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The Claw - Last Act of a Desperate Man

MUTiger

MUTiger

KC Golfer
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I'm a good player from tee to green - but then there's the green part. The dreaded green part.

I seldom 3-putt, but then again I seldom make any putts outside of 4 feet. If I could make my share of putts in the 4-8 foot range, I'd be truly dangerous. But I don't. Seldom, anyway.

With no exaggeration, in the last 7-8 years or so I've used 45 putters. (I actually have them all listed in alphabetical order in a Word document.) I've tried really short putters, really long putters, and everything in between. Thin grips, thick grips, open stance, closed stance, left-hand low, etc., etc., etc. And lessons, lessons and more lessons. (I even took a lesson from Charley Hoffman's coach at Rio Secco during one trip to Vegas.)

The only thing I haven't tried is the claw-grip....until now. The last two rounds I've tried the DiMarco claw and have had some decent results. Two nights ago I rolled in three birdies in the +10 foot range, and last night did the same. Could be beginner's luck, but at least I'm encouraged enough to give it an honest try.

If there are any claw-grip putters out there I'd love to hear from you with any advice or tips you might be able to provide. Does it work better with a thicker grip? (I'm using a Super Stroke Ultraslim) Blade or mallet (using Cleveland Classic #3)? Open or closed stance? I'm all ears.

Thanks.
 
The Claw - Last Act of a Desperate Man

I can't answer your question but I hope you're onto something. I've seen you play....you have serious game and can still shoot par being a poor putter. I would love to see what you can with the flat stick figured out.
 
Pretty much all your questions are going to come down to personal preference. From my experience the claw grip really helped me from breaking my left wrist while putting, which is why I used it for a few months while I was working on my putting. I personally don't think it's going to matter much whether you use a thicker grip, blade or mallet, or if you use an open or closed stance. You are going to have to experiment to find which works best for you.

Sorry I couldn't give any definitive answers to your questions.
 
When I get too wristy I always go back to the claw. I need to stay with this grip because it seems to be in my comfort zone more than anything else I have tried. I use the Daddy Long Legs putter and the standard grip it comes with feels a bit larger than conventional.
 
Good luck, I hope this works out well for you!
 
sometimes when putting I will try all the different grips i see on on tour & i will say other than standard or left hand low, the Claw is the only grip i could easily switch to w/o a concern. I have a friend who was a putting mess like you have never seen, to the point he did not want to play anymore, so a Pro we were playing with suggested he try the claw & it changed him instantly.
 
just a tought here, but could your issues come from too many changes? 45 putters is a lot of putters, maybe get fit for one and take time to get used to it? patience may be part of the answer here.
 
If you learn how to putt you are going to DOMINATE the golf course buddy. I have seen your game.. Once you get the green down you will be under par very consistently
 
ddelloch said:
No experience with the claw but http://www.thehackersparadise.com/f...will-never-look-at-putters-the-same-way-again that is a link to the thread about the putter fitting I had recently. You might find it helpful if you have never had one. I know I really did.
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I will second this. After reading about your experience I had to get fit. My putter was so far off for my game and just killing me. My whole alignment was dictated by poor choices in a putter and it has been costing me strokes. Within 45 minutes the SPi pro had me lining up correctly and swinging the club much better. I was sinking putts all over the practice green but more importantly the ball was starting out on line every time.
 
I fell into despair about my putting maybe 10 years ago and resorted to "The Claw" for a couple of years.
When I first changed over to the claw grip, it was like a miracle happened. I began making so many putts I couldn't believe it.
Then after those couple of years, something happened and I started missing putts that I would normally make.
Soon, I was missing more putts than before changing to the claw. I don't know what caused it, but I panicked and swapped back to my old standard reverse overlap grip.
The putting was still terrible, but better than the claw had declined to near the end of that season. I decided at the end of that season that I was going to work hard on my putting.
All that next winter I putted in my basement for about an hour 3 times a week. It helped groove my stroke and I was again comfortable with the reverse overlap.
I changed my putter grip to a jumbo after switching from the claw and that helped a lot as well.

I wish you the best of luck with the change.
 
The Claw - Last Act of a Desperate Man

Read Unconscious Putting by Stockton.

It takes a lot of thought out of putting, which kind of cleared my head and let me get out of my own way. Reading your post made me think a lot about my putting game before reading that book.

It completely changed my putting game.
 
I have messed around with it on the practice green felt real weird with part of my hand off the club so i have not played with my grip in a while good luck i hope it helps you game
 
I did the claw for about 2 years but then Super Stroke grips came into my life and I haven't looked back.

I've been tinkering around with cross handed lately too.
 
I've always been a pretty good putter, but I think I improved my consistency after having a fitting that involved counterbalancing my putter with a 50 gram weight.
 
Whatever works for you, works. A couple years back I switched to cross-handed putting to try and eliminate my wrist action
 
ATLGolfer said:
Read Unconscious Putting by Stockton.

It takes a lot of thought out of putting, which kind of cleared my head and let me get out of my own way. Reading your post made me think a lot about my putting game before reading that book.

It completely changed my putting game.
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I need to read this book yesterday.
 
ATLGolfer said:
Read Unconscious Putting by Stockton.

It takes a lot of thought out of putting, which kind of cleared my head and let me get out of my own way. Reading your post made me think a lot about my putting game before reading that book.

It completely changed my putting game.
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Its funny but it is all in your head. The part most people don't get is that the first person they need to convince they are a good putter is themself. Persistent, pigheaded, belief you are good even before you have results to prove it will go farther than a lot of other things will.
 
ATLGolfer said:
Read Unconscious Putting by Stockton.

It takes a lot of thought out of putting, which kind of cleared my head and let me get out of my own way. Reading your post made me think a lot about my putting game before reading that book.

It completely changed my putting game.
Click to expand...

This. ATLGolfer and I were reading this book close to the same time. I was coming from a 3 month stretch were I couldn't hit a freaking barn from 4 feet out. I tried just about everything including The Claw. Stockton's book got me to stop being so technical and go with using my natural athletic skills and hand eye coordination. I went back to a normal grip immediately after reading the book as well. Been a game changer.
 
cpljohnst said:
This. ATLGolfer and I were reading this book close to the same time. I was coming from a 3 month stretch were I couldn't hit a freaking barn from 4 feet out. I tried just about everything including The Claw. Stockton's book got me to stop being so technical and go with using my natural athletic skills and hand eye coordination. I went back to a normal grip immediately after reading the book as well. Been a game changer.
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Heck. You were one of the ones to get me to read it. Amol was the other.

It absolutely changed my putting.
 
Nate said:
I need it if I'm gonna hang with your 75.
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If I shoot 75 when we play, I'm in for a long (really, short) match.
 
I was having a very difficult time keeping putts on line when I started tinkering with a claw grip about a year and a half ago... found immediate improvement, but had to relearn distance control... now that I have been doing it for awhile along with utilizing an alignment line on my ball I am pretty comfy with my putting all around.

Regarding the grip....for me personally I have been using an oversize grip with a flat edge on the front that's about an inch and a half wide.... that flat surface gives my fingers something to rest on and really encourages bringing the face back to the ball squarely... when I try out other putters that don't have a similar grip I have a really hard time being consistent.
 
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