If your putter doesn't match your stroke, then.....

[Mububban]

....then - what?

I understand that different putters can suit straight back and through, slight arc, or inside-square-inside.

I'm just wondering if someone has ever made a chart saying if you have stroke A but use putter 1, you'll get this sort of miss, or if you have stroke B and putter 2 you'll get that sort of miss.

I know putting is about confidence so one could presumably get away with the "wrong" putter if they find they putt well with it, confidence can make the difference. But otherwise, is there a way to tell if you are mismatched based on certain types of misses?

 

[cnosil]

Then you may struggle with your putting. There are some high level charts that I have seen that diagram this kind of thing and have been based on SAM Puttlab reports and results that were seen by changing these variables.

Basically putting is about choices and finding the putter that matches those choices. Your posture determines the amount of arc you will have. A more bend over posture (like Michelle Wie) will tend to have a more SBST stroke while someone that stands more upright will have more of an arc stroke. Then you get into ball position vs eye position. More under your eye will be less of an arc and will arc more as the ball moves outside the eyeline (See Odyssey fitting system). Do you stand square to the line, open, or closed. Shoulders will impact the left/right tilt of the arc. Next is how do you power your stroke, left arm, right arm, shoulders, both arms. This will impact the path of the putter as well. Left arm are will have a tendency to tilt the path left.

Once you determine your posture and how you will power the stroke, putter selection enables you do fit to those tendencies and have a putter that remains square to the path of the putter through out the stroke.

So yes, there are ways to tell if you are mismatched based on misses or how to adjust for those misses. The simple test to see if your putter is right is to put a dime about 16 inches in front of a ball and use varying length strokes to see if you can roll the ball over the center of the dime consistently. If you consistently miss to the left or right, you may have the wrong putter for your stroke. You next choice is do I change my putter or change my stroke.

 

[Hawk]

That was a good post.

 

[cnosil]

That was a good post.

Thanks.
As added value, a little more detail about what I have learned about fitting putters to strokes

If the ball is under your eyes, the shaft should intersect the putter closer to the center. As the ball move father way from directly under the line, the shaft intersection point moves closer to the heel of the putter head. This impacts the stability of the putter through the stroke and matches the rotation to the arc.

More offset will result in the putter being more closed to the path and less offset will end up with the putter being more open to the path.

Generally, heavier putters will rotate slower than lighter putters.

So if you have an upright posture, ball outside the eye line, a path that is tilted to the left, with a left arm driven stroke. This may appear like the putter is going straight back away from the ball at the start of the stroke and then comes inside the line after impact. From a putter selection standpoint as you try putters, you want a putter with less offset (1/2 shaft or less) and a shaft that intersects the putter head somewhere between the center and heel. Under these conditions if you are still missing left, you can start changing the variables. For example less than half offset will result in the putter being more open to the path or a heavier putter will slow the rotation which will also have a tendency to leave the putter a little more open at impact.