The Edel Fitting Experience

[Jman]

At some point in time in the near future I would like to have a putter fitting. The Edel fitting appears to be a comprehensive complete fitting.

SAM is very good, but I stand by what I said in the article, it’s great at explaining your stroke and what style could fit it, but it doesn’t take into account working through the aim biases and how shape as well as alignment effect those. But, it does do a marvelous job of helping to improve stroke.

 

[Jman]

A putter fitting is a must @Bernoulli! But if I'm being honest this Edel write up has me a little jelly! What a fitting experience!

Best fitting experience I’ve had in my years at THP. And I’ve been through a lot of fittings.

 

[Jman]

Love the review, @Jman! It’s very thought provoking. I also had a putter fitting at CC but it seems pretty rudimentary compared to Edel. Is the cost in line with a CC putter fitting?

The Edel carts are actually at CC, they’re being trained on how to properly use and fit with them, and I believe when they are it’ll be a boon for both companies. As far as just through an Edel fitter, I believe the fitter sets the price for that.

 

[Jman]

What a great fitting experience. Thank you for sharing that @Jman. I have the same cross eye dominance. So much here for me go think about. I know I don’t see the line correctly standing over the ball. That’s a killer for confidence. My first take is that I can take some of your learning and apply it to my needs. That said, as you note from edel, everyone is different and generalizations don’t always apply to the individual.

Trying to learn something here, I want to make sure I understand what aim bias means. You have a right aim bias. I have watched edel videos and 100% understand the laser aspect. But on a green over a putt — a laser-less golfer — I am trying to correlate the impact. If you stand over a 20 foot putt and line up for 2 feet of break from behind the ball, what does that look like when you stand over the ball? If I am on the same page, a right aim bias means that putt will look like you are aimed at the hole, not 2 feet right? In other words, you would end up an extra 2 feet right if you trusted your eyes over the ball? Right aim bias?

The other aspect is loft. I know I need less loft. SamLab confirmed this, and I am certain too much loft has contributed to my lag putting challenges.

My take away is that I 100% want to go through an edel fitting. In the meantime — living states away from such fitting opportunities — I will attempt to hack my way to a putter setup that works a little better for me based on your excellent write up and helpful knowledge sharing. Thank you!

Forget the hole. The laser sits on a plate the exact size of a cup but it’s there as the sim point, you set up to “hit” it, and the ball is moved allowing the laser to reflect off the mirror and reveal your bias with the current putter in hand.

By eliminating that bias it means you can line up on your target more consistently and precisely, it doesn’t change how you read breaking putts, it just means you can actually hit your chosen target line now.

 

[MWard]

James that was a crazy good article. I don’t think I would have ever guessed you to be in a blade with 1 degree of loft. The fact he was able to bring your aim to center after not so much center was pretty remarkable.

Also pretty cool how he fit you to speed, which I wouldn’t have thought would need to be a thing since that is more putting stroke/green speed dependent. Makes a ton of sense though.

 

[Templet0n]

Best fitting experience I’ve had in my years at THP. And I’ve been through a lot of fittings.

this speaks volumes.

 

[Jman]

Certainly sounds more functionally useful than the club champion fitting I went through.

Pretty crazy how "different" than most stock setups you had to go considering how much and how long you've played.

So is the theory you would have to redo all those alignment and adjustment tweaks for any new putter, or would the same concepts transfer?

It made a lot of sense the more I reflected on it as my best putting ever has always been with a SeeMore mFGP, thin thin blade puts my eyes back and moves ail left, and it being a top line means less right bias impact. The bigger thing for me now comes knowing flange lines are a massive no no for me, and relief that a mallet isn’t in the cards haha.

This brings the great conversation point, if you’re fit to a putte that you’ve seen in fitting and on course works better than anything you’ve rolled before for hitting your chosen line….are you still hunting for putters?

 

[Jman]

Sounds amazing. Too bad there is no option for an Edel fitting anywhere close to me.

Next time you’re in OK, we go see Ryan.

 

[jdtox]

While reading this I kept thinking to myself..yep I do that...and that...and that I have always putted better with a blade and my right had always wants to take over. The weight in the shaft though that blew my mind.

 

[baylrballa]

This brings the great conversation point, if you’re fit to a putte that you’ve seen in fitting and on course works better than anything you’ve rolled before for hitting your chosen line….are you still hunting for putters?

I'll go with whatever @xThor thinks.

 

[Jman]

Great write and what an experience.

How long was your putter fitting in actual time?

I have gone thru the Club Champion fitting, and while it seemed comprehensive, it would not hold a candle to what you just experienced.

We were at it for about an hour. Could’ve gone longer but I’ve got a broader baseline knowledge wise than most. There was ZERO rush.

 

[Templet0n]

@Jman would you say that going to an edel putting studio is the best option. I know that Club Champion and golftec offer edel putters but I am going to assume they do not necessarily use this process.

 

[Jman]

Great write up. Have been waiting for this article to hit the home page. The fact that head shape shaft design and alignment marks can influence sim point so drastically is truly astonishing. Glad to get to experience the fitting through your eyes and hands. @Jman you nailed it on this one. Your previous statement regarding this fitting got me to experimenting with a couple of my putters. From 6 feet my Scotty 2.6 misses about 4 or 5 inches right while my spider is center cup.

The options they have are immense with the fitting kit. My elite HS Kiddo came in using a Piretti for about 6 years, wide blade with a flange line. His biases ended him in a 1.0, backseat (reverse offset) shaft (it’s wild to look at) with top line and flange line. He’s seen the same type results I have, and we laugh a LOT at the kinds of putts either made or nearly made.

 

[Jman]

I'll go with whatever @xThor thinks.

Its my personal battle right now, I’m the biggest putter addict here, but I’ve always been searching to be able to hit my line….now I can.

 

[Jman]

Sounds like the Edel putter fitting takes things up to the next level. I like the attention to the little details and bring into focus things we don't consider or tend to overlook.

And they’re a Texas brand. You like that.

 

[Jman]

What a fantastic experience and writeup @Jman Clearly that is an amazing and in-depth experience. I assume just like any other fitting that its fitter dependent but yours was very thorough and that is EXACTLY what I was hoping for when I got a putter fitting at CC... What I got was nothing like this sadly and man now I am impressed. There is a local Edel fitter right down the road from me and I'm tempted big time now. I'm also concerned this would wreck using any other putter currently in my possession haha

I don’t know if it would wreck it, as much as letting you have a better knowledge of what to look for to best fit your eye and aim needs.

 

[Jman]

@Jman would you say that going to an edel putting studio is the best option. I know that Club Champion and golftec offer edel putters but I am going to assume they do not necessarily use this process.

Both Edel and CC are working hard to make sure locations know how to use the kits, COVID has made that roll out process harder, but there is big focus on improving that and their ability to fit the SMS wedges.

 

[Jman]

James that was a crazy good article. I don’t think I would have ever guessed you to be in a blade with 1 degree of loft. The fact he was able to bring your aim to center after not so much center was pretty remarkable.

Also pretty cool how he fit you to speed, which I wouldn’t have thought would need to be a thing since that is more putting stroke/green speed dependent. Makes a ton of sense though.

The speed fitting also involves using the weight kit to see how weight impacts your stroke as far as distance. Turns out I’m opposite of most there, but I’ve also got a pretty extreme feel for noticing and adapting to weight alterations.

 

[Templet0n]

The speed fitting also involves using the weight kit to see how weight impacts your stroke as far as distance. Turns out I’m opposite of most there, but I’ve also got a pretty extreme feel for noticing and adapting to weight alterations.

Do you know how fast the surface you were putting for a reference?

 

[mikeg_74]

And they’re a Texas brand. You like that.

Yeah and pretty close, well they are Texas close, lol. I can't wait for THP signups for Edel because I am jumping in hoping to get picked.

 

[IceyShanks]

Good stuff James, the one thing I see in those in hand pics that would bother me in the break in the putter lines where that line insert goes. I have such an issue now on those style putters when there is a line that runs parallel to the face but in the flange or some area. It's just too distracting for me. But I love the customization and options this system gives people where they can fall in love with a shape or feel of a certain putter and then make the alignment what they want it to be. Too often I've looked at a model of a putter and thought, well I like the shape, but that alignment line, dot, etc. isn't what I want, this certainly fixes that.

 

[Jman]

Do you know how fast the surface you were putting for a reference?

That day, probably a 10. It was a great green to fit on,
a flat spot for the laser but beyond that I cooling work breakers of every size and shape.

 

[Jman]

Good stuff James, the one thing I see in those in hand pics that would bother me in the break in the putter lines where that line insert goes. I have such an issue now on those style putters when there is a line that runs parallel to the face but in the flange or some area. It's just too distracting for me. But I love the customization and options this system gives people where they can fall in love with a shape or feel of a certain putter and then make the alignment what they want it to be. Too often I've looked at a model of a putter and thought, well I like the shape, but that alignment line, dot, etc. isn't what I want, this certainly fixes that.

So if you were fit to it, and it was PROVEN to you that it let you see and line up to your chosen line egret than any other putter that looked cleaner, you still wouldn’t be able to get use to it?

 

[Templet0n]

That day, probably a 10. It was a great green to fit on,
a flat spot for the laser but beyond that I cooling work breakers of every size and shape.

Oh, so it was outdoor on an actual green. I was thinking it was indoor.

 

[jdtox]

I don’t know if it would wreck it, as much as letting you have a better knowledge of what to look for to best fit your eye and aim needs.

I was referring to the ones already in my possession haha. After a fitting like this and purchase of said putter why would you ever need anything else?

 

[golfinnut]

Being that my putting is the most inconsistent part of my game, locating an Edel fitting is imperative if I want to be better. Everything just seems to make sense. I'm sure my fitting would be off the charts. "umm, sir, we can't help you. You do realize where you're aiming, right?" No ... it wouldn't be that bad. I'm sure it would be eye opening though.