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The Classroom - What is Toe Hang?

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This pic from Scotty Cameron got me thinking about how I stroke the ball with my putter and if I use toe hang effectively

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That picture shows up everywhere. Unfortunately, it makes a lot of not sense.
 
War Eagle said:
That picture shows up everywhere. Unfortunately, it makes a lot of not sense.
Click to expand...

True but like discussed in the banter thread, I think I putt using SBST but in actuality it could be slight arc since I'm using an Odyssey mxm 1 and it's designed for toe hang, not face balance.
 
alez367 said:
True but like discussed in the banter thread, I think I putt using SBST but in actuality it could be slight arc since I'm using an Odyssey mxm 1 and it's designed for toe hang, not face balance.
Click to expand...

IME it's not really possible to have a true SBST stroke without contorting one's self. What might appear to be SBST in reality is likely an arc of a circle defined by a very large radius. In my simplistic thinking we all have a putting stroke that roughly follows an arc of a circle. As the radius that defines that circle grows larger, the arc becomes flatter, approaching a straight line and decreasing the need for toe hang. A smaller radius will have the opposite effect.

Of course I could be totally out to lunch with that line of thinking, but it sounded good in my head. :alien:
 
Been working on putting with a few different kinds of putters and noticed something. With one of them I always miss to the right of my intended target, it was very confusing and then last night it dawned on me to check out the toe hang on the putters. It turns out that putter has 3/4 toe hang according to the manufacturer. In my head and learning about this now it makes perfect sense. The toe is hanging on the one putter which is causing the face to be open at impact thus pushing my putts to the right.

Which means I need less toe hang or a face balanced putter for my stroke? Is that a correct assessment?
 
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This really makes me want to do a proper putter fitting.

Very informative - yet another great resource!
 
jdtox said:
Been working on putting with a few different kinds of putters and noticed something. With one of them I always miss to the right of my intended target, it was very confusing and then last night it dawned on me to check out the toe hang on the putters. It turns out that putter has 3/4 toe hang according to the manufacturer. In my head and learning about this now it makes perfect sense. The toe is hanging on the one putter which is causing the face to be open at impact thus pushing my putts to the right.

Which means I need less toe hang or a face balanced putter for my stroke? Is that a correct assessment?
Click to expand...

You said you were using a few different putters, which one are you able to square the face with most consistently?
 
JohnSinVA said:
You said you were using a few different putters, which one are you able to square the face with most consistently?
Click to expand...

The one that is face balanced. In my AH HA! moment of what I thought was the correct understanding of toe-hang I wanted to make sure that I was correct in my assumption of why I was always missing right with that putter.

I am in the market for something new as I am not putting all that great and just want to know what to look for.
 
JohnSinVA said:
IME it's not really possible to have a true SBST stroke without contorting one's self. What might appear to be SBST in reality is likely an arc of a circle defined by a very large radius. In my simplistic thinking we all have a putting stroke that roughly follows an arc of a circle. As the radius that defines that circle grows larger, the arc becomes flatter, approaching a straight line and decreasing the need for toe hang. A smaller radius will have the opposite effect.

Of course I could be totally out to lunch with that line of thinking, but it sounded good in my head. :alien:
Click to expand...

Your basic logic is correct. Also, There could be other reasons for a stroke to appear SBST. My setup tilts my path to the left and as a result it looks like my putter goes straight back. A path that is tilted right would potentially look straight through. As the line from the from your neck to ball becomes more vertical the less arc that you will have.


jdtox said:
Been working on putting with a few different kinds of putters and noticed something. With one of them I always miss to the right of my intended target, it was very confusing and then last night it dawned on me to check out the toe hang on the putters. It turns out that putter has 3/4 toe hang according to the manufacturer. In my head and learning about this now it makes perfect sense. The toe is hanging on the one putter which is causing the face to be open at impact thus pushing my putts to the right.

Which means I need less toe hang or a face balanced putter for my stroke? Is that a correct assessment?
Click to expand...

Hard to say. Consider trying more offset. For me a face balanced putter causes me to miss left. In theory a putter with more toe hang should open and close faster.


War Eagle said:
That picture shows up everywhere. Unfortunately, it makes a lot of not sense.
Click to expand...

What about the picture doesn't make sense?
 
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