(Re-)building my game: my recipe and update

When I started playing I picked up a Ping Cadence TR Shea H putter because 1) I liked the look and 2) I liked the weight for my stroke tempo. Now a few months later I continue to struggle with consistent center strikes and find myself coming up short over and over. I feel like I am tilting the putter out or in trying to keep the putter in more of a straight back and through motion. I feel like the putter wants to sit on the heel and swing around. Now my putting woes are going to be far more on me than any putter, but I started to wonder if the putter was not right for my stroke. I looked at the Ping website and the Shea H is designed for a strong arc. Is is possible I am fighting my putter and could benefit looking at other putters? Thanks for any thoughts.

BTW, my preference is to NOT buy a new putter if possible. This morning I will do my own testing with some older putters we have: an old 1970 Ping H-Blade (nice feel but too light) and a TM Rosa Imola 8 (not confidence inspiring but doesn't seem to fight my stroke either). Putting on the carpet this morning, my initial reaction is that I wish I could have the simple straight back feel and visual line of the H-Blade with the patient cadence of the Shea H.

Are you pulling your putts by chance? I am not expert by any means, but I would think a putter designed for a strong arc stroke is weighted for an easier toe release to help bring the blade to square at impact.

I tend to hit the Shea H on the toe and end up short and maybe a little right in those cases. Putting for a couple hours with the Ping and my 2 old out-of-the-family-golf-closet putters, I realized I end up with the ball too far out with the Ping. I did the old drop the ball from eyes and it lands inside. That's the position/angle that feels like the best balanced stroke. I am not sure how to adapt to that. I played yesterday with a group of singles, all visitors to the area and good golfers. One guy was outstanding at putting. His advice was that I only needed more confidence. And I think that's maybe the biggest issue here. I don't have confidence as I stand over this putter, and the little technical details bouncing around in my head only add fuel to that fire.

I am pretty sure I will be looking for a new putter, probably more of a classic blade. I will swing a few at pro shops here -- not a big selection -- and may even give a shot to a used putter from here or on eBay.

As you can see from my signature, I am a big proponent of SeeMore putters. I struggle far less with my putting since I made the switch. The RST feature ensures consistent set-up to your intended line (unfortunately you still have to read the putt and pick a line...haha) and many of their models feature face balanced at impact which helps square the putter face at impact. There is a huge thread on here where you can find out anything and everything about SeeMore.

http://www.thehackersparadise.com/forum/showthread.php?30652-SeeMore-Putters-Thread

Update: I switched back to a standard grip. Bingo. I have no problem lining up or hitting this putter square, and my distance control is so much better. I bought the putter when I was using a standard grip and then switched to left hand low, mostly just to try it. I wandered all over the place trying to sort this out, but the the bottom line is pretty simple for me. This Shea H putter is an excellent style and fit for me with a standard grip. The shape and gunmetal color with simple white line give me great confidence. The weight fits my temp and the face gives the ball a solid roll. If I want to putt left hand low, I will need to look to different putters. From my research and testing, that would be a face balanced putter. Left hand low does consistently take my wrists out of the stroke, but that's a different topic.

mtcowdog said:

From my research and testing, that would be a face balanced putter. Left hand low does consistently take my wrists out of the stroke, but that's a different topic.

Click to expand...

If getting wristy at the bottom is a problem you might want to try a Super Stroke grip. Fixed my wrist issues right up.

I put on a SS Slim 3.0 a few weeks back! Love the feel and believe it was helpful regardless of how I grip the putter.