Long Putters

[Michael Whitaker]

Im a new long putter convert (thanks Jamie!), but no part of the club touches any part of my body other than my hands when I make a stroke.  The back of my left hand near my thumb joint touches near my sternum.  Is this considered "anchoring" the same as a belly butter?

Absolutely!

[Tim Martin]

You should not be able to anchor a club against your body. I don't care what length putter someone uses, but anchoring a club during the act of striking the ball should be illegal.

+1

[Ed Brzezowski]

+2.     Ban the damn things

[Jason Thurman]

What ban would you like to see? Should the length of the putter be regulated or the technique of anchoring be regulated?

How do you define anchoring? How would the rule be written?

And on what grounds should the rule be banned? Because crappy putters should have to deal with it? Crappy iron players get to hit hybrids, so I'm not sure why only crappy putters should suffer.

I'm concerned about this because I can hit my muscleback long irons but I'm a crappy putter and want to start putting sidesaddle, but can't decide if I want to risk investing in a 42-inch putter (so not really THAT long) that may be illegal soon.

Will I look ridiculous? Of course, but I already wear True Clownshoes and regular golf shoes, so I still figure my best chance of looking awesome on a golf course is to shoot a low score.

[Mark Buzminski]

Mike Davis says there will be a ruling by this fall on long putters, according to Rex Hoggard on the Golf Channel.

[Ed Brzezowski]

Not one of those items are anchored to your chest or gut.  Hold it away and I am fine with it. Go look in a good golf museum, hybrid type woods pre date all of us.

[David_Tepper]

New Alex Miceli article on possible rules changes in GolfWeek:

http://golfweek.com/news/2012/jul/21/r-usga-consider-bold-stroke-anchoring/

[David_Tepper]

Does this constitute anchoring? No part of the club is touching the torso.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGv-9d8XePs

[Jason Thurman]

David, I would say no. But he DOES anchor his left arm to his chest as best he can.

Of courser, all good players anchor their left arm to their chest during the full swing, at least to a point.

My assumption is that when the ruling bodies say a "decision" is immiment, it really means a ban is imminent. The statements in Micelli's article make it sound like anchoring will be banned, but players will figure out a way to circumvent that. What if a player using a long putter anchored the back of his left hand to his chest, and then anchored the butt of the club to the left palm? Would that be legal?

[Patrick_Mucci]

David,

I think the term anchoring will be deemed to extend beyond the club touching the body, as the hand that wraps around the club is often anchored to the body.

I know an excellent long putter who anchors his left bicept to his torso and keeps his hand and the end of the long putter away from his body.

I think the "anchor" concept will include the hands/arms as well as the actual putter.

[David_Tepper]

I think the debate to define what is and is not "anchoring" will be very, very interesting.

[Patrick_Mucci]

I think the debate to define what is and is not "anchoring" will be very, very interesting.

David, like some rulings I think it will evolve over a very short period of time.

One has to wonder why they outlawed the "paddle" grip, the one Crenshaw used to use.

And, why they were quick to outlaw Sam Snead's croquette like stroke, but not his side saddle stroke.

I've also never understood why they would allow a caddy to line up the golfer, then mandate that he has to remove himself, immediately before the golfer pulls the trigger.  Once you're aligned, what difference does it make if the caddy stays there or not ?

[Wayne_Kozun]

A few weeks ago we had a display of old golf clubs at my club.  I was speaking to the guy who owned the collection and he said that many of the most valuable clubs are ones that were banned since they weren't made for very long.

Therefore if you think they are going to be banning long putters then you may want to buy one as an investment.  Your grandkids can sell if for the equivalent of a thousand bucks or some in 90 years.

[David_Tepper]

Pat M. -

I don't know the rationale for the rules changes you site. But what constitutes what is and is not acceptable under those rules is pretty easy to define and understand.

I think there will be some very gray areas if & when it comes to defining what is and what is not anchoring.

DT

[William_G]

A long putter is just admitting you're a bad putter.  But the line gets crossed when it's used to get relief or penalty drops.

It's one thing to tell the field you're terrified of five footers, but have some self respect and use your driver to take a drop.

+1 lol

[William_G]

Yes. I completely agree. Just as soon as you ban:

- Cavity back irons

- graphite shafts

- offset irons

- metal woods

- the sand wedge

- the 60 degree wedge

- composite non-leather grips

- the cheater line

- rangefinders

- golf gloves

- one piece balls

Each of these is non-traditional. That's a fact.

Look in your bag. Your grips, shafts, clubheads, gloves, etc. ... The fact is that every damn piece of Equipment in your bag is NON-traditional.

Hypocrites.

your call of hypocrisy is very hollow

none of your examples listed above is about the the act of swinging the club

in fact if you want to just abandon traditions, then you should suggest something else new that would help grow the game

thanks

thanks

[Dan Herrmann]

Back when I was in shape and officiating ice hockey, there was a rule that a stick could only be 55 inches.  Likewise a goalie's pads could only be so wide.  Over time, those rules went away and goalie pads became a joke - huge pads on the legs and on the torso.  Fortunately, ice hockey's ruling bodies saw what was happening and instituted limits.  The goalies all griped, but they learned how to play with the "new" equipment.

On the other hand, bowling (ten pins) is a sport that has completely lost control.  To me, the game should be a played with a single ball with nothing else.  However, head down to you local bowling center on a league night, and you'll see guys playing with 2-4 balls that they swap out based on the shot, gizmos that lock their wrist in place, stuff that keeps their elbows in line, etc.  You'd think they were outfitted by an orthopedic surgeon for some of these things.

Bowling has lost its soul and in doing so has lost a huge number of players (myself included - I gave it up in 1992).  It used to have one of the highest rated TV shows every Saturday afternoon on ABC.  Today, they're stuck in a bad timeslot on ESPN, normaly put up against the NFL.

Things like anchoring make golf something it isn't.   The game of golf is centered around swinging the club; making a fair stroke at the ball.

Anchoring a club to your body is not cheating today, but I sure hope that USGA/R&A correct things quickly.  They let the ball get away from them, to lose this opportunity would be losing the soul of the game, and I fear, it's economic future.

Simple rule change - "The only part of the body the club can touch at address is the hands".  Now, I know it's not as simple as that, but they can ban anchoring without banning the equipment.

[Jason Thurman]

Simple rule change - "The only part of the body the club can touch at address is the hands".  Now, I know it's not as simple as that, but they can ban anchoring without banning the equipment.

This is the problem though. I'm not sure how a rule can define "anchoring."

Tell Adam Scott he can only touch the club with his hands, and he'll just anchor the back of his left hand to his chest, stick the butt of the club in his palm, and keep on rolling.

So let's change the rule to say "No anchoring of the hands or arms." That definition doesn't work, because EVERY reasonably good player anchors their upper arms to their chest when pitching, chipping, and even during the full swing. It's why pros do that drill where they stick the gloves under their armpits, to emphasize "staying connected."

So what, then constitutes "anchoring." This is probably part of why, as Shivas has mentioned, the ruling bodies have almost never dictated what mechanics are and aren't allowed. It's really hard to regulate biomechanics.

[Tim Gavrich]

Would all of the folks calling for a ban on long or "anchored" putters or putting strokes be content looking Webb Simpson and Keegan Bradley in the eye and telling them that the way of putting whose validity under the Rules that they've never had reason to doubt, and in large part the reason they've been able to be successful in golf, is now invalid?

"Hey Webb, I know you've been putting this way almost your entire life and I know you've made hundreds of important putts that allowed you get to where you are in the game, but we now say that style of putting is unfair and you have to use a non-anchored putter. Congrats on your U.S. Open victory! Hey, would you mind texting Keegan and passing this along? Thanks; you're a huckleberry."

[Doug Sobieski]

I just looked at the Strokes Gained-Putting stat on PGATour.com. I was curious whether anyone putting with a "traditional" length putter managed to crack the top 10 or so. I figured all the leaders must be putting with anchored putters, given the majority view here. Apparently, the sky ISN'T falling  

I putt with a long (not belly) putter. Not because I was a poor putter. I'm a very good putter with just about anything you put in my hands. I honestly don't fret if they were to be banned, because I'll still putt better than most people if I have to go back to a traditional putter. The key is, I'll put myself up against anyone in the area of reading greens. I can roll it on line with anything. I'm just making a point that it was not a last resort. I occasionally change simply for the sake of change. Confidence is not something I lack when putting  

So the people that make blanket statements that an anchored putter is only for the poorest of putters, you are wrong. And wouldn't there be a prevalence of anchored putters at the top of the key putting stats if they provided a significant advantage? If we're trying to prevent people from using non-traditional methods to overcome shoddy putting, can we explore banning the "Claw" grip as well? For centuries, golf has been played with the knuckles on both hands fairly well aligned. The Claw is going to destroy the game!

[Patrick_Mucci]

Doug,

My mid and long range putting with a short putter was very good.

My putting problems got worse as I got closer to the hole, hence I went to the long putter and the results have been much, much better.

[Michael Whitaker]

I'm not as intelligent or as astute as you guys obviously are, but (to paraphrase Potter Stewart) I know a proper golf stroke when I see one. Securing one end of a club to create a pendulum swing with the other end is not a proper golf stroke... and, everyone knows it. I've never met anyone who uses a long putter as a pendulum who didn't exhibit or express some form of embarrassment in doing so.

[PThomas]

well, maybe the long putter isnt that much of an advantage after all...

[Steve Burrows]

It may not matter what kind of equipment you have; nerves are nerves.

[Ed Brzezowski]

Clubs are held in the hands, well that's my feeling on the issue. Put the end in your gut and it's anchoring , a full free swinging motion is a stroke.

I am also against lines on golf balls too.