We've launched the new forums! Read more here

Have you ever had your putter loft adjusted? Where?

Nippon Shafts
zbeekner4

zbeekner4

Proud 2019 Grandaddy Alum
Joined
Jul 20, 2016
Messages
8,173
Reaction score
4,537
Location
Milford, CT
Handicap
4
So I hate the way my 1W putter looks at address where I can see the face. I want to take the loft down to 0. Is this something you can achieve with a normal iron loft machine at say a PGA Superstore or dicks? Or is this entirely different? Should I try to just bend it myself?

And if you’ve done this before, as in delofting your putter face to 0, would you recommend it?

Thanks for the input ahead of time guys.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I have had mine checked and tweaked slightly but nothing like taking it down to 0. I probably wouldn't trust PGA SS with something like that unless I knew the guy actually making the adjustments and had seen previously that he does great work. The last thing I would want to take a chance on is a nice milled putter coming back with a bunch of big dents from some guy that really didn't know what they were doing trying to force it into a lie/loft machine.
 
I've had loft adjustments done to 3 putters during 3 separate club fittings. The best job was done fairly near you by a top 100 fitter in Woodstock, GA--The Golf Doctor. Most legit certified fitters can handle that pretty easily. I would caution you on doing it yourself, however. The real reason for such an adjustment is to adjust the roll off the face of the putter. The objective, of course, is to have it rolling as soon after leaving the face as possible, minimizing hopping or skipping. What they did for me is video the ball leaving the putter face in slow motion using a specially marked ball and measure that distance. It took a couple of adjustments to optimize the roll. There are different methods. In the second fitting I had, a different fitter used a special mat that showed the path of the ball, including the number of skips, until the roll was obvious by the solid line on the mat. Both methods, to me, seemed pretty effective, but I thought the first one was way cooler. Haha

https://www.golfdoctor.com/
 
v.man said:
I've had loft adjustments done to 3 putters during 3 separate club fittings. The best job was done fairly near you by a top 100 fitter in Woodstock, GA--The Golf Doctor. Most legit certified fitters can handle that pretty easily. I would caution you on doing it yourself, however. The real reason for such an adjustment is to adjust the roll off the face of the putter. The objective, of course, is to have it rolling as soon after leaving the face as possible, minimizing hopping or skipping. What they did for me is video the ball leaving the putter face in slow motion using a specially marked ball and measure that distance. It took a couple of adjustments to optimize the roll. There are different methods. In the second fitting I had, a different fitter used a special mat that showed the path of the ball, including the number of skips, until the roll was obvious by the solid line on the mat. Both methods, to me, seemed pretty effective, but I thought the first one was way cooler. Haha

https://www.golfdoctor.com/
Click to expand...

I’ll definitely check that out. Thanks for the info!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Any putter with a hosel can be bent a couple of degrees, but I have never heard of anyone going with 0 degrees.
 
Most stock putters are 3-4 degrees. It would be rare for even a pro to go down to 0. Too little loft could be as detrimental to the roll of the ball as too much. It isn't about appearance, it's about the ball coming off the face true and rolling as quickly as possible.
 
I’ve had one adjusted and it was by Club Champion. They used the same loft/lie machine as they do their irons, but a different bending tool. I only had mine adjusted 1*, from 4 to 3.
 
I was supposed to, but no one could adjust it with the neck that was on it. I hope that my current putter can be because from recent experiences, I feel like there will be a change because the ball seems to be skipping, instead of rolling.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
 
GolfinGator said:
Any putter with a hosel can be bent a couple of degrees, but I have never heard of anyone going with 0 degrees.
Click to expand...

That’s what I was wondering...I’m not sure I’ve heard of it either.

Buckeyeduffer said:
Most stock putters are 3-4 degrees. It would be rare for even a pro to go down to 0. Too little loft could be as detrimental to the roll of the ball as too much. It isn't about appearance, it's about the ball coming off the face true and rolling as quickly as possible.
Click to expand...

Hmmm. Now I’m just wondering what loft mine is currently. I might see what I can find out at my clubs pro shop.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I haven’t but interested in this as I’ve never thought about it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Zbuechner4 said:
So I hate the way my 1W putter looks at address where I can see the face. I want to take the loft down to 0. Is this something you can achieve with a normal iron loft machine at say a PGA Superstore or dicks? Or is this entirely different? Should I try to just bend it myself?

And if you’ve done this before, as in delofting your putter face to 0, would you recommend it?

Thanks for the input ahead of time guys.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
I had mine done at club champion and play my putters at at 0 degrees of loft also

Sent from my LG-AK495 using Tapatalk
 
I’ve done a lot of adjusting of putter lofts in the last year as I switched to a Kuchar arm lock stroke. I probably made 40 loft adjustments on 5 or 6 different putters over the summer as I tweaked my set up position. Standard loft is 4 degrees from the factory and I now need more like 6 degrees with my forward shaft lean. I have a bending machine that works for some of my putters but sometimes the easiest way is a vice. Not many use 0 degrees of loft unless the ball is way forward and they have negative shaft lean at impact. 0 loft at impact and your putts will not roll well and likely bounce or skid during the first few feet off the putter. Zac Johnson only uses 1.5 degrees of loft but his set up adds loft to the putter. Faster greens also allow for less loft on the putter so I will have to take off about a degree of loft when I move to MN in June. The greens there are much faster than those in California.
 
Last edited:
You can bend it yourself but you have to be a bit careful. The 1W has a small stub that the shaft slips onto, about 5/8” in length, that is fairly easily bent.

If I were doing this without proper bending tools I would pull the shaft and bend the stub until I got it where I wanted, then reinstall the shaft. Keep in mind they use a very small ferrule so you’ll need one on hand if you want the same finished look.
 
Zbuechner4 said:
And if you’ve done this before, as in delofting your putter face to 0, would you recommend it?
Click to expand...

You should be able to go to any fitter with a SAM putting lab and have them adjust the loft to what gets the ball rolling best for you. As for not wanting to see the face at address, you can just forward press to 0, that's free =). You could also try some putters with less offset or more offset to see if this would hide the visual for you.

In the end, the loft of the putter should be what rolls the ball best.
 
ChristopherKee said:
You should be able to go to any fitter with a SAM putting lab and have them adjust the loft to what gets the ball rolling best for you. As for not wanting to see the face at address, you can just forward press to 0, that's free =). You could also try some putters with less offset or more offset to see if this would hide the visual for you.

In the end, the loft of the putter should be what rolls the ball best.
Click to expand...
Ewwwwwwww.

Forward press = variable in putting

:alien:
 
MSH134 said:
I had mine done at club champion and play my putters at at 0 degrees of loft also
Click to expand...

Do you find yourself putting better because of it?

JohnSinVA said:
You can bend it yourself but you have to be a bit careful. The 1W has a small stub that the shaft slips onto, about 5/8” in length, that is fairly easily bent.

If I were doing this without proper bending tools I would pull the shaft and bend the stub until I got it where I wanted, then reinstall the shaft. Keep in mind they use a very small ferrule so you’ll need one on hand if you want the same finished look.
Click to expand...

Hmmm. Yea I’d probably get a professional to do it. Either my Home club pro or pga Superstore.

ChristopherKee said:
You should be able to go to any fitter with a SAM putting lab and have them adjust the loft to what gets the ball rolling best for you. As for not wanting to see the face at address, you can just forward press to 0, that's free =). You could also try some putters with less offset or more offset to see if this would hide the visual for you.

In the end, the loft of the putter should be what rolls the ball best.
Click to expand...

I’ve tried the forward press and it’s just not for me. Unfortunately I think the loft on a 38” putter is made for a forward press type of putting style. Either way, I think I’m going to go with what you said, head to club Champ here in atl and get fitted/adjusted properly.
 
Club champion in Sandy Springs. Go visit and my boy Rob will take care of you.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I do find that I putt better at 0 degrees of loft but I believe it’s all based on your own putting stroke mine just works at 0 degrees others have tried mine and couldn’t roll it the same so best bet is to do a fitting with your putter


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Well I went in for my iron/putter fitting today and I have to say I was quite surprised on both ends, but this is about the putter fitting.

First the putter fitting...I rolled the 7 balls and made 6 of them. There's a contraption on the shaft to measure all sorts of numbers. The good thing, my stroke is repeatedly the same. I play a little bit of a pull, but it's not bad at all. The face is the same every time. I line up perfectly. Dead nuts perfect, which was good to see.

After rolling the 7 putts, we looked at the numbers and I was adding a lot of loft to the club at impact...which is what I suspected since I saw skipping patterns in the dew down in Florida. I play the ball a little forward in my stance and keep my head firmly down through impact.

Tim changed the loft down to -3* and the putter felt like a brand new putter. The ball rolled smoother, and quicker which was interesting. Pretty solid. I am kind amazed how changing the loft can change the feel of a putter. The balls felt so soft. It was fantastic.
 
Last edited:
So I know it's an older thread, but I wanted to update things a bit and re-emphasize how important putter fittings and loft are.....

Back in January I had a full bag fitting from Club Champion. My putter loft was lowered to -3.7* of loft....because of the added loft I add during my stroke.
To update that, I have to say the roll of the ball off of my putter has NEVER been better. This year has been fantastic rolling the putter. I've had at least 10 rounds with sub 26 putts. I had one round with 23....which was incredible. I'm making a bunch of 20 footers and really feel like I can make a putt from anywhere honestly.

A guy in my Sunday foursome has a putter extremely similar to mine. When you set the club down, you can see much of the face because of all the loft on it. I've seen his ball skip MANY MANY times off the face of his putter and suggested he get fit and take off some loft. He tries to forward press, but he's pretty inconsistent honestly.

Fast forward to yesterday as we're playing behind a few slow groups. We finished on the 17th hole and had time to kill so I gave him my putter and dropped 2 balls at about 45 feet. He dropped the first one and the second was a few inches short, right on line. Then I dropped a few from about 60 and he put them both within a foot and a half. On 18 he had a tough side hill putt, about 30 feet long. Left it 3 inches short, but right on line. The ball was rolling PERFECTLY for him....and now he's set on getting his putter set up exactly as mine is....he might have even done it this morning! haha.

I just want to emphasize getting your putter fit to your stroke, instead of trying to change your stroke to your putter.....especially if it's an extremely consistent stroke. I think folks seem to focus on the irons/woods/wedges a lot more than the putter, even though they're taking 30-50% of their strokes with that club.....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top