Vertical And Horizontal Ball Impact Range By Handicap
A Discussion of Ball Impact on Putters
This drawing represents ball impact testing with various golfers and abilities. In a perfect world, every golfer in each handicap range would impact the ball inside the ovals as shown. This is not what happens in all because golfers of similar abilities have vast differences in their ball striking abilities. These drawings represent statistical averages and should be considered as a general guide only. The use of impact decals is the best way to catergorize a golfer as to their ball striking range.
Touring professions are a unique breed because of their ability to do everything better than even the best amateurs. Many tour players’ putters come through me and/or the GolfWorks giving me the change to evaluate them. Also, I have a number of tour players who have come through the Golf Club Design studio to have their putters checked and altered to fit them better. Their ability to hit the ball in almost the same spot every time on the putter head is uncanny and is obviously the result of countless hours practicing to achieve this ball striking consistency.
The length of the putt is a major factor in determining the impact range. The longer the putt, the greater the balls impact range. This is important to understand because off-center hits lose energy (distance) and the putter head twists (poorer directional control). This is where the putter MPF (Maltby Playability Factor) carries into importance. Generally speaking, poorer players or those that hit the putt all over the face need high moment of inertia putter designs that are far more forgiving to ball impacts in the toe and heel area. High moment of inertia putters have much better heel and toe weight distribution and therefore impact more energy to the ball on off-center hits and also improve directional control through reduced twisting.
Each putter design has its own unique center of gravity location. It is not always located where the manufacturer puts the line up line or some other sort of mark. As a very general rule of thumb: steel putters with a steel hasel will have a line up line that is not at the horizontal center of gravity. Most all putters without a hasel will have the line up on the horizontal center of gravity. Almost everyone that putts will usually find the area that feels the most solid. Touring professionals and better playing amateurs will always find the exact location of the putter heads center of gravity. This is why many touring professionals do not want any mark on the putter to help them line up the ball. Some touring professionals want a mark on the actual center of gravity after it is determined by actually balancing the club head on the C.G. gauge. Keep in mind that because the C.G. is not always in line with the line up line that it is important to place the putter impact decal in the correct place. This is easy if you custom build putters because you know where the C.G. is, but is more difficult with previously assembled putters.
View a diagram of vertical and horizontal ball impact range.
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Mike B. First, I want you to think about the following questions; how can all these new and opposing putter face technologies affect putter skid and roll percentages? Why do we want to reduce skid and get the ball rolling sooner? How do we really reduce skid (if we really want to) and get the ball rolling sooner? Currently and in recent times we have had many putter companies try to reduce skid and increase roll percentages on a putt. We have at least 4 companies claiming to do this by using a special face line configuration and/or shape cut into the face. We have at least 2 companies using a high up the face center of gravity to accomplish this and we have at least 2 other companies using negative loft on their putters to accomplish this. And, I just remembered 1 other company claiming to reduce skid by using a special hardness insert in the putter face. First, do we really want to reduce skid and get the ball rolling sooner. All my putter robotic testing using my high speed camera (up to 1/40,000th second shutter speed and 2000 frames per second) shows me that we need just enough loft to get the golf ball out of the depression it is sitting in on the green and up onto the grass without creating any (or minimum) bounce to the ball. If the ball bounces too much, it will lose distance and usually come up short. To minimize bounce and barely get the ball up onto the grass requires 3 ½ to 4 ½ degrees loft on the putter face. This loft works best for all length putts because it is the best compromise in maintaining close to the same percentage of skid and roll on every putt. This consistency of skid and roll allows us golfers to be more consistent in our distance control for all length putts. If the loft is reduced below say 2 ½ degrees, the ball may have a tendency to bounce more because it is being driven through the grass to get it started rolling. Here is an important point to remember; if you reduce the putter loft at impact, you reduce the skid and increase the roll. However, you also increase the chance of the ball bouncing more and hence you can affect your distance control which mainly relates to being less consistent. Most of the putter companies advocating some technology to reduce skid and increase roll simply reduce their lofts (or go with a negative loft) in order to prove their claim. I cannot tell you for sure if there is any tour pro playing with less than 3 ½ degrees loft today, but over the years I have increased a number of putter lofts for tour players and I have never built a putter for the tour (CNC machined from billet steel) with less than 3 ½ degrees loft. The tour pros are so good and hit so many putts that they know what loft it takes to make the ball roll it’s truest and also what gives them consistent distance control. They know immediately that when a putted ball bounces, it will lose a lot of distance. So, what does the golfer really want in or on a putter face? First of all, each putter head material (generally steel, stainless steel, composite or aluminum) has a different feel to it and this is selected by the golfer as to what feels the best. It’s your choice. The insert in a putter face, if any, falls into this same category. If you like inserts and usually a softer feeling impact, go for it. Make sure the loft is between 3 ½ and 4 ½ degrees and that the face is perfectly flat (no vertical roll in the face). I prefer a face that is as smooth as possible and if it is a milled face, one that is milled with very fine mill marks. Also, make sure the leading edge is rolled and not sharp so that it will not catch the grass grain if the head is too low coming into impact. Also, have the lie adjusted properly so the head is perfectly level (parallel) with the green. Since we have only been talking about putter heads here, I want to finally add in that it is also very important to have putter length properly fitted and that the putters head weight gets it to at least a D-2 swingweight. Below C-6 and you will most likely have problems with distance control. Mike, belly putters are here to stay but will probably always be in the minority of putter styles used. No, I do not think the U.S.G.A. will ban them, but no one knows how they really think at any given time.
Ralph, thanks for the info on putter lie angles. I've got another question about putter faces. Do the concentric circles of the YES putters, or the Milled lines of the RIFE putters really have the effect they claim to have on the roll of the ball at impact. I've noticed several LPGA and Champions tour players using them, but not many PGA tour players have switched to these style putters. Also, do you think the belly and long putters are here to stay, or might they be deemed non-conforming in the future. Thanks again,MikeB.
Mike B. Good observation. If you recall a few years back, Tiger Woods also had his toe up in the air. I heard from a good source that Scotty Cameron worked on him by explaining that he was giving up a small amount of directional control in every putt and that he would need to compensate differently for each length putt to adjust for a pull tendency. Notice that Tigers putter now has the correct lie angle when he putts. There are still a number of tour pros who do not understand that improper putter lie angle can affect ball directional control and hence they continue to putt with the toe up. A few have the toe up at least 3 and possibly 4 degrees. They cannot reduce the putters loft to compensate for this because if they do, the ball will bounce more and now cause them distance control inconsistencies. Sort of a double edged sword. The various putter insert materials do cause the ball to roll different distances with the same force applied to the ball. Basically, the softer the insert, the shorter the putt and the harder the insert the longer the putt. Also, an aluminum putter face will not hit the ball as far as a steel putter face. Also, I have used many different balls in putter testing and they also go different distances. On a 22 foot putt, I had one ball brand go over 2 feet longer than another brand. It seems to make good sense to stick with one brand of ball so you can better predict a putts overall distance and possibly be more consistent.
Ralph, When I watch Pros from the various tours putting, I'm amazed to see many of them using an improperly lie adjusted putter. My question is, are they having their putters loft angle ground differently than normal, to compensate for the toe high position that many pros seem to use, or do they just compensate for the misdirection that a normal loft grind would cause. Also, where do you position the ball in your stance when putting? Have you ever tested for the rebound factor of the different types of face inserts used by the various putter manufacturers? Thanks for any info you mave have on these subjects. MikeB.
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