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Is Armlock Really Any Different vs Anchoring

SeeMore Golf
HipCheck said:
Belly putters and anchoring were a reaction to control an aesthetic and technically an advantage. I know the USGA says it wants to grow the game, but they do a great job at the opposite. I'd love to see some of their modeling on what would happen to different segments of golf with bifurcation.

Remember, the bifurcation argument back in the Arnold Palmer Callaway ERC II day was different. That was REMOVING restrictions on the recreational golfer. This is placing restrictions on touring professionals.
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I'm not advocating for any other USGA decision, and I certainly won't endorse the timing of it, but I will say that I agree with their reasoning on banning belly and broomstick putting styles specifically where the butt of the club is anchored to the body in a fixed point.
 
CobraX51 said:
So we are at an impasse.

I see your scenario. We don't know if any fellow pro has implied Langer is anchoring, but if it's that blatantly obvious and with all the cameras in an event, why is it brushed aside? To not offend someone or make the allegation of cheating? I doubt it. But it is what it is.
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my only guess is that it's not pursued bc it would be a black eye and open up a can of worms with other things. Pure speculation on my end based on them not wanting to enforce pace of play.
 
The people have spoken. The people are also pretty much undecided.

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blueonblack said:
I think Adam Scott is an unwilling poster child in that it was so apparent it helped HIS game. His short game was atrocious early in his career.
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Scott definitely improved his putting with the broomstick...for awhile. Actually, there has been analysis of his putting over his career. Over that span his putting stats standard vs. long putter are very similar.

Also, many pros have been helped with a putter change, oversized grip, change in grip style, going from blade to mallet or visa versa, or an alignment aid. None of them were banned.
 
leftshot said:
Scott definitely improved his putting with the broomstick...for awhile. Actually, there has been analysis of his putting over his career. Over that span his putting stats standard vs. long putter are very similar.

Also, many pros have been helped with a putter change, oversized grip, change in grip style, going from blade to mallet or visa versa, or an alignment aid. None of them were banned.
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All Adam needed was an improvement to average, given his ballstriking at the time. Augusta is harder than hard to putt. Ballstrikers getting it close to the pin are rewarded. Average is fine from there, as they're all super golfers.
They knew that, and that's why they made the move when they did. (y)

And he carried a long AND short putter for a while, remember? So how do we track that? :ROFLMAO:
Maybe that miffed them the most? Two putters? Dunno....
 
Just saying...Anybody who can't hold a 1 1/2 pound putter at a fixed point in front of them is a real weenie.
 
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not sure if you were watching the telecast early on the first few days but the discussion was should lines on a ball to help alignment be legal. they certainly are an aid and used heavily on tour.

I don't like the look of the arm bar putter but to me just a new innovation on an age old game. very funny to me the guy hits a drive 380 and we have threads on his putting stance;)
 
I consider things that delay play on every single hole of every single round (not just on Tour but at every golf course in the world) to be much better targets for nitpicky Rule making than something which simply "looks bad" like poking the end of a putter into your chest or belly. The game of golf would literally be improved for every single one of us if they outlawed the alignment line nonsense.

Nobody is helped by niggling over what parts of the putter can or can't touch what parts of the golfer's body. Those Rules are just the Rules makers indulging their own ugliest habits for no reason other than because we allow them to.
 
the alignment line I guess mechanizes what great players were able to do visually in the past. Has helped me for sure. Does not slow me down vs group in front of me or with me as I get on the putting surface pretty quickly. For someone struggling to get on the putting surface near regulation, I think it would slow play down.
 
Canadan said:
Well, why would the tour ban anchoring in the first place?

If you have a real answer, I'd love to read it haha - Haven't seen a good reason yet.
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Two words ... ADAM SCOTT :sneaky:
 
I don't see them as the same. In anchoring, it seems to take out a lot of variability because you have an anchored point that allows for a sort of pendulum effect. I think that goes against the spirit of the rules.
 
I'm leaving this thread. Otherwise I will end up posting a 10,000-word essay on why the USGA should never have banned anchored putting.
 
I see Horschel claiming over the weekend that armlock is worse/more advantageous to a stroke than belly.
 
If everyone has the same opportunity to use the technique, how is it an unfair advantage? Either switch your own technique if you believe it is so superior or tip your hat to someone playing within the rules as written and improving their game. I bristle when people don't like something and they want everyone to have to conform to their preferences. If you don't like something, don't do it. Don't force everyone else to change.
 
I'm perfectly fine with armlock being allowed but anchoring being banned.
 
I am an anchoring guy in fact I am going back to the broomstick putter but I believe that if anchoring is illegal the armlock should be illegal. I think any of these things being illegal is stupid but that is a different conversation.
 
Orion12521 said:
If everyone has the same opportunity to use the technique, how is it an unfair advantage? Either switch your own technique if you believe it is so superior or tip your hat to someone playing within the rules as written and improving their game. I bristle when people don't like something and they want everyone to have to conform to their preferences. If you don't like something, don't do it. Don't force everyone else to change.
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That was the same argument against belly/broomstick. If they are so great, why doesn't everyone do them.


Billy Ho's argument is if you can't do it orthodox, you shouldn't be able to do it.


It's interesting that he seems to think anchoring/belly is harder to keep straight at impact than armlock.
 
I think there is a difference but it is still a form of anchoring that did not fall under the anchor rule.
I really don’t like how it looks(and wish it was banned with the other anchoring types) but I don’t think it is a good idea for the USGA to get involved at this point
 
I am not in favor of banning the belly putter but if we are going to have that then the arm lock should be banned, too. The front shoulder essentially becomes the fulcrum of an anchored swing.
 
IMO, the USGA really botched this up. They were never consistent in identifying the problem they were trying to solve. USGA executives are on the record saying all kinds of things. They didn't like the way it looked. It wasn't a 'traditional' putting stroke. It created an unfair advantage. We aren't doing this because of performance reasons. I suspect that different factions held some of these beliefs, and others said them because they didn't want to voice their true intentions. I believe they were united NOT based on the problem they were trying to solve, but the solution they wanted to implement. That being that they wanted the longer putters to disappear.

They knew that if they banned the equipment they'd be subject to lawsuits from the manufacturers and would lose. How do you justify CERTIFYING this equipment for 40 years, then ban it?

So, they hid their true agenda and came up with this convoluted rule, which isn't even an anchoring ban as named. It's a SOME anchoring ban.

"Anchoring" is a colloquial term. The technical term is anchor point. The armlock technique mentioned above establishes an anchor point at the shoulder socket. There are MANY golfers who are or have established anchor points with standard length putters, including the great Arnold Palmer. But who is going to make a rule that outlaws what some of the greatest players have done? So, the USGA created a convoluted rule, misnamed it, and rolled it out. All to achieve a result they desired without being held accountable for their present or past actions.
 
leftshot said:
IMO, the USGA really botched this up. They were never consistent in identifying the problem they were trying to solve. USGA executives are on the record saying all kinds of things. They didn't like the way it looked. It wasn't a 'traditional' putting stroke. It created an unfair advantage. We aren't doing this because of performance reasons. I suspect that different factions held some of these beliefs, and others said them because they didn't want to voice their true intentions. I believe they were united NOT based on the problem they were trying to solve, but the solution they wanted to implement. That being that they wanted the longer putters to disappear.

They knew that if they banned the equipment they'd be subject to lawsuits from the manufacturers and would lose. How do you justify CERTIFYING this equipment for 40 years, then ban it?

So, they hid their true agenda and came up with this convoluted rule, which isn't even an anchoring ban as named. It's a SOME anchoring ban.

"Anchoring" is a colloquial term. The technical term is anchor point. The armlock technique mentioned above establishes an anchor point at the shoulder socket. There are MANY golfers who are or have established anchor points with standard length putters, including the great Arnold Palmer. But who is going to make a rule that outlaws what some of the greatest players have done? So, the USGA created a convoluted rule, misnamed it, and rolled it out. All to achieve a result they desired without being held accountable for their present or past actions.
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Whatever rationalization they try to use, their objections always come down to "We don't like the way it looks". When you grant a small group of people absolute authority to make arbitrary rules, you can't be surprised they're going to make them based on silly, subjective "don't like it" criteria.
 
Just a 'copy/paste' from another forum I just posted in...

The arm-lock is anchoring in my opinion...

The club is anchored to the arm, and the only part of your body that should be in contact with the club is your hands. I believe it is an unfair advantage as Billy Ho stated last week. No issue with the various hand combos being used, (pencil, claw, left hand low) as it is still the club in your hands and not tethered to another part of your body.

Sorry all you yippers and those with the heebeejeebees, arm-lock must and will be banned at some point. Love Bryson, Webb, Will, etc. but start preparing for the inevitable.

- Ian
 
This week at least, Patrick Reed is rated as the No. 1 putter on the PGA tour. He used a traditional blade putter and no arm lock what so ever.
So are they going to institute a douche ban to slow him down?



P.S. I actually like Patrick, but can't let that get in the way of a good rebuttal. ;)
 
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