabe said:

Pic of that would be awesome. Putter porn is fun.....

Not my personal copy but here you go...

[is1ander]

49 minutes ago, Jraallen said:

Have you tried LAB vs odyssey zero torque vs center shaft face balanced? I’m curious to hear from people who’ve tried all 3 how they feel/swing differently.

Jailbird Square 2 Square felt very balanced and rolled fantastically at the store compared to my Mezz Max. No swing adjustment needed. I never tried a face-balanced center shaft putter because it doesn't fit my eye. Feels like I'm going to shank the putt. Maybe the onset face of zero torque putters solved this problem.

[Jraallen]

34 minutes ago, is1ander said:

Jailbird Square 2 Square felt very balanced and rolled fantastically at the store compared to my Mezz Max. No swing adjustment needed. I never tried a face-balanced center shaft putter because it doesn't fit my eye. Feels like I'm going to shank the putt. Maybe the onset face of zero torque putters solved this problem.

Nice! I tried the S2S double wide as well as the DF2.1, DF3, and link today at GG but had a hard time really feeling much difference, mostly what I noticed was how the DF’s kind of force you into a particular set up/stance with the shaft lean and grip angle which felt weird, but maybe I’m just not used to it.

[is1ander]

45 minutes ago, Jraallen said:

Nice! I tried the S2S double wide as well as the DF2.1, DF3, and link today at GG but had a hard time really feeling much difference, mostly what I noticed was how the DF’s kind of force you into a particular set up/stance with the shaft lean and grip angle which felt weird, but maybe I’m just not used to it.

Yeah, the shaft lean feels weird for some, doesn't bother me. I heard counterbalanced LABs have 3/4 degree of shaft lean instead of the standard 2 degrees. Those are LABs with the 17" white Super Stroke grips. LAB OZ has the zero lean option. I'm very curious to try it next month.

 

I think LAB is still ahead by a nose because each putter is individually balanced but they're all fine putters. All zero torque golfers should get at least two or three for variety, haha. OEMs might be noticing golfers like me. 😉

[Jraallen]

8 minutes ago, is1ander said:

 All zero torque golfers should get at least two or three for variety, haha. OEMs might be noticing golfers like me. 😉

And that’s why I’m trying very hard to avoid buying that first one. Can’t afford to go down that rabbit hole haha

[Badshaft]

3 hours ago, is1ander said:

Jailbird Square 2 Square felt very balanced and rolled fantastically at the store compared to my Mezz Max. No swing adjustment needed. I never tried a face-balanced center shaft putter because it doesn't fit my eye. Feels like I'm going to shank the putt. Maybe the onset face of zero torque putters solved this problem.

 

I tried the S2S Jailbird at the golf store today. It felt ok, but couldn't get it alined. I am sure I needed to work with it ...

 

The DF3 seems more intuitive now that I have been playing it by putting the shaft in the middle of my stance... 

[is1ander]

2 hours ago, Jraallen said:

And that’s why I’m trying very hard to avoid buying that first one. Can’t afford to go down that rabbit hole haha

We've seen just about all the 2025 releases. There are no big innovations in drivers, irons, shoes, polos, iPhones or cars. Maybe the Kia EV9. It seats 7 and has a camping mode. Haha.

[is1ander]

1 hour ago, Badshaft said:

 

I tried the S2S Jailbird at the golf store today. It felt ok, but couldn't get it alined. I am sure I needed to work with it ...

 

The DF3 seems more intuitive now that I have been playing it by putting the shaft in the middle of my stance... 

My previous gamer was a Toulon Alcatraz which is the milled version of the Jailbird so it was very easy to roll. My favorite putter shape. Do you have a CB or non-CB DF3?

[otto6457]

OK......I'm probably an idiot but I can't learn to become somewhat less of an idiot without asking questions.  I am open minded and I have every reason to want to putt as well as I possibly can.  If the L.A.B. putter is able to put up better verifiable numbers, I'm on board.

 

I have seen the videos with the revealer.  It looks like it makes perfect sense.  But I'm very confused about some things.

 

My SeeMore is a center shafted putter with a head weight of 363 grams. 

 

My Quintic session in 2018 showed that my average face rotation in degrees per second was -49.18.  

 

My average face angle at impact was .39 degrees

 

I'm not a revealer.  My hands wrap around the putter grip, and unless I release all the pressure I'm using to hold my putter, it's not going to spin around and point off of the swing path. 

 

When I practice with my putting arc, I assume my putter face must be square to the path at all times unless I'm doing something really stupid.  The putter face isn't closing any faster with a toe hang putter than it is with a center shafted putter on my arc trainer unless I am really confused.

 

My 363 gram putter head is not heavy enough to move the putter in my hands or effect the path of my putter by rotating my arms or pulling them away from my body in any measurable amount as I return the sweet spot to the back of the ball pretty consistently.  My Quintic session established that I'm a pretty good putter as my face rotation and face angle at impact are quite good, and pretty darn consistent.  I will say that I took a SC putter to the same session to find out which putter I rolled the ball better with between the SeeMore and the Scotty.  The SeeMore won by a significant margin.  But only because the Seemore had a better launch angle and got the ball rolling faster and more consistently.  The face rotation and face angle at impact were almost identical between the two.

 

If I am not a complete idiot and the above ideas are correct, how is a L.A.B. putter with zero torque and lie angle balancing going to improve my delivery, or start the ball on a better line?  If I were to take a L.A.B. putter on a Quintic, would my face rotation be considerably less?  If so, how the heck could it do such a thing when it's locked in my hands and it should swing pretty much the same as the SeeMore or Scotty?

 

Like I said, I am probably an idiot but the L.A.B. website doesn't explain this, nor have any of the huge number of reviews on YouTube, and elsewhere, explained , or showed, what numbers the L.A.B. putters would put up on a Quintic or a Sam PuttLab.  As opposed to what a non zero-torque or non Lie Angle Balanced putter would put up.  

 

Does any of this make sense?

[ilikegolf26]

6 hours ago, otto6457 said:

OK......I'm probably an idiot but I can't learn to become somewhat less of an idiot without asking questions.  I am open minded and I have every reason to want to putt as well as I possibly can.  If the L.A.B. putter is able to put up better verifiable numbers, I'm on board.

 

I have seen the videos with the revealer.  It looks like it makes perfect sense.  But I'm very confused about some things.

 

My SeeMore is a center shafted putter with a head weight of 363 grams. 

 

My Quintic session in 2018 showed that my average face rotation in degrees per second was -49.18.  

 

My average face angle at impact was .39 degrees

 

I'm not a revealer.  My hands wrap around the putter grip, and unless I release all the pressure I'm using to hold my putter, it's not going to spin around and point off of the swing path. 

 

When I practice with my putting arc, I assume my putter face must be square to the path at all times unless I'm doing something really stupid.  The putter face isn't closing any faster with a toe hang putter than it is with a center shafted putter on my arc trainer unless I am really confused.

 

My 363 gram putter head is not heavy enough to move the putter in my hands or effect the path of my putter by rotating my arms or pulling them away from my body in any measurable amount as I return the sweet spot to the back of the ball pretty consistently.  My Quintic session established that I'm a pretty good putter as my face rotation and face angle at impact are quite good, and pretty darn consistent.  I will say that I took a SC putter to the same session to find out which putter I rolled the ball better with between the SeeMore and the Scotty.  The SeeMore won by a significant margin.  But only because the Seemore had a better launch angle and got the ball rolling faster and more consistently.  The face rotation and face angle at impact were almost identical between the two.

 

If I am not a complete idiot and the above ideas are correct, how is a L.A.B. putter with zero torque and lie angle balancing going to improve my delivery, or start the ball on a better line?  If I were to take a L.A.B. putter on a Quintic, would my face rotation be considerably less?  If so, how the heck could it do such a thing when it's locked in my hands and it should swing pretty much the same as the SeeMore or Scotty?

 

Like I said, I am probably an idiot but the L.A.B. website doesn't explain this, nor have any of the huge number of reviews on YouTube, and elsewhere, explained , or showed, what numbers the L.A.B. putters would put up on a Quintic or a Sam PuttLab.  As opposed to what a non zero-torque or non Lie Angle Balanced putter would put up.  

 

Does any of this make sense?

On my Bushnell Launch Pro my

horizontal launch angle with a LAB DF3 putter is worse on average than my jailbreak and my odyssey seven. 

[Veebee3]

7 hours ago, otto6457 said:

OK......I'm probably an idiot but I can't learn to become somewhat less of an idiot without asking questions.  I am open minded and I have every reason to want to putt as well as I possibly can.  If the L.A.B. putter is able to put up better verifiable numbers, I'm on board.

 

I have seen the videos with the revealer.  It looks like it makes perfect sense.  But I'm very confused about some things.

 

My SeeMore is a center shafted putter with a head weight of 363 grams. 

 

My Quintic session in 2018 showed that my average face rotation in degrees per second was -49.18.  

 

My average face angle at impact was .39 degrees

 

I'm not a revealer.  My hands wrap around the putter grip, and unless I release all the pressure I'm using to hold my putter, it's not going to spin around and point off of the swing path. 

 

When I practice with my putting arc, I assume my putter face must be square to the path at all times unless I'm doing something really stupid.  The putter face isn't closing any faster with a toe hang putter than it is with a center shafted putter on my arc trainer unless I am really confused.

 

My 363 gram putter head is not heavy enough to move the putter in my hands or effect the path of my putter by rotating my arms or pulling them away from my body in any measurable amount as I return the sweet spot to the back of the ball pretty consistently.  My Quintic session established that I'm a pretty good putter as my face rotation and face angle at impact are quite good, and pretty darn consistent.  I will say that I took a SC putter to the same session to find out which putter I rolled the ball better with between the SeeMore and the Scotty.  The SeeMore won by a significant margin.  But only because the Seemore had a better launch angle and got the ball rolling faster and more consistently.  The face rotation and face angle at impact were almost identical between the two.

 

If I am not a complete idiot and the above ideas are correct, how is a L.A.B. putter with zero torque and lie angle balancing going to improve my delivery, or start the ball on a better line?  If I were to take a L.A.B. putter on a Quintic, would my face rotation be considerably less?  If so, how the heck could it do such a thing when it's locked in my hands and it should swing pretty much the same as the SeeMore or Scotty?

 

Like I said, I am probably an idiot but the L.A.B. website doesn't explain this, nor have any of the huge number of reviews on YouTube, and elsewhere, explained , or showed, what numbers the L.A.B. putters would put up on a Quintic or a Sam PuttLab.  As opposed to what a non zero-torque or non Lie Angle Balanced putter would put up.  

 

Does any of this make sense?

I will caveat by saying it may not work for you at all depending on your stroke. But the idea is that even though your hands can easily overpower the torque, a LAB putter makes it so they dont have to. This eliminates the need to manipulate the face, whether you do it consciously or subconsciously (think about how weighting a driver in the heel encourages faster face closure). You can really feel the difference if you try one out or do the thumbs off drill. 
 

To answer your other question, yes a LAB would promote less rotation in your stroke in theory. But in putting really all that matters is consistency, so if you had very high consistency numbers for your face at impact and club path during the quantic session you are likely just very good at controlling the face with your hands and wouldn’t see much benefit from LAB. Just my 2 cents. 

[dodgyman]

7 hours ago, otto6457 said:

OK......I'm probably an idiot but I can't learn to become somewhat less of an idiot without asking questions.  I am open minded and I have every reason to want to putt as well as I possibly can.  If the L.A.B. putter is able to put up better verifiable numbers, I'm on board.

 

I have seen the videos with the revealer.  It looks like it makes perfect sense.  But I'm very confused about some things.

 

My SeeMore is a center shafted putter with a head weight of 363 grams. 

 

My Quintic session in 2018 showed that my average face rotation in degrees per second was -49.18.  

 

My average face angle at impact was .39 degrees

 

I'm not a revealer.  My hands wrap around the putter grip, and unless I release all the pressure I'm using to hold my putter, it's not going to spin around and point off of the swing path. 

 

When I practice with my putting arc, I assume my putter face must be square to the path at all times unless I'm doing something really stupid.  The putter face isn't closing any faster with a toe hang putter than it is with a center shafted putter on my arc trainer unless I am really confused.

 

My 363 gram putter head is not heavy enough to move the putter in my hands or effect the path of my putter by rotating my arms or pulling them away from my body in any measurable amount as I return the sweet spot to the back of the ball pretty consistently.  My Quintic session established that I'm a pretty good putter as my face rotation and face angle at impact are quite good, and pretty darn consistent.  I will say that I took a SC putter to the same session to find out which putter I rolled the ball better with between the SeeMore and the Scotty.  The SeeMore won by a significant margin.  But only because the Seemore had a better launch angle and got the ball rolling faster and more consistently.  The face rotation and face angle at impact were almost identical between the two.

 

If I am not a complete idiot and the above ideas are correct, how is a L.A.B. putter with zero torque and lie angle balancing going to improve my delivery, or start the ball on a better line?  If I were to take a L.A.B. putter on a Quintic, would my face rotation be considerably less?  If so, how the heck could it do such a thing when it's locked in my hands and it should swing pretty much the same as the SeeMore or Scotty?

 

Like I said, I am probably an idiot but the L.A.B. website doesn't explain this, nor have any of the huge number of reviews on YouTube, and elsewhere, explained , or showed, what numbers the L.A.B. putters would put up on a Quintic or a Sam PuttLab.  As opposed to what a non zero-torque or non Lie Angle Balanced putter would put up.  

 

Does any of this make sense?

What doesn’t make sense is that your Scotty and SeeMore have the same amount of rotation on Quintic.

 

The thesis is that you do need to manipulate the puttter somewhat, the revealer shows this  because it shows what your hands and wrists need to invert. 
 

if it’s true that you can take any style of putter, center shafted face balanced, toe balanced, anything in between and the numbers are the same, then it means one of two things:

 

1. All face balanced if any kind is bs. All of it, anyone will putt the same with any putter style.

2. You have some amazing muscle control and can instinctlivly invert the force the same way regardless of putter.

 

Lab says 1 is wrong and most people are not in the second category.

[Badshaft]

10 hours ago, is1ander said:

My previous gamer was a Toulon Alcatraz which is the milled version of the Jailbird so it was very easy to roll. My favorite putter shape. Do you have a CB or non-CB DF3?

Mine is custom built. I did the online fitting and it was different from stock.

 

It was worth it IMO to make it fit your style, which mine is more upright.  I opted for upgraded Accra shaft.

 

This is a short clip that I watched about ball position with the DF3 that I referring  to above.. Which is different than how I use to set up...

 

 

[otto6457]

Thanks to everyone that replied.  I need to find a L.A.B. fitter that has a Quintic or a Sam Putt Lab if I want to try one.  I need verifiable numbers between my current gamer and any putter I might want to try.   I'm not brave enough to order one and hope it performs better for me.  They are plenty expensive.

 

I find it odd that L.A.B. hasn't done a Quintic or Putt Lab comparison video where they take a customer's putter numbers  on a Quintic or Putt Lab, and then do a direct comparison with the numbers that the customer generates with the L.A.B.  As data driven as modern golf is this seems like a no brainer.

 

I am fascinated by the technology and I could easily play a Link.1 if it made better numbers.  

 

Thanks again.

[Jraallen]

3 minutes ago, otto6457 said:

 

I am fascinated by the technology and I could easily play a Link.1 if it made better numbers.  

 

Thanks again.

Right there with you. I think they’re really interesting and want one, but I don’t think I really need one. Plus I enjoy trying different putters/collecting them too much. 

[is1ander]

2 hours ago, otto6457 said:

Thanks to everyone that replied.  I need to find a L.A.B. fitter that has a Quintic or a Sam Putt Lab if I want to try one.  I need verifiable numbers between my current gamer and any putter I might want to try.   I'm not brave enough to order one and hope it performs better for me.  They are plenty expensive.

 

I find it odd that L.A.B. hasn't done a Quintic or Putt Lab comparison video where they take a customer's putter numbers  on a Quintic or Putt Lab, and then do a direct comparison with the numbers that the customer generates with the L.A.B.  As data driven as modern golf is this seems like a no brainer.

 

I am fascinated by the technology and I could easily play a Link.1 if it made better numbers.  

 

Thanks again.

Just one person would be, by definition, anecdotal evidence. Zero torque putters are not for everyone. That would be the first thing I tell any experienced golfer. Look at the pros. Some are doing great with LABs. Some, not most. At the same time, it's taken decades for pros to go from 75% blade putters to 75% mallet putters. And if my best friend wanted to start golfing, I would want the most ease and success for him and that would be to hand him a zero torque putter. If you really want to do a study, get a group of beginners and a group of experienced golfers and split them into new torqued and zero torque putters and see how they do at the end of a season or two.

[is1ander]

2 hours ago, Jraallen said:

Right there with you. I think they’re really interesting and want one, but I don’t think I really need one. Plus I enjoy trying different putters/collecting them too much. 

There are 10 zero torque putters out now, more coming in 2025 and beyond. Plenty of variety, bro. Haha. Just kidding. Brian from GolfWRX regularly rotates his Mezz Max so I don't think it's difficult to change. I will put my Alcatraz back in play. I think when I do, it'll help me with tempo but we'll see.

Edited December 15, 2024 by is1ander

[SwingBlade]

The video above makes a valid point about ball position.  Just maybe note that is a DF 2.1, not a DF 3.

 

As far as the Quintec or Sam Putt Lab, such tests would be generally useless for the validation which you are seeking.  The concept of LAB is that the putter does the task if the golfer does not allow his previous swing, grip, and release to interfere.  Again, for example, the LAB DF3 says, "Stop trying to help.  Trust me."  
 

So, if you want to use any such measuring device to determine whether "your swing" works better with a LAB than some other putter, you can pretty much be assured with near certainty that the answer will be no unless you already utilize a zero release putter swing.  You could probably save time and money by using the thumbs off open palm drill with your existing putters.  
 

As far as laying out that much cash without "knowing" whether the LAB will work for you, there is only one likely alternative, which I employed.  The first day my fitter handed me a DF3 to try, I spent about 2 hours trying it.  Wasn't sold.  That night, I watched maybe six LAB videos, especially the thumbs off videos.  Next day I went back for 2-3 more hours of testing while alternating with a thumbs off stroke. Focusing on 3-10 foot putts I began to understand the LAB swing concepts and then ordered one.  
 

After that it was probably another maybe 8 hours of practice and playing, focusing on ball position, zero release, and as pure of a pendulum swing as I could master before the LAB light really came on.   My 20 year old swing and release with my SC Newport 2 was the big obstacle that I had to overcome.