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Bridgestone True Balance Putters - Forum Review

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Going out for my first round with this in about 20 minutes. I am not expecting much I haven't taken a full swing in over a month but hope to see some positives on the green

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Some really interesting take aways from my sessions with the True Balance lately. I'm going to spend some time pondering them over the next couple hours and share later on.

That in mind, here's a stat from earlier. From five feet (very small left break), I missed my first two putts (one right, one left), and then proceeded to make 16 straight. Yes, 16.
 
TD-03 at 33" will be my MC putter!
 
I was able to put mine in play today and I have mixed emotions about it. The grip was really strange, it was big and soft and bright yellow lol, I didn't hate it but I didn't love it either, I think it makes the head feel a lot heavier than it really is and I'll be the first to admit that heavy headed putters are far from my favorite. Overall I liked the way the ball comes off the face, pretty quiet and it goes where you aim it. First time out with it and I want to try it again so I guess that pretty good lol.
 
Trout Bum said:
I was able to put mine in play today and I have mixed emotions about it. The grip was really strange, it was big and soft and bright yellow lol, I didn't hate it but I didn't love it either, I think it makes the head feel a lot heavier than it really is and I'll be the first to admit that heavy headed putters are far from my favorite. Overall I liked the way the ball comes off the face, pretty quiet and it goes where you aim it. First time out with it and I want to try it again so I guess that pretty good lol.
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I really had mixed thoughts about it at first. I have grown to really love it and trust the tech in it
 
Trout Bum said:
I was able to put mine in play today and I have mixed emotions about it. The grip was really strange, it was big and soft and bright yellow lol, I didn't hate it but I didn't love it either, I think it makes the head feel a lot heavier than it really is and I'll be the first to admit that heavy headed putters are far from my favorite. Overall I liked the way the ball comes off the face, pretty quiet and it goes where you aim it. First time out with it and I want to try it again so I guess that pretty good lol.
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What made you order it?
 
Trout, I know you commented on colour and feel of the grip, but how about the size? Can you share your thoughts on that and what you're used to playing?
 
Canadan said:
Trout, I know you commented on colour and feel of the grip, but how about the size? Can you share your thoughts on that and what you're used to playing?
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I like the traditional scotty or ping style grip the most, the big boys just make the head feel a little heavier to me and i'm finding that if you have some flip in your stroke the big boys quiet that a bit. I'm not much of a flipper so I don't think it will benefit me in that area.

My initial response to something different is pretty big, I never change clubs and when I do it's a process that takes quite a while lol. I don't hate the putter, it's just strange.
 
I finally got to roll the True Balance yesterday. The PGA SS had both the TD-01 and 3 models with the regular and large grips. The smaller grip just felt better to me in terms of control and the softness of the insert really stood out with the smaller grip.
 
I decided to run some comparisons with a standard putter setup with the Bridgestone True Balance. Rather than try to separate sessions to see if I could find specific tendencies with the True Balance, I opted to combine as I am starting to get a good idea of what style of stroke works well. Putts were from 20, 15, and 10 feet. 6 balls at each location.

Standard putter, 20 feet;

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True Balance, 20 feet;

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Standard putter, 15 feet;

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True Balance, 15 feet;

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Standard putter, 10 feet;

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True Balance, 10 feet;

20140511_143316.jpg



Now, to what's interesting to me... I opted to take it even closer to see whether the counter-counterbalance worked well for those difficult five footers, and while I had great numbers with the standard putter (9 of 12 with missing the first, second, and fourth putt and then going on an 8 putt streak), the True Balance was extremely easy to keep consistent in the shorter putts. After missing the first two (one to each side), I hit the next SIXTEEN in a row. The exact same spot, so it was all about stroke, and it was as though I'd put it on auto-pilot during the last six or so. Very impressive.
 
Interesting thoughts.

Have any of you tried leaving the putter standing and going behind the putter to check alignment yet?
 
Rhyno said:
Interesting thoughts.

Have any of you tried leaving the putter standing and going behind the putter to check alignment yet?
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If there's any wind or undulations on the green where you are it has a hard time staying upright.

I hate to keep coming back to this, but the head itself is incredibly good. That's not to say that the true balance concept itself isn't, it's just that it's evident to me there is a significant learning curve to it for most, especially with the larger grip. I keep coming back to the tension it creates for me due to the focus on keeping the head from outracing or falling behind my hands. If I don't maintain the tension then distance becomes an issue a on putts outside of 10 feet.

It's interesting to me, the head design is spot on, the concept just takes time to acclimate and apparently I'm still acclimating haha
 
Rhyno said:
Interesting thoughts.

Have any of you tried leaving the putter standing and going behind the putter to check alignment yet?
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I haven't, no. Between the uneven greens and wind here, I really doubt it would be possible let alone practical, plus when you leave it standing, it's often leaning on the heel a bit.
 
Rhyno said:
Interesting thoughts.

Have any of you tried leaving the putter standing and going behind the putter to check alignment yet?
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I did try and see if I could get it to do it lol but no Bueno, too many undulations.
 
Jman said:
If there's any wind or undulations on the green where you are it has a hard time staying upright.



It's interesting to me, the head design is spot on, the concept just takes time to acclimate and apparently I'm still acclimating haha
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It wouldnt stay up in the orlando wind this weekend. Maynard had his with him and just couldnt do it in the gusts. I would take some time to get used to that type of weighting.
 
Great thoughts Dan, interesting it allows you to really groove the stroke on those short ones and keep the streak going. Do you think it's the tech that allows that stroke to be grooved and consistent?
 
IceyShanks said:
Great thoughts Dan, interesting it allows you to really groove the stroke on those short ones and keep the streak going. Do you think it's the tech that allows that stroke to be grooved and consistent?
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I did two sets of six with each putter and while I was 9/12 with 8 straight with the standard putter, I hit 10 straight with the True Balance and decided to do it again for another six, making all of them barely even trying to produce a perfect stroke. I think part of it was me having a good day on the practice green, but plenty had to do with the ease of stroke.
 
I rolled the 01 and 03 today. Both had the large grip. Very interesting feel. I don't know if I can explain the feel difference very well but with weighting you definitely know where the head is at all time. Different feel from a heavy putter as it's a breeze to get it started. With the lighter feel I found it easy to maintain light grip pressure. I really like the feel of the grip but I wish it were black. Putts rolled very consistently. I didn't have any distance control issues but have only hit it indoors from 11 feet and in. Will have the 01 out on real greens tomorrow.
 
Played 18 today and was very impressed. Not a sniff of a 3 putt. All misses were gimme range. I didn't have any issues on longer putts. Good start.
 
One thing I did really like was the lag putting with this thing, it was really easy from any distance to get it with in 2 feet. It's kind of growing on me a bit.
 
I found that too Marc. Some of them drop too! :bananadance: Really liking the standard sized grip on mine.

JM
 
Marc have you had any issues with lag putting on slower greens or when the wind gusts pick up? I was rolling the TD-01 yesterday and my lags were coming up just a tad but shy of where I would have expected them to. On fast greens I have no issues with lag putting. Which this may not be a putter issue, but a user issue.
 
mmaynard11 said:
Marc have you had any issues with lag putting on slower greens or when the wind gusts pick up? I was rolling the TD-01 yesterday and my lags were coming up just a tad but shy of where I would have expected them to. On fast greens I have no issues with lag putting. Which this may not be a putter issue, but a user issue.
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I'm finding a similar experience. The slower the green, the more force i have to generate to get the ball to the hole, and the greater I fall out of my stroke with the TD-03. I'm not seeing it as a necessarily bad thing, I just find that it's harder to maintain my intended stroke pendulum when I am quite far away or putting on slower greens.

Inside ten feet it's exceptional, even on slower greens. I'm not finding the putter wander offline much at all - It's almost like auto pilot from those ranges.
 
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