Putters are fashionable golf golf equipment. Greater than every other membership, putter designs are inclined to comply with distinct business tendencies. Take into consideration how sizzling the TaylorMade Spider Tour was again within the heyday of Dustin Johnson and Jason Day enjoying their black and purple variations respectively.
Not solely did TaylorMade promote a complete bunch of Spider Tour putters however quickly each different firm was promoting their very own model of the Spider.
After all, this isn’t a brand new putter phenomenon. For reference, please Google Anser, Newport, BB1, Juno, Good-looking One, Brandon and One.
A number of years again, the Odyssey Cruiser Jailbird was the putter of the second due to Rickie Fowler and Wyndham Clark. The demand for these putters was so excessive that Odyssey dusted off their 2013 blueprints and began constructing them once more.
As fast as a birdie can flip right into a double, that putter’s reputation plummeted.
The newest putter craze is the putter model that changed Fowler’s Odyssey: a Lie Angle Balanced L.A.B. Golf DF3.
What are these new torque-focused putters all about? Are they in truth new and must you be available in the market for one?
Let’s dive into these questions, and a few others, and see if you have to be heading to the store for a brand new flatstick.
Query 1: Are reduced-torque putters a brand new factor?
The brief reply is not any. Corporations have experimented with reduced-torque putter designs for fairly some time. My first encounter with a reduced-torque design was an previous PING Kushin mannequin the place the toe pointed straight up once you balanced it in your finger.
Corporations have used totally different descriptors for this sort of putter. Axis1 described their 2013 reduced-torque Joey putter as “perfectly balanced”. Constructive Putters, one of many earliest torque-free putter designs, described their putters as Goal Line Balanced.
Odyssey Golf provided the reduced-torque Toe Up putter line in 2016. The limited-torque Odyssey Backstryke line that launched in 2009 made a return look in 2020 with the Odyssey Stroke Lab Black Toe Up Big Seven.
The torque-balanced Edel EAS 2.0 was one of many highest-ranking blade putters in our 2020 Most Wanted Blade Putter testing.
Backside line: Putter designs that cut back or get rid of torque have been round for many years with a number of firms presenting their takes on the idea.
Query 2: Why is that this model of putter all of the sudden so fashionable?
You’ll be able to thank L.A.B. Golf for the wild increase in the popularity of the zero-torque putter. Invoice Presse IV will get the credit score for perfecting the zero-torque design together with his Lie Angle Balanced Directed Pressure putter.
A putter that’s Lie Angle Balanced (that’s what L.A.B. stands for) doesn’t rotate in any respect throughout the placing stroke. The primary benefit of this attribute is that it’ll return sq. to the ball with out manipulation.
The Revealer
The creation of The Revealer was key to Presse determining tips on how to utterly get rid of rotation within the putter stroke. Primarily, one invention (The Revealer) led to a different (Directed Pressure putter).
The unique Directed Pressure putter shortly gained a loyal following however it didn’t actually catch hearth within the market as a result of its uncommon look.
L.A.B. Golf Takes Off
I imagine two elements have boosted L.A.B.’s reputation lately. First, L.A.B. Golf developed putters that have been extra visually interesting. The Mezz.1 and Hyperlink.1 putters are nonetheless uncommon wanting however not as uncommon (or giant) as the unique Directed Pressure.
The Directed Pressure 3 putter was a mainstream-friendly design, hitting the candy spot of being extra visually engaging whereas nonetheless sustaining the Lie Angle Balanced know-how.
Along with making extra aesthetically palatable putters, L.A.B. Golf’s putters began to indicate up within the luggage {of professional} golfers. Extra importantly, execs have been profitable tournaments with L.A.B. putters. Even Phil Mickelson, who is known for playing small 8802-style putters, put a L.A.B. DF3 in the bag last year.
The mix of improved putter seems to be and elevated Tour presence have rocketed L.A.B. gross sales previous everybody besides Odyssey and Scotty Cameron in current months.
Query 3: Are Zero Torque, CG Balanced, Toe Up, and Lie Angle Balanced putters the identical?
That is the place issues get a bit of murky. Whereas all the reduced-torque designs do in truth cut back torque, not all of them get rid of it. A novel hosel design and/or weight placement will cut back a putter’s torque however further engineering is required to actually make a putter torque-free.
This brings us again to L.A.B. Golf’s Revealer. This software has change into the gold commonplace take a look at for demonstrating a putter’s zero-torque traits. That is the place L.A.B. Golf’s Lie Angle Balanced design separated their putters from the competitors. L.A.B. creates actually torque-free putters by manipulating the balancing weights within the sole of their putters. As soon as balanced, L.A.B. putters don’t twist in any respect when swung in The Revealer.
The Revealer is commonly utilized by L.A.B Golf’s rivals to indicate the dearth of rotation of their putters as nicely.
Some firms, like PXG, developed their very own Revealer-type instrument whereas others merely positioned their putters in L.A.B.’s software. “How does it carry out in The Revealer?” has change into a typical query every time an organization unveils a brand new torque-free putter.
Some putters from different firms carry out nicely in The Revealer like Odyssey’s Sq. 2 Sq. putters and Bettinardi’s Antidote SB1/SB2. Others present some tendencies to maneuver when they’re in The Revealer, indicating that there’s in truth nonetheless some torque current.
What you’ll discover from the images is that solely L.A.B. putters use weights to attain Lie Angle Steadiness. A lot of the different firms are shafting the putter at or close to the middle of gravity or utilizing a modified hosel to get rid of rotation.
It’s attention-grabbing how The Revealer exhibits how different firms’ putters aren’t actually torque-free. Sadly for L.A.B. Golf, The Revealer has change into the perfect software for different firms to make use of when designing competing torque-free putters.
Query 4: Why are so many different firms making zero torque putters?
The torque-concerned putter market is pure putter pandemonium lately.
“It’s putter-monium, Jerry!”
Why has the competitors ramped up on this newly aggressive putter area of interest?
The cynic in me says that is occurring as a result of firms wish to earn cash. The golf gear enterprise has lengthy been about firms chasing {dollars} by “borrowing” the most popular new applied sciences.
Take into consideration how virtually all drivers have adjustable hosels lately. One firm did it first after which it quickly turned the business commonplace.
The optimist in me believes the torque-free increase is going on as a result of firms need to make putters that assist individuals make extra putts. I’d wish to assume the businesses spend equal time caring for the shoppers in addition to the shareholders.
You’ll be able to say I’m naive about this however having met lots of the people who find themselves designing these putters, I do know they need individuals to make extra putts. It issues to them.
After all, they’d additionally wish to promote sufficient putters to remain employed.
Query 5: Ought to everybody be enjoying a zero torque putter?
This is likely one of the questions that comes up all the time when speaking about L.A.B. putters: Ought to everybody be enjoying this model of putter? Some individuals assume this model of putter will quickly ship different kinds of putters to the Persimmon Woods Retirement House.
The thought is {that a} actually Lie Angle Balanced putter ought to return sq. to your ball at influence no matter your stroke path.
Others see zero-torque putters as the perfect answer for some golfers. The putter people at Odyssey decided that individuals who usually miss proper had probably the most to realize by switching to a torque-free putter.
That miss to the best seemingly comes from enjoying a putter with an excessive amount of rotation for the individual’s stroke. In the course of the backswing, the putter opens up an excessive amount of and stays open at influence, sending the ball proper of goal. Eliminating the torque ought to get rid of this miss.
The flipside of that’s that somebody who wants the rotation to match their swing might not profit from a torque-balanced design.
Because of this I used to be so shocked to see Mickelson swap to a DF3 since each different putter he has performed in current historical past is heel-shafted with important toe dangle and rotation.
Lowered torque putters are right here to remain
Though the ideas for reduced-torque putters have been round for some time, it wasn’t till L.A.B. Golf perfected the balancing course of that they have been taken severely. At this level, everyone seems to be chasing L.A.B. Golf, making an attempt to pilfer a few of their rising market share.
In some ways, this case mirrors how different putter firms attempt to snatch milled putter monies away from Scotty Cameron. Many firms have provided milled putters however Mr. Cameron nonetheless wears the crown.
Will it’s the identical for L.A.B. Golf within the zero-torque market? It’s robust to foretell however the truth that they’re making extra money promoting putters than PING and TaylorMade is a really constructive indicator of future success.
What we do know is that the competitors between firms ought to in the end profit the buyer. One other competing firm might give you a greater torque-free design or the competitors might push L.A.B. to take their very own designs to the subsequent degree.
The overwhelmingly constructive response to the new L.A.B. OZ.1 model makes me assume it could be the second possibility.
The publish Five Burning Questions About Zero-Torque Putters appeared first on MyGolfSpy.
