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Are you for or against the anchored putter?

Are you for or against the anchored putter?

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SeeMore Golf
This will get nasty. The governing bodies really dropped the ball on this one and the uproar will be immense from manufacturers and players.

“The R&A do not like the fact that golfers can steady themselves by using a putter as a crutch in windy, rainy or cold weather,” the source said. “In essence, they are steadying themselves with the putter. This was never intended under the Rules of Golf. They are using the putter for something other than a traditional stroke.”
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This is a problem for sure, and I've exploited it myself. I remember Johnny Miller during the Open saying that using a belly putter was harder...when in fact it's the direct opposite. The clubhead doesn't wobble in the wind as easily when you make your stroke.
 
I was waiting for this to finally happen.

thepete said:
This will get nasty. The governing bodies really dropped the ball on this one and the uproar will be immense from manufacturers and players.



This is a problem for sure, and I've exploited it myself. I remember Johnny Miller during the Open saying that using a belly putter was harder...when in fact it's the direct opposite. The clubhead doesn't wobble in the wind as easily when you make your stroke.
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Couldnt have said it better...This is just way too late in the game to not anger people.
 
The way I understand it they won't be banning the use of the longer putters just the anchoring which I think is long overdue on the pro level. You hardly see this style of putting on the Euro tour. I don't see much LPGA, do the woman use this style of putting?
 
If they decide to do it, more power to them. Although, they should have done it a LONG time ago if there is an issue with it.

It has been in the use on the tours for years. Now that more players are using them, it is *more* wrong now? The long putters have not changed, why the sudden uproar and outcry to ban them?

Looks like I am safe for the Morgan Cup...do not see it changing before then.
 
like Hoosiergolfer said it does not effect me in any way but if they ban it then i'm cool with that. I'd have a stronger opinion if i was in a direct competition with guys/girls using it and it was stopping me from winning more money or trophies
 
I'm not against the idea of this change. Although, as others have said, it's coming in a bit late. How many high profile wins will there have been before this is put in place? It should have been researched long ago, before this method became so popular.
 
It doesn't matter to me...I use a regular putter myself. You still have to get the ball in the hole, and never having tried a different putter, I don't know if that would make it easier for myself.
 
Ageism at it's finest. Occupy the USGA!
 
HoosierGolfer said:
Really makes no difference to me for the most part, but if they decide that anchoring to the body is wrong, then I'm OK with that.
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And this comes from someone who has owned 4 belly putters, and I still own 2. For me, they were not the cure all although they did help me to become less "wristy" with a regular putter and to turn my shoulders a little more, which is what my teacher wanted for me last year as we worked on my putting. I think they can be a great aid in teaching, but I'd be happy if they just made a rule against anchoring the club to the body.
 
It's not that the USGA is all old dudes (well they actually are) that are against new methods, it's that they are against an easier way to putt, which IMO longer putters are. If they can come up with a reasonable way to outlaw them, they will.
 
Are there stats showing people are inherently more successful with a belly?
 
Lol at this. I don't care. The belly butter and long putter are what they are. I don't like them at all, but it's because I find them incredibly difficult to use. Why they're doing this now, don't know.

If they're just banning the anchoring part I'm good with that. But I don't know how you could use the putter effectively if you're not anchoring. Again i suck with them so I have no idea.
 
This is really reactionary and I don't like it. Belly putters don't make putting easier. They don't cure problems. There is no relationship between belly putter users and more winning. It is just a different way to putt. To me this is just a stupid move. If this becomes a rule, then so be it. The USGA doesn't care about my opinion.
 
I don't really have an opinion either way on this one myself. I have tried belly and long putters and I suck very bad with them both. I can kind of see the point of the USGA and R&A if they ban them seeing how they anchor against the body but then again why they ever allowed them in the first place should be in question if that's the route they go. This will be a nightmare I think. In a way I hope they do it just so we can all see the fallout from it.
 
So far, I've only read the first one, but it says this:

According to the PGA Tour's new and first truly telling putting statistic--strokes gained on the field--players using long and belly putters are generally found in the bottom half of the rankings. Since 2004, the earliest year the statistic can be retroactively applied, the only three users to consistently crack the upper echelon have been Tim Clark, who ranked second in the category in 2007, Carl Pettersson, who was second in 2010, and Cink, who was third in 2006 and fifth in 2004. And here's the kicker: None of the young players whose recent victories raised the controversy ranked particularly high in 2011. Through the Tour Championship, Simpson ranked 47th, Haas 84th, Bradley 94th and Scott 136th. The highest ranked player using a long putter was Scott McCarron at 17th. The leader? Textbook-orthodox Luke Donald.
"I don't think there is any evidence to prove the belly or the long putter is a superior method," says Marius Filmalter, who has digitally analyzed more than 400 tour players on the SAM PuttLab. "Because it swings from a fixed axis it's easier to produce a pendulum-like motion. But I've never measured anyone using one of those who tested close to Tiger Woods in terms of consistently being square at impact. The longer putter is another tool that the player can practice with and master. But once that is achieved, the separation in who is the better putter comes not from the method, but in the mental approach."


Read More http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-equipment/2011-12/belly-putters-history-diaz#ixzz1lhpikAf7​
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Puttin4Bird said:
I don't really have an opinion either way on this one myself. I have tried belly and long putters and I suck very bad with them both. I can kind of see the point of the USGA and R&A if they ban them seeing how they anchor against the body but then again why they ever allowed them in the first place should be in question if that's the route they go. This will be a nightmare I think. In a way I hope they do it just so we can all see the fallout from it.
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Maybe more a nightmare for manufacturers. I think that's probably where the loudest opposition will come. Look at all the new belly's and long putters and whatnot. I reckon it would hurt them more than the people using the putters. I don't see any issues with pro's going back to traditional style of putters (length wise). If people would just learn to putt with a normal length putter... (I kid I kid with that comment... calm down folks!)
 
Hawk said:
Are there stats showing people are inherently more successful with a belly?
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looking back the last major played was won buy a guy yielding a belly putter....

although before that belly and putters were 0 for 415 in majors(give or take a few hehe)
 
I don't use one, so it really has no effect on me, but I disagree with getting rid of this now if that's what they are planning on doing. If they would have banned them when they were first being used, that would have been one thing, but to do it now when many many people are buying them and many manufacturers are making them is not at all the right way to go about this. I think they should just let it go now instead of screwing over a lot of manufacturers and players.
 
If the goal is to create more difficulty with putting, why not ban the left hand low grip, the claw grip, SeeMore's RST, white putter heads, high MOI mallets, Heavy Putters, and oversized grips.
 
I think the one thing that jumped out at me in the article is;

“Nobody (within the ruling bodies) wants children to know nothing else but sticking putters in their bellys,” the source said. “It now seems possible that an entire new generation of golfers could learn to putt this way and never use the traditional method that has been the bedrock of putting for hundreds of years.”

I hate that thought myself. I'm sure the OEM's will not like a rule change at this point, but it really will not cost them all that much if it happens. Most all of the putters can be reshafted and made conforming if they do make a rules change. Putter shafts are fairly cheap and reshafting is not all that costly.

I'm more worried about them doing something stupid with the golf ball in the future. Sooner or later they will want to do something there just because 0.1% of the worlds players (pro's) hit the ball too far. Like the groove rule, it will end up having little or no effect on the world class players but it will have huge negative ramifications on the rest of us.
 
Just wait until they finally decide enough is enough with the progress of the golf ball, all hell will break loose.....and I'm convinced it will happen
 
Only problem with reshafting putters is that the heads of belly putters are generally heavier. That would throw off the balance I suspect.
 
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